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Starting a business is one thing. However, maintaining and growing the business is another thing. Many business startups often experience a lot of challenges such that a business owner can easily quit and give up. Business expansion is one approach that can scale your business to the next level. For instance, increasing the customer base, enhancing operational strategies, and increasing market share are among the core benefits of business expansion.
One thing about business expansion is that it can move an already struggling business to a worse situation. Just like a student would strategize to do an accounting essay effectively, it is the same way you should strategize for your business expansion to get the most out of the idea. This guide will give you strategies you should follow to ensure you plan and strategize your business expansion appropriately. Keep reading.
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When is the right time to start business expansion?
Before you start the business expansion process, you must know when is the right time to conduct the process. Below are examples of scenarios for business expansion.
- When you want to keep good employees
- When you want to dominate the market niche
- When you want to achieve economies of scale
- When getting leads to other clients following
Strategies to follow for your business expansion
Once you are on the move toward your business expansion, follow the strategies described below:
Do market research
Before any step, you must understand the factors affecting business. Review the local market conditions, analyze areas that need expansion, and evaluate customer and competition trends.
Ideally, a SWOT analysis will work perfectly for all forms of businesses undergoing expansion. Through a SWOT analysis, business owners can highlight business strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and possible threats. With a SWOT analysis in place, you can then figure out the best expansion plan for your business’s success.
Note: A SWOT analysis is effective in the following scenarios:
- When adjusting the already existing expansion plan
- Analyzing new enterprises
- When doing an annual or quarterly reviews
- When updating internal policies
Research and development are key elements
Next, after doing market research, you should focus on research and development. Think of new product ideas and how such products will perform in different markets. This strategy will help business owners identify the viable business concepts that will see the business grow to the next level. Don’t forget to conduct product and service testing in different markets to identify productive markets for specific products.
Hire expert employees
Of course, your business expansion process will require experts and professionals with a set of skills to push your business to higher and maximize profits. What’s more, talented employees in a specific area will help you plan and strategize the processes, ensuring the business turns out successful.
Note: When hiring expert talents to push your business expansion process, don’t forget to factor in the KPIs – key performance indicators. These are the elements that will show you what such individuals will contribute to your business.
Increase your product line
Expanding your product or service base can speed up the business expansion process. Include items similar or closely associated with your products and services to your already existing products. This move will capture the attention of already existing customers and attract potential customers who are eager to try some new offerings, thus escalating your business growth curve.
Expand market reach
Again, you will need to figure out how to engage and reach more customers. You can use ads here or social media outreach. However, you must establish your budget depending on the products and services you are offering as you engage and reach out to more potential customers. Here, you can explore the following ideas:
Explore export opportunities – You can opt to start expanding your business by exporting your goods and services. Here, you can incorporate the SWOT analysis strategy to determine if export expansion will enhance your business growth.
Creating a digital presence – Many businesses thrive today because of establishing a digital presence. Depending on your target audience, always use an appropriate social media platform. For instance, Snapchat and TikTok can be the best social media options to showcase your products and services.
Use new and advanced technologies
New technologies play a crucial role in shaping your business as it grows. Once you start integrating new technologies in your business, you will maximize return on investment, enhance business efficiency, and minimize costs and expenses required to scale the business higher.
Among the best technologies you can integrate into your business expansion include the following:
- The use of a 3D printer to help determine the best prototypes when researching and developing a plan for business expansion.
- The use of big data collection to give the business valuable information that is key in making decisions when strategizing to expand the business
- Integration of cloud technology to enhance remote working. This enables the team to be flexible and work from anywhere, thus saving time and other resources yet remaining productive.
- The use of AI – artificial intelligence to study market trends and customer behaviors. This enhances a good user experience and helps business owners make informed decisions during business expansion.
Diversification is key
Diversification of a business is all about introducing new products and services that will complete the original products and services you are offering. For instance, if your main business focuses on selling coffee, you can diversify the products and services by introducing takeaway services and products that can make coffee complete, such as sandwiches and pies.
Just like you would do when expanding your product and services, make sure you conduct in-depth market research and know the possible risks and challenges that come with product or service diversification. This will help you create a practical plan that will ensure divarication will scale your business higher.
Conclusion
As a business entrepreneur, your goal is to see your business grow from one level to the next. Maybe it is about time you conducted a business expansion process. Make sure you consider the strategies highlighted in this guide for the effectiveness of the process.
