7 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Successfully Manage Multiple Businesses

For many people, running one business is tough. But it gets even harder when they go on to add another business to their portfolio.

Business expansion can be a sign of growth and progress. But it can sometimes be a move by an entrepreneur to spread their eggs in various baskets in the hope of one turning into something successful. When this is done, care has to be taken by the entrepreneur to ensure they don’t lose all their investments.

Whether your business is experiencing unprecedented growth or you simply want to spread your investments to increase your chances of having one turn out successful, there are things you must do to increase your chances of success.

That said, here are 7 ways entrepreneurs can successfully manage multiple businesses:

See Also: 5 Warning Signs For You To Immediately Stop A Business Expansion

1). Delegate Or Outsource Tasks To Talented People:

Trying to micro-manage every part of one business puts you on a likely path to failure. What do you think would then happen if you tried to micro-manage two?

When you’re running multiple businesses, it is key that you hire talented people to oversee the day to day operations of the business. You could equally outsource some parts of the business to consultants to handle effectively. When you do this, you reduce the workload, get to focus on other key areas that will facilitate growth, and stand a great chance of building a successful business.

2). Set Realistic Goals And Measure Them Frequently:

Successful people set goals and consistently measure them. when you run two or more businesses, it becomes paramount that goal setting, measurements, amendments, and much more are taken more seriously than ever before.

You must set goals and keep reports on each business to measure your results, so you can stay accountable and make any changes that need to be implemented on time.

See Also: How To Survive And Dominate The First 6 Months Of Your New Business

3). Consistently Take Notes Of Every Activity/Project Across All The Businesses:

You should have a notepad by your side a lot of the time to enable you to take notes on the fly for ideas that should be implemented in any of your businesses. When you run more than one business, you could tend to forget details about certain actions that should be taken in a business. As a result, not having a place to write it down in immediately the idea pops can cause you to forget.

When you write down your ideas, you can quickly go back to focusing on what you were doing without the fear of forgetting it.

You don’t necessarily need to use a physical notebook. You can use the apps on your phone or a popular digital notepad like Evernote.

4). Reuse Proven Ideas & Systems From Your Other Businesses:

Successful entrepreneurs with multiple businesses do well to never make the same mistake twice. They always learn from their past lessons and reuse them in new projects.

Study your existing business and replicate proven ideas and systems that have worked into your new business.

5). Use The Same Location For The New Business:

It’s always best to use the existing location of your current business for your new business. This way, you can have existing staffs act as the new company’s staff for a fair raise in their salaries, you can keep a close eye on the business, and you can also reduce the general overhead cost of running the new company.

When you start your new businesses in the existing office you already have for your current business, it’s easier to manage tasks and grow.

See Also: 5 Signs Your Small Business Is Ready To Rent An Office Space

6). Determine How Much Time And Energy Would Go Into The New Venture, Before Starting It:

Do an in-depth feasibility study of the new business before going into it. Asides the study showing you how scalable or not the business will be, it will also give you a good idea of how much effort is required to make it successful, and this will help you know if you can afford to split time with your existing business for the new one.

If you realise the new business would take up all your time, you can wait till your current business is more balanced and can do without you always being around. Only then should you start a new business, else, you may lose both.

7). Preferably Start A New Business That Compliments The Existing Business:

The best second business to start us usually one that compliments the existing business, provided the existing one is successful.

For instance, an eCommerce company with a fleet of about 50 motorcycles could start a local courier service for private businesses. Since the eCommerce company already supplies its own goods and need the services of its courier bikes, it could as well spin off the dispatch department into a brand new company that will not just manage the current courier needs of the company, but can go on to scale as an independent entity that serves a much large client base and could even become extremely successful like the likes of DHL and FedEx.

When the new business is a complimentary business to the existing business, success for both businesses is a lot easier. This doesn’t mean that the new business must always be a complimentary business. It simply means that starting up a complimentary business generally provides a higher success rate.

See Also: 6 Reasons You Don’t Need a Business Partner Just Yet!

What are your thoughts on these 7 ways entrepreneurs can successfully manage multiple businesses? Let me know by leaving a comment below.