There has been a lot written about keeping your business at a reasonable size and scale until “the time is right.” But how can anybody ever know when the time is right? What sorts of factors should you be looking out for? For one thing, you would be wise to make sure that you are making ample amounts of profit. For another, you need to be on the lookout for ever growing prospects, and be pursuing them actively. And for still another factor, you have got to be running your existing staff ragged, and have good systems in place to support them in making your business ever stronger.
After all, when you have a strong base, your business can grow more easily without toppling. Ideally, your business would resemble a pyramid, where the base is massive and the pinnacle reaches upward into the heavens. If you build a tower, it may start to lean like that unfortunate fool over in Pisa does. If you are okay with looking like you just could not build something straight up (and risk being called crooked), you can just grow at the first chance you get. But be warned that the world is full of the broken shards of companies that tried to grow too quickly.
Simply put, the best time to expand your business is when you can barely hang on to the work load that you already have. At that stage of the game, your profits are often just sitting there, or are just being used to stock up on more merchandise. That is the best time for you to begin hiring, begin building, and see how large you can grow your business before Forbes interviews you.