Many entrepreneurs and business owners typically set goals and objectives that ensure that their businesses grow and expand. However, expanding your business is a challenging task, one that does not happen overnight. But just because it is challenging doesn’t mean it’s not attainable. Many successful companies have nurtured their operations and activities to achieve this goal. If you set your purpose and assess your options critically, you will quickly identify your business’s expansion opportunities and increase your revenue. So, where do you start? Here are a few tips to consider when it’s time to grow your business:
- Improve your sales channels
You may have operated from your brick and mortar store for a long time and have been perfectly comfortable. But recently, you may have noticed that foot traffic to your shop has slowed down. It could be due to several reasons like changing consumer choices or preferences, less money to spend, and the mass transition from physical to online shopping. Unfortunately, you’ve seen a dip in your sales report. When it happens, it gets more challenging to maintain your store, and you may have had to lay off some of your staff. You can turn this situation around, however, by upgrading and increasing your sales channels. Many businesses have decided to rebrand and reinvent themselves to find success online. In fact, the amount of estimated sales made through online shopping is expected to hit $4 trillion by 2020. By so doing, these businesses have reached a wider audience by advertising their products or services. They also use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies that help them appear on the first page of search engines when potential customers search for them.
- Introduce new products and services
As a business owner, you must have an in-depth understanding of your customers, including their preferences and needs. This information will help you figure out what type of product or service offerings your customers want and how much they would like to pay for them. You will also have to consider if you can afford to introduce new products and how much profit it will yield for your business. Before you do so, conduct further research. Ask your customers through newsletters or market surveys what they think about a potential new product.
- Merge with or acquire another business
Deciding to merge with or acquire another business is perhaps the quickest way to growing your business. That’s because by doing so, you can exponentially increase your sales and profit margins. However, before you take such a huge risk or even decide, you have to conduct your own due diligence exercise research on all partners involved. Your study must include researching the other company’s financial status, staff strength, and customer base. It involves a lot of work, but thankfully, many companies like The DVS Group can do this work on your behalf. These companies provide you with the technical information you might need to close the deal. They will also help you structure your deals and negotiate for a fair and reasonable agreement suitable for all parties involved.
- Franchise model
Some potential customers might need what you have to offer. However, they are limited because of their location. By opening a franchise, you will be selling your current products or services to new customers. If you have a storefront business, then franchising will most likely require that you open a new store in a different location – usually a new city or state. Before you open a franchise, there are a few things you must consider. You need to know how much it will cost to finance this endeavor, and budget accordingly. You will also need to have full knowledge of your new customers. They might have similar needs, but their different geographical locations and culture might be other from your current client base. That will help you when selecting the correct advertising channels to attract them. Furthermore, you will also need to think about how much control you would want over your franchise.
- Target a new market
At the start of your business, you had a set target market after conducting a comprehensive research. You identified your audience based on demographics (gender, location, and age) and psychographics (preferred activities and values). These people typically form the primary target market. If you properly segment your market, you will identify both your primary and ancillary needs. When it’s time to expand your business, you can upgrade your efforts to reach your secondary audience. Remember to assess your ability to cater to this new audience. Do you have multiple sales channels? Do you have enough product resources to meet their needs? These are essential questions to ask.
- Revamp your advertising efforts
Advertising is one of the essential activities that businesses need to adopt as it helps them connect with their customers, both new and old. When adequately executed, advertising can have fantastic results. It increases your company’s traffic to both online and physical stores. That automatically translates to generating more sales and revenue for you and your business. Advertising also creates a positive image of your business and solidifies your legitimacy. It is still a popular strategy used to reach out to potential markets. In fact, in the United States alone, advertising spending could reach $289.5 billion by 2022.
- Focus on your hiring process
If you want to grow, you need to build a team dedicated to expanding the business with you. Before you hire, you need to assess precisely what or where your business needs help. This assessment will help you identify what role is available and what the job entails—research numerous job blogs and websites to give you an idea of how to compensate your workers.
So, here are some things to deliberate on while you think of expanding your business. If you tried any strategies but didn’t have any success, think about re-evaluating your efforts to improve your chances. Remember that different things will work for different people and strive to find the best combination of strategies for your business expansion project.