Posted by You’ve finally taken the plunge to grow your small business into a larger operation. Perhaps you’re moving into a bigger office, ramping up production, or embarking on an ambitious expansion plan. No matter the goal, supporting a growing enterprise brings new infrastructure demands. Juggling more employees, customers, processes, and locations is no easy feat without the right tools in place.
This guide will explore how tailored infrastructure solutions can streamline your business as it expands. We’ll cover key areas where the right systems make a difference for efficiency, collaboration, and growth. By the end, you’ll have a playbook for getting your whole company humming like a well-oiled machine.
Consolidate Your Infrastructure
Once you know the problem areas, look for ways to consolidate duplicative systems and tools. For example, if different departments each have their own server setups, cloud storage accounts, and printing arrangements, unifying those services can dramatically simplify management. No more scrambling to fix obscure problems; an infrastructure solution ensures you can focus on growing the business.
Communication is Key
As your team spreads out across offices, remote work setups, and the field, consistent communication keeps everyone connected. Invest in:
- Unified collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for messaging, file sharing, and virtual meetings.
- A business phone system like RingCentral allows desktop, mobile, and conference calling from any device.
- Reliable video conferencing software like Zoom is used to host online presentations, trainings, and all-hands meetings.
Centralize Data Storage
Decentralized file storage leads to version control issues, lost documents, and wasted time hunting for the latest files. Make sure your infrastructure solution includes:
- Cloud file sharing on Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive, so any team member can instantly access project folders.
- A content management system like SharePoint stores policies, training materials, forms, and more in a central hub.
Streamline Project Management
Juggling priorities across departments requires visibility and coordination. Implement:
- A project management tool like Asana or Teamwork for task and deadline tracking, resource allocation, and progress reporting.
- Integrations that sync your PM platform with communication, storage, and CRM tools provide a bird’s-eye view of workstreams.
Automate Workflows
Streamline routine tasks by setting up automation in your infrastructure stack. Look for systems that:
- Integrate with applications you already use, like email and calendar apps, to trigger automated actions and approvals.
- Allow creating custom workflows with If-This-Then-That logic to eliminate repetitive manual work.
- Automate document generation using templates and form filler fields for standardized reports, quotes, proposals, and more.
Choose Partners, Not Just Vendors
Avoid the temptation to go cheap on your infrastructure solution; the costs of outages and support issues will negate any savings. Instead, find providers focused on long-term relationships and support.
Partnering with managed services companies ensures we benefit from their expertise. Hands-on guidance helps you optimize setups, and service-level agreements give you peace of mind.
Centralize Customer Interactions
Reliable customer service depends on a centralized understanding of each client. Invest in:
- A customer relationship management (CRM) platform such as Salesforce or Hubspot can store all client profiles, notes, activity history, and more in one place.
- Integrations that connect your CRM with other systems for full-circle visibility of client relationships.
- Email and call tracking apps that sync communications to client records for a holistic single view.
Streamline Sales Processes
Sales productivity grows when supported by streamlined processes. Try to optimize:
- A quoting and contract management tool integrated with your CRM for easy proposal creation and renewals.
- A sales acceleration platform like Outreach automates email campaigns, reminds, and follows up on sequences.
- Reporting and analytics to surface insights into the pipeline, forecasting, rep performance, and more.
Simplify Financial Management
Stay on top of finances as the business scales with an infrastructure solution that:
- Centralizes accounts, expenses and vendor payments on platforms like QuickBooks, Xero or Sage.
- Integrates billing and invoicing with your CRM to cut down on data entry and sync payments.
- Automates receipt of statements, bank feeds and expense uploads for real-time insights.
Standardize Operations
Institutional knowledge gets lost as teams change. Ensure consistent operations by using:
- Documentation tools like Confluence store SOPs, checklists, forms and playbooks centralized for all to reference.
- A learning management system (LMS) like TalentLMS is used to roll out required training, certifications and refresher courses.
Optimize Inventory Management
As product or service lines scale, inventory visibility is critical. Look for solutions to:
- Track quantities, locations, SKUs and expiration dates using a warehouse management system (WMS).
- Integrate stock tracking with your e-commerce channels to auto-update listings.
- Trigger replenishment orders and pull consumption reporting for demand planning.
Strengthen Security
As digital assets accumulate, prioritize security with multi-layered protection, like:
- Endpoint protection and firewalls for devices and networks via solutions like Microsoft Defender.
- Authentication tools that enforce secure sign-ins, multifactor options and password managers.
- Security awareness training through an LMS to educate all teams on best practices.
Invest In Your Employees
Your staff is one of your biggest assets, so empower them through ongoing training on any new infrastructure solution tools.
When rolling out that automation platform, incorporate structured onboarding and quick reference guides. Employees can contribute even more value thanks to increased skills and confidence in technology. A happy, productive team is an efficient team!
Scale Infrastructure On Demand
A flexible infrastructure solution supports unpredictable ups and downs. Opt for:
- Scalable cloud-based tools versus on-premise software for instant size adjustments.
- Prepared disaster recovery plans and backups should be incorporated into your tech stack.
- Partners that can provide scalable support, expansion, migration and optimization guidance as you evolve.
With the right system foundation in place, you’ve laid the tracks for successful growth. Each new process, location, product line or service introduced from here gains traction thanks to your streamlined infrastructure. A proactive setup now lays the groundwork for agility and efficiency down the road as your business matures and expands.
Final Words
By establishing tailored, cohesive infrastructure solutions, you give your growing business a competitive advantage. A unified technological foundation allows seamless collaboration, visibility and scalability across teams, sites, data and processes.
From streamlining communication and project management to centralizing financials, operations and customer insights, cohesive infrastructure delivers efficiency. Automating workflows and standardizing operations further optimize resources. And scaling tools on demand supports future flexibility.