Company Restructuring: Cautious Considerations For Connection

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” - James Cash Penney, Founder of JC Penney

Growing your business is an exciting time, but all the work involved brings with it a myriad of challenges and things you need to consider. Your to-do list during the business growth period is enough to put you off the whole idea entirely, but remaining stagnant in today’s business environment could be harmful - especially in an era where innovation is key.

Effectively managing growth in your business

Restructuring a company is a big task to take on and requires a lot of time. All hands need to be on deck to ensure there is a smooth transition from medium to corporate size. So, how do you do this without any major disruption?

A clear strategy

While it seems like the obvious step, having a foolproof plan during a company’s restructuring process is vital. There will be hurdles during the expansion period. Are you able to handle them? Make a list of predictable challenges that happen during company growth. Consult with other businesses in your network that have grown, and pick their brains on how they have handled it. It’s important to have clarity on how to handle certain challenges.

For the unpredictable cases, your skills and experience as a leader should help you manage any curveballs, and planning ahead for the predictable scenarios should leave you with ample time to handle the unexpected challenges.

Expansion also means that company goals will likely be altered. Creating a strategy for the restructuring process will provide you with a roadmap to your new mission and vision. The strategy should clearly define the vision, and show you the ‘hows’.

Assessing the financial implications

Whether it’s customer or product/service demand, it’s likely that you’re experiencing rising profit,  which is why you’re looking at company expansion. It’s easy to get lost in the extra profit windfall, but it’s important that you devise a new budget plan to accommodate each new penny you’ve acquired.

The business’s growth means that more money needs to be allocated to extra equipment that you may need, additional phone lines, etc. The budget plan should provide an overview of where funding is needed, and forecast what your profits will look like once the expansion is complete. You’ll gain insight into how many more sales are needed to help cover any extra expenses after restructuring.

Effective communication

Characteristics of a good leader include communication. Your employees don’t want to be left in the dark during this period of change. Uncertainty could cause unnecessary animosity, and could lead to high staff turnover - extra stress that you don’t need.

You don’t have to communicate every step of the way, but it will be helpful to talk to those who will be affected.  Always lead with how the restructure will benefit the company in the long run. This will get your employees excited about it.

Taking care of your customers

Most owners think that customers should not be too concerned with what’s happening behind the scenes, but these changes may affect them as well. Depending on the type of growth you’re experiencing - whether it’s a product/service expansion or logistical - customers should be aware of what’s happening. If it’s a product/service expansion, you could also expand your customer reach. However, you’ll never know unless you make everyone aware. Again, the key message is to explain how the expansion will improve on your service offering, and how it will benefit them.

Think of the above considerations as some sort of checklist you can mentally tick off during the growth phase.

How Virtel-UK can help with your business expansion

Perhaps you’ll be moving into a new building to accommodate your growth, or arranging people into departments for more organisation. This means you’ve probably done research into phone lines and the possible headaches that setting those up could cause.

With Virtel-UK, you can be set up in no time with minimal downtime. One of our products includes the dmSwitchboard, a virtual switchboard that requires no hardware and is a cost-effective option.

How does it work?

Instead of hiring extra personnel to manage the reception area, the customer or suppliers will be greeted with a menu when they call your virtual number. They will be able to access whichever department they need by entering a number. For example, if a customer needs to get hold of the accounts department - which may have the number ‘5’ as its designation - they will dial your virtual number and then add ‘5’ to be connected.

The information will be pre-recorded,  and will include operating hours. If staff members are busy, the system will take a message.

Why you should consider the dmSwitchboard

The product has the following features to help with your business productivity:

• A call forwarding option that can divert all calls to landlines, mobiles, voicemailand fax services anywhere in the world.
• Reception IVR menu that is fully customisable to suit your business needs, and has an interactive tone-driven menu for callers to access departments and teams. This is all done using their keypad.
• The ‘team divert’ option allows you to divert up to 9 different numbers per department.
• A voicemail option kicks in if someone in your team is busy. It will take a message that is  emailed directly to that person. You can also customise the answering message and receive SMS notifications advising that you have received a message.
• Pre-recorded information can be used for frequent requests for  such as opening hours.

The set-up wizard is a helpful online step-by-step guide to help you get started.

When growing a business, we know how important time is. Our services have instant activation, which allows you one less thing to worry about while you’re expanding. The services are inexpensive. and you only pay for what you need. In fact, it’s all in your hands. We’re flexible when it comes to the services we provide, and you’re allowed to select the virtual number that works for you.