Potent Small Business Expansion Tips
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There eventually comes a time when every small business owner, or at least those who are successful to buck the trend and be one of the 20 percent who survives the first year, wants to expand and grow their business. But, how exactly do you take your successful small business and transform it into a bigger, more successful company?
There are numerous ways to grow your small business into a big one, but here are some of the most effective:
Do Some Market Research
You might be groaning right now, but conducting the right kind of really helpful market research will help you to really get down and focus on the right target audience and the right products and services. Even huge companies like Coca-Cola struggled to grow their companies until they identified the markets most receptive to what they were trying to do, so it really is a strategy that works, if you listen to what the market research says, and make changes accordingly.
Move into a New Market
Something that can really help your market grow is the process of expanding into a new segment of the market that you haven’t thought about before. Ideally, this should be related to what you’re doing now. So, for example, if you currently sell essential oils, why not also start selling aromatherapy online courses, which your customers are likely to be interested in? This is just one example, and to make this work, you really have to identify a segment of the market that is currently underserved, but if you can do that, you’re onto a good thing.
Hire Skilled Employees
If you’re serious about growing your business, chances are you’re going to need more employees, and one of the most effective ways of growing and expanding your business is to hire extremely creative, skilled employees, who really know what they’re doing and who can add a huge amount of value to your business. Sure, you’ll have to find extra office space for your new employees, but this is an expense that is so worthwhile because these skilled new employees will add value to your business now and in the future. Take your time to select the absolutely best people you can afford, and you will not regret it.
Put a Solid Marketing Plan in Place
Before you even think about taking measures to grow and expand your business, you should absolutely take the time to sit down and develop an effective marketing plan. If you don’t do this, you could end up wasting a whole lot of time and money for nothing!
A good marketing plan is one that covers everything from your knowledge of the target market and what they like to your position in the market and how you can compete with other businesses, to the costs and timeframe for delivering growth. Put lots of time into developing a plan like this, and you’re much more likely to succeed.
Apply for SBA Financing
It’s almost impossible to expand your small business without money, and one of the best ways to acquire the funds you need to grow your business is via the U.S. Small Business Association, which is dedicated to helping small businesses succeed. They can offer various financial programs that will help you expand successfully without too many money worries at all. If you can’t get a loan from the SBA, consider crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, which not only help small business to raise money but offer a very clear indicator of interest in their goods and services.
Diversify Your Goods and Services
Of course, the classic way to grow a small business is to diversify either by modifying the goods and services you currently offer, so that they are slightly more interesting, creating a completely new range, or branching out and marketing to new people in new places, who you perhaps wouldn’t have thought of trying to sell to before. These are strategies that can really pay dividends if you do it right, perhaps by offering complementary services to the ones you already offer, opening a new branch in a neighboring town, for example.
Partner with Other Companies
Another very effective, in terms of results and cost, way to grow and expand your business is by partnering up with another business that complements your own. That way, they can promote your goods and services, and you theirs for a low-cost way to get your stuff in front of new people.
With these small business expansion tips, even if you only implement one or two of them, a bigger, brighter future is within reach.
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