ASPECTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT TO BET ON GROWTH IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISIS
Sandra Felsenstein, Industrial Engineer, Founder and CEO of DINKA (Comprehensive Consulting for SMEs), explains that important decisions always require evaluating certain aspects and much more so within a context of crisis or economic instability.
It is essential to ensure that the company is prepared to face growth.
- Study the market in depth. Do not fall into the temptation of assuming that, by increasing supply, income will inevitably increase. It is necessary to evaluate if there really is an unsatisfied market, if we can have access to it and what the general trend of the sector is.
- Evaluate the new balance point, the new expense structure. Expenses are always a challenge, and even more so during times with a challenging economy. Expansion and growth imply more fixed expenses, which in turn will raise the company's break-even point. Therefore, it is necessary to make this calculation ensuring that the increase in sales in relation to costs will have a positive balance.
- As a counterpart to the previous point, increasing the scale of our company could allow us to take advantage of better benefits in relation to economies of scale, negotiating power with suppliers, reduction in costs per unit as production increases, which could play in favor of the analysis.
- The immobilization of the capital invested in the new structure means an opportunity cost for the entrepreneur. That is, do not forget that the money invested is money that we will not have for a period until we recover the capital and it is necessary to ensure that this does not make it impossible to face the growing daily expenses, which will also increase due to this growth.
- Finally, in any economic context it is always essential to ensure that the company is prepared to face growth, or that it can adapt to it. An appropriate structure, clear work processes, an adequate customer loyalty index and a motivated work team are some examples that help when deciding if we are willing to grow.
