Being able to quickly scale up your small business while still keeping costs down can be a big challenge. Fortunately, there are certain cost-effective steps that you can take to grow your business. Here are three of our favorites:

1. Outsource Tasks

From software development to manufacturing, outsourcing can save you time and free up valuable company resources. When orders are piling up, outsourcing will allow you to scale up your operations quickly. This doesn’t mean hiring “off-shore” work to get the job done. While outsourcing to an off-shore company or specialist may seem less expensive upfront, it often ends up being more expensive in the long run. Language barriers or different expectations can often cause off-shore outsourcing to be very costly – despite the low hourly rates. Also, because you are often on completely different schedules, it frequently takes a day or two to get even simple questions answered, which can lead to delays.

2. Virtual Offices

Moving into a dedicated office can be costly. Virtual offices reduce these costs greatly while still allowing your business access to all of the perks of a physical office. Depending on the virtual office you choose, you’ll be able to:

• Have mail delivered to your office and forwarded to you.
• Obtain a dedicated local phone number.
• Obtain a physical address.

Many virtual offices also have real locations that you can use as well. Some include meeting rooms, private offices and video conferencing options. This makes your business look professional – minus the high overhead.

3. Cloud-based Software

Cloud-based software has become an integral part of businesses – small and large – because it greatly reduces overhead. These solutions allow businesses to run software in the cloud, so there’s no need to worry about costly servers. They also allow businesses to scale up operations without large upfront investments. Most of these services are:

• Affordable.
• Offer several pricing tiers.
• Allow you to pay only for what you need.

There are a variety of cloud-based software to choose from, including: CRMs, marketing software, word processing, storage solutions and more. Image Source: Internet Association