How to Tell if a Startup is Ready to Scale

The preparation of the following areas will help your company be ready to scale:

• Document management
• Due diligence
• Business process management
• Legal documentation

Let us look at other indicators that your company is ready to reach the next level.The ‘Ready to Scale’ IndicatorKnowing if you are adequately prepared to scale your startup is vital. Scaling before you have your systems, processes and key staff in place can cause significant issues.The first indicator that can assist you in determining whether your startup is ready to scale is your Net Promoter Score. The NPS measures overall customer satisfaction and their experience with your company. The result of the NPS is a better understanding of your customers’ general perception of your product, service, or brand.This type of metric is valuable in a variety of ways. Firstly, the NPS indicates whether your customers are happy with your product or service. Secondly, you will see if you have customers who would recommend your solution to their friends.How to Implement the NPSIn its simplest form, the NPS is a simple survey that can be conducted using simple software such as Survey Monkey, which has a ready-made NPS option. NPS surveys are straightforward and ask customers, “how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or relative?” on a scale from 0 – 10.Customers who respond with scores of 6 or less are Detractors – who are either unsatisfied or unhappy customers. Too many detractors could indicate people are not speaking favourably about your brand in the market.Those with scores between 7 and 8 are classified as Passive. Passive respondents are generally satisfied with your product or service and are susceptible to switching to an alternative brand.Lastly, those that indicate a score of 9 or more are Promoters. These customers are passionate and loyal to your brand and will often be the most significant source of growth and brand exposure. Promoters will share your posts, recommend you to their friends and stick up for your company in forums and social media.Once the data has been collected, the NPS is calculated by subtracting the total percentage of the Detractors score from the percentage of the Promoters score and multiplying by 100.Promoters % – Detractors% x 100 = NPSAfter the customer submits their NPS, you should also have a follow-up question asking, “What made you give that score? The customer should be given an input box to submit feedback in their own words. This data is critical and lets you know why they gave you the score they did. This allows you to adjust your business based on that feedback.Essentially, your ultimate goal should be to make all customers Promoters. More precisely, if your NPS is poor, it may be your first warning sign that you are not ready to scale. It would be best if you took your NPS very seriously.Read this article: How to scale a startup.