Browse · Group 14 of 17
Grow through the stages by headcount
Find your stage from one person to several hundred, and set up the finance, insurance, technology and controls each stage needs.
- SOP 145 Run the business at level zero — improvise
When you are one person with nothing to sell yet: work each function from zero until people are trying your thing for free.
- SOP 146 Make the first money — monetize
When your free offer has users but no payers yet: fix the product, collect proof, step the price, and set up ways to get paid.
- SOP 147 Make new customers consistent — advertise
When first sales are in but new customers arrive in fits and starts: make lead flow, sales calls, service and hiring consistent while still solo.
- SOP 148 Stabilize the business at one to four people
When the business has one to four full-time people and work outruns them: fix the biggest product problem, nurture leads, qualify buyers and hire well.
- SOP 149 Prioritize and niche down at five to nine people
At five to nine people, when you serve anyone who pays: niche down to your best customers, track sales and service numbers, and formalize hiring.
- SOP 150 Set up the finances stage by stage
Use to set up the money side stage by stage, from a first business bank account to payroll, bookkeeping, a P&L, cash-flow statement and insurance.
- SOP 151 Budget and forecast
When a 10-to-19-person business has little cash to reinvest: list coming big costs, save for them monthly, forecast from the run rate and track write-offs.
- SOP 152 Sell a second product at ten to nineteen people
When a 10-to-19-person business has nothing more to sell its customers: build a back-end offer, test the funnel, steady sales and promote on purpose.
- SOP 154 Get granular financial data
When a 20-to-49-person business spends to grow but isn't growing: break numbers down by product, start a balance sheet, and build a financial dashboard.
- SOP 155 Set up employee technology and security
When staff work on personal devices, or leavers take data and access: provide company devices, onboard accounts on company email and install basic security.
- SOP 156 Insure against what could kill the business
When choosing insurance beyond the basics: ask what could end the business, then weigh cyber, business interruption and equipment cover.
- SOP 157 Optimize the business at twenty to forty-nine people
When a 20-to-49-person business is swamped by its own workload: fix problems one at a time, assemble ads at volume, train sales, and find activation.
- SOP 164 Categorize the business at fifty to ninety-nine people
When a 50-to-99-person business feels disorganized: focus on one problem at a time, widen sales coverage, make service proactive, and centralize data and hardware.
- SOP 167 Delegate spending with approval limits, department budgets and cards
When a 50-to-99-person team spends money you can't approve line by line: write a spending procedure, budget departments from real spend, and set card limits.
- SOP 168 Specialize the business at 100 to 249 people
When the business passes 100 people: prune the product, repeat one brand message, route best leads to best closers, and make performance visible.
- SOP 170 Decentralize technology into the departments
When a 100-plus-person business's departments outgrow shared software: give each its own tools and tech staff, ticket requests, and set service level agreements.
- SOP 171 Cleanse expenses, re-shop vendors and move cash into yield accounts
When a 100-plus-person business still pays retail and holds idle cash: run a regular expense cleanse, re-shop every vendor, and move cash into yield accounts.
- SOP 172 Audit internally and review the financial statements each month
When a 100-plus-person business has money flowing that you're no longer close to: audit internally, review statements monthly with notes, and pursue tax mitigation.
- SOP 173 Choose a human-resource information system
When a 50-to-99-person team's records are scattered and performance is unclear: choose, test and negotiate an HRIS, and use it to run the culture.
- SOP 175 Capitalize the business at 250 to 500 people
When the business passes 250 people and growth plateaus: specialize sales reps and routing, update to enterprise software, and prepare to make a big bet.
- SOP 176 Install a compliance process for marketing
When a 250-to-500-person business advertises on many channels: rank the risks, set the rules, put someone on review, and require a compliance checklist before launch.
- SOP 182 Get the business sale-ready to reach new capital
Use when a 250-to-500-person business needs outside money for a big bet, to prepare it as if for sale without selling.
- SOP 183 Find your stage by headcount and see what graduates it
Use to find which of the ten scaling stages your business is in, what holds it there, and what readiness to move on looks like.