Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff
Benjamin Franklin once said that, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” And while Franklin was referring to personal growth, business owners apply the same sort of attitude when determining their strategies toward expanding their enterprises.
The growth of a business in an unregulated, unsupervised manner however, may end up adversely affecting a company. Jim Alampi, a guest writer for Entrepreneur Magazine and founder of Alampi and Associates, notes that “There can be something very damaging about too much growth. When companies grow dramatically they need to plan for it in the areas of people, processes and technology. How will the company intelligently put the elements in place to handle this rapid growth?”
Intelligent expansion of a business may encompass numerous factors, such as hiring the right staff, training them in a manner that allows them to fulfill their responsibilities in the most effective manner and ensuring that there is an expanding market of consumers.
For any business owner, the signs are promising. The most recent comprehensive study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2012 shows that consumer spending is on the rise. According to the BLS, “This is the second consecutive year that expenditures increased after 3 consecutive years of declining expenditures,” further noting that, “Consumer units’ (CUs) average annual expenditures increased from $49,705 in 2011 to $51,442 in 2012. With this increase, the 2012 level surpassed the 2008 spending level of $50,486.”
The members of Generation Y, also known as Millennials, are also more well educated and are eager to enter the workforce. According to Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University, “Attending college is more instrumental to Millennials than it was to Baby Boomers. Members of Generation Y are more likely than their parents’ generation to report that they are going to college because it will help them to make money.” And while there is a generalization of Millennials being ‘free agents’ in the workforce, it is a misconception; rather, Millennials are willing to devote themselves to a company provided that they see room for upward mobility.
Intelligent growth for businesses require both a talented labor pool and a market of consumers willing to spend more money. It also requires the necessary capital on the part of businesses to properly pursue expansion.
Capital Solutions can provide quick capital for businesses hoping to pursue smart growth. Eighty to ninety percent (80-90%) of an invoice or purchase order may be provided by Capital Solutions to business owners as a cash advance prior to payment by the customer. The remaining ten to twenty percent (10-20%) is held in reserve with the factor. When the payment is received, the factor releases the reserve less the charges incurred back to the company.
