For most practitioners that started out in their back bedroom, the long road to an office with numerous staff, complaining clients and constant interruptions from email and the phone, will be filled with mixed feelings.
Fairly early on in the process it becomes evident that having too much or too little space; underutilised or over utilised staff is a common and recurring theme. It is almost impossible to match the increasing or reducing demands of clients with the exact quantity of necessary resources.
What is the answer?
Many have turned to virtual office space and sub-contractors that can be activated, and paid for, on an as needed basis. The ability to turn on or turn off resources in this way is compelling, but it can be a road paved with diminishing service issues. How does one train an overseas subcontractor for example?
A more realistic solution would be to get off the fence and start managing the growth of your practice in a more deliberate fashion. So, instead of waiting for new work to appear by recommendation, or existing work disappearing due to fee competitiveness, what about resourcing your marketing department? You do have one?
Creating opportunities to cross-sell services to existing clients, and increasing new client acquisitions in a planned way allows you to manage your resourcing issues more effectively.
The best time to start this process is now. Rather than fret about the resources required by an unpredictable future demand for services; plan your growth, activate your marketeer within, and reap the benefits of steady-as-you-go in a forward direction.
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