According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, 45% of new businesses fail within the first five years of being open. This is an eye-opening statistic that highlights the intense challenges that new start-ups must face and overcome if they want to be successful.

The reasons for potential business failure are plenty. Cash flow issues, staffing problems, faulty infrastructure, lackluster marketing, you name it. However, one often overlooked issue is a business's inability to scale with its growing demand. 

At first, not being able to keep up with increasing demand may seem like a good problem to have, and in its essence, there is some logic to that notion. However, failing to scale accordingly when the time comes can halt a company's growth right in its tracks. 

Damaging customer relationships, issues with supply chains, overburdening and wearing down employees, and so on. If not managed correctly, what was once a budding new business full of potential can very quickly perform a U-turn and fall into ruin.

Scaling needs to be accommodated in every aspect of the business and every department across the company, and in this article, we will show you four essential tools that can help you do just that.

Sales tracking software

While your company is still in its infancy, it's perfectly normal to track your sales manually. However, when things start picking up, you're really going to have to invest in something more autonomous and scalable. 

If you continue to track your sales manually, you will eventually reach a point where it becomes unsustainable or even impossible to keep up with. This could result in inaccurate sales information, which may negatively impact your business in other areas.

Not only that, but sales tracking software provides you with tons of valuable information that can give you key insights into your business, such as your conversion rate, sales by lead source, revenue per sale, and so on.

The more information and statistics you have, the more informed decisions you can make about your business. Empowering your sales team with key sales metrics allows them to create more actionable intel and boost their efficiency, which is great news for your bottom line.

HR software

One of the most difficult challenges when scaling a business is maintaining a consistent and reliable human resources department. At first, HR may not be very high up your priority list; however, as time goes on, it's important to have well-trained and competent HR personnel with the right tools and technology to back them up.

HR officers play a big role in the day to day affairs of a company. They are certainly a big cog in the wheel as they supervise key roles in the business, from recruitment to payroll and from conducting disciplinary procedures to overseeing regulatory compliances.

Nevertheless, HR personnel's hands are tied unless they have sufficient HR software to help them achieve their tasks. The right tools can help improve efficiency and productivity across the company, reduce the likelihood of human error in HR practices, and improve the employee experience, resulting in a happier workforce.

Project management tools

Depending on how your company infrastructure is set up, you could benefit from implementing project management tools into your business to help manage team projects, processes, and tasks more effectively. 

As a business grows it becomes more difficult to organize people and the tasks they are working on. If left unchecked, things can become rather inefficient, which means your business is losing out on valuable time, money, and resources.

Project management tools assist with project planning and resource allocation, making it much more streamlined for everyone involved. These tools allow you to scope out key milestones, set up deliverables, and assign roles to staff members with ease.

On top of this, it keeps everyone who uses the tool accountable for their work and significantly improves team collaboration.

There are plenty of great project tools that you can try, and most of them are relatively inexpensive. Trello, Monday and Asana are some of the top options on the market at the time of writing.

Customer relationship management (CRM) system

CRM software is designed to help you better manage your relationships and interactions with your customers. The easier it is to manage these relationships, the more revenue your company will generate; it's as simple as that.

However, as your business grows, storing, organizing, and accessing customer data becomes more difficult, and thus, managing your business's relationships with these customers becomes an ever more complicated process.

Fortunately, there are hundreds, if not thousands of CRM systems out there, most of which are designed to take the data from your integrated platforms and keep them organized, ready for you to access when needed. 

A well-integrated CRM system will reduce your administrative work time, make performance tracking simple, facilitate the successful research of new leads, and allow your sales team to follow up with prospective clients more easily.

There are many different types of CRM systems, so whatever your business’s needs are, you will certainly be able to find a solution that works for you. These days, most of the companies offering CRM do so via SaaS (software as a service) or cloud computing solutions, both of which are cost-effective and allow for advanced scalability.

Final word

As your business scales, you will very likely reach a point where you need to upgrade or improve your internal business practices if you are to meet demand without sacrificing efficiency. 

One of the easiest ways to keep up with such a growing demand is to implement the tools and strategies mentioned above so that you can scale effectively, maximizing your return with the resources you already have.