There are three kinds of businesses: those that fail, those that maintain, and those that grow. It is safe to say that no one starts a new business expecting or intending to fail. Nearly every new business owner goes into it with a growth mindset. Still, some end up willing to maintain the status quo because growth seems so far out of reach.

If you own a business and are content to maintain, that’s perfectly fine. Maybe you just want to make enough to pay your bills while enjoying the freedom and flexibility self-employment affords you. Great! But if you want to do more than just maintain – if you want to actually grow your business – you will not do so by accident. Growth is the result of hard work, a solid strategy, and the contributions of everyone on your team.

This post will focus on how you can use payroll and HR to position your company for growth. The principles you read here can, and should, be implemented as early in the life of your company as possible. The sooner you plan for growth, the more quickly growth can actually begin.

Outsource Your Payroll

First and foremost is the principle of outsourcing your payroll. This may seem unnecessary if you only have a small number of employees, but keep in mind we are talking about positioning yourself for growth. If you wait until payroll becomes too complicated to keep in-house, you will not be positioning. You will be reacting.

Dallas-based BenefitMall is a company that provides payroll and benefits administration services to companies of all sizes. They even offer specialized payroll solutions for the restaurant and construction industries. They say that a business is never too small to outsource payroll.

Outsourcing payroll while your company is small allows you to seamlessly scale things up commensurate with growth. An outsourced payroll solution based in the cloud automatically grows with your company. There is no extra effort on your part.

Hire for Growth

On the HR side of things, start by developing a hiring strategy based on where you want your company to be two, five, and even 10 years down the road. In other words, do not just hire workers to fill open jobs. Hire team members with the skill, knowledge, and enthusiasm to actually contribute to what your company is trying to accomplish.

Also, hire with a career mindset as the foundation of what you are doing. Hire with a commitment to help your new employees develop their careers. You help them move along their career paths and they will help you grow your business.

Embrace Data Everywhere

Modern payroll and HR solutions are heavily rooted in data. This is a good thing. The more you can utilize data, the more easily your company will be positioned for future growth. Embrace data everywhere – from payroll and HR to production and revenue.

Data in the payroll realm helps you keep track of past payroll spend, current payroll costs, and future payroll projections. HR data can help you better understand how successful you have been in hiring. It can help you better understand your future hiring needs as well.

It is both possible and completely acceptable to run a small business in maintenance mode. A lot of small business owners do just that. They do not concentrate on growth because they don’t want the responsibilities that come with it. That’s fine. But if you want to grow your business, it is going to require a concerted effort. Position your company for growth in as many ways as you possibly can – payroll and HR included.