Businesses that are labelled as “small business” typically get treated differently from other companies. For example, small businesses tend to get some services marketed specifically for them, and they often get limited access to higher-level services that offer more control or features in certain kinds of software. There’s also a bit of a stigma against small businesses. While it’s not entirely negative, you certainly get treated like a child if you say that you’ve got a small business, especially if you’re talking to someone with a company that is much larger than your own.

 

While it’s never a good idea to try and break out of this “small business” label as quickly as you can, it’s understandable that you want to try and eventually shake off that categorization. So here are a few tips to help you grow into a larger business and be taken more seriously.

 

Focusing on offering outstanding customer service

 

The key to offering good customer service is actually having customer service representatives. Customer service is something that separates most small businesses from larger ones. If you’re still spending a lot of time trying to manage all of your customer engagements yourself, then you need to start hiring dedicated employees to help you out.

 

Nurture new talent instead of just hiring industry experts

 

A mark of a larger business is that they don’t just hire talented individuals or outsource. Instead, they also offer newcomers an opportunity to grow their skills and become the next big industry hotshot. By educating new employees, teaching them the right skills and essentially grooming them to become future leaders, a company can save a lot of money in the hiring process and ensure that their future teams are just as productive and fit the company culture.

 

Start outsourcing things that your company can’t handle by itself

 

It’s important to start relying on IT support companies and a variety of other outsourced services to help you grow your business. You could even outsource your customer service if you really wanted to. The idea here is that you can’t just rely on your own devices for everything. You need to eventually try and branch out a little and start taking on services or commitments that are just a little out of your price range. It also helps free up time for your existing employees who can then focus on other profit-growing tasks.

 

Taking more control over your products and services

 

Lastly, another good sign of a growing business that wants to be taken seriously is when they put more control into their own hands. While we mentioned that outsourcing is important to grow your business, there will come a time where you need to start thinking about taking back that control and creating your own departments to handle it instead. There are some companies with departments that are entirely focused on IT support or even product manufacturing. This is the sign of a small business that is starting to break through into the bigger leagues.