How to Reduce Chaos in a Growing Business
- David Langley
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
If your business is growing fast, chances are it feels a little… messy.
Projects flying everywhere, staff asking the same questions twice, customers slipping through the cracks, and you feeling like you’re holding everything together with duct tape and late nights.
Sound familiar? Good news – it’s fixable.
Chaos in a business isn’t a sign you’re failing.
In fact, it’s a sign you’re succeeding. You’ve grown beyond the systems you started with – and now it’s time to level them up.
Here’s how.
1. Map What’s Actually Happening (Not What You Think is Happening)
Most owners assume they know how work flows through their business – but if you sat with your team for a day, you’d probably be shocked at the shortcuts, extra steps, and workarounds they’ve invented.
Do this:
Write down your key processes – from sales to delivery to asking for feedback.
Get your team to describe (or even better, screen-record using Loom or Scribe) what actually happens step by step.
Spot where things break down, repeat, or rely on one person’s memory.
This gives you the real picture – not the tidy version in your head.
2. Put the Right Systems in Place
Growing businesses don’t need more tools, they need fewer – but better connected.
A good project management tool (ClickUp, Asana), combined with a simple CRM (HubSpot, Zoho), will replace endless Slack threads, spreadsheets, and late-night texts.
Oh, and no, you don't need a £30k bespoke system built. Not yet, anyway.
Look for tools that:
Give you one place for tasks, updates, and deadlines.
Make it easy to see what’s urgent and what can wait.
Can grow with you (no point switching again in 12 months).
3. Stop Being the Bottleneck
Here’s the truth: a lot of chaos happens because everyone is waiting on you.
You’ve probably built your business by being across everything – but at scale, that’s not sustainable. The key? Start writing things down.
Create simple SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) using tools like Loom, Scribe, or even Google Docs. Show your team how to do things once – then trust them to do it without you.
4. Prioritise Ruthlessly
Not every problem is worth fixing. Use something like the Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs Important) to focus on what really moves the needle:
Fix the fires that impact revenue or customer trust.
Park the nice-to-haves until things stabilise.
Delete the tasks that don’t serve your growth at all.
5. Build Feedback Loops
Scaling smoothly isn’t about setting systems once and walking away. It’s about constant tweaks. Have regular check-ins (weekly or monthly) where the team can flag what’s working and what’s clunky.
Small changes, made often, prevent big chaos later.
The End Goal?
A business that feels calm, even when it’s busy.
Where you can step away for a week and things still run.Where your energy goes into growth – not firefighting.
If you’re in that £1m–£5m stage, calming the chaos isn’t just nice to have – it’s the only way you’ll scale without burning out your team (or yourself).
Want to shortcut this process?
That’s exactly what we do with Fix & Flow – an operational programme designed for businesses in this exact stage. We help you map, systemise, and calm the chaos so you can focus on growth, and give you an Ops Growth Plan to prep for the next stage.
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