Too much revenue? What happens when you can’t grow fast enough?

To many people, the idea of having a business that sees revenue grow so fast that the owners can’t keep up is a great problem to have. After all, some might say that it’s better than the alternative – which is not having enough cash to get anywhere close to expansion.

However, this seemingly ideal situation can contain some hidden pitfalls. Having lots of revenue gives you options but not straight away: you can’t move right into that big, new office space, for example, while it takes months to hire staff. You may well find that you have the cash to expand but that time or other resources are simply lacking. This article will explore this problem, and identify some key ways that you can help your business get ahead.

Sharing economy

The sharing economy refers to platforms that are designed to help users access assets – anything from homes to cars – without having to buy them or even take on an onerous lease. In the broader sense, sharing economy services are often used by people who have relatively high levels of disposable income but due to other factors would never consider buying or renting one of their own. The classic example here is Uber: for a person who lives in a big city and has a busy lifestyle, learning to drive or maintaining a car is not practical. As a result, the time and money relationship involved in paying for Uber rides makes more sense.

In a business context, the same principle applies. Lots of so-called ‘software as a service’ functions are out there, and operate on a sharing basis. Cloud storage is one such example. You might not have the physical space to store a server or a hard drive containing all of your firm’s data, for example – but if you have the revenue to take out a subscription to a service such as Dropbox, then you’ll be able get secure data storage without it hogging physical space.

Physical storage

On that note, the lack of physical storage and space is often cited as a problem for those firms that are growing in revenue but are limited in space. In terms of desks, the solution to this is often to ask some people in the organisation to work from home – though that’s often not possible. In large cities, the existence of office providers that can house new clients in a matter of days is growing – and this may be worth exploring.

If you have a lot of items, self-storage units could be a good idea. This applies especially to manufacturing firms that use certain types of kit at certain parts of the month or year: by storing all of the items while they’re not needed, you’ll be able to free up space. This is the sort of luxury that your growing revenues can be spent on, and it can be seen as a way of investing in your firm’s future.

Gig workers

In terms of human resources, meanwhile, many firms that experience strong revenue growth often find themselves facing the prospect of hiring more people to keep up with whatever demand drove the growing revenues in the first place. However, it’s difficult to hire lots of people in a short space of time – and if the revenue growth is unsustainable without some additional people, then there could be a risk in place for the organisation’s sustainable revenue growth.

This is where workers in the gig economy can come into play. There are all kinds of gig workers out there doing everything from editing and graphic design to coding and developing. The main benefit of a gig worker is that they can be hired right away – and with many organisations out there helping to link up both workers and clients, an affordable and instant solution to your HR requirements could be just a few clicks away.

It’s always great to have revenue coming in, of course – but when revenue growth is outstripping your ability to expand your business, it can feel like a frustrating catch-22 situation. Luckily, there are some solutions. From checking out the prospect of using gig economy workers to ensuring that you have a sustainable self-storage solution on hand, there are lots of ways to spend those revenues so that they can lay the groundwork for your firm to grow.

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