When starting a business, all you want might just be being able to survive long enough to make your living. However, after years of devoting time and money, your needs and wants are not that simple anymore. You might realise that it is time to start expanding your business which is very risky and complicated. Fortunately, there are many lessons from former pioneers for you to learn and practice. Following are 6 of the most valuable tips:
Conduct regular market research
You might have done this when you were at the first stage starting out your business yet you are not done with it. Market research is the task which needs to be conducted daily so that you can keep updating information of the market and your competitors. People’s interests and habits might change every day so you need to continuously dig deep into the market to catch consumers’ needs and wants. The more information you have, the more excellent your decisions will be.
– Listen to your customers’ opinions.
– Listen to the consumers on the social network.
– Watch your sale data.
– Keep an eye on competitors’ moves.
Avoid being too detailed
It is easy to be too detailed when planning for business expansion. This process brings back a lot of pressure and creates the illusion that you have to write down every minor detail carefully or else you will get lost. However, many experienced business owners, David Abrahamovitch for example, claim that what you really should do is forming a plan with main points and important details only. Too many details will prevent you from seeing the big picture.
– Your plan should have just enough information for the beginning.
– The plan should aim to specific market segments.
– Be ready to switch to another plan if the return lower than expected for a period of time.
– Add milestones to the plan so that you can keep everything on track.
Pay attention to your finance
No matter how your good your plan is, you can not implement it without money. Thus, how well you can expand the business also depends on how well you control your financial aspect. Having clear and precise records of input and output cashflow will lighten the financial burden and save you more time and energy to focus on the expansion plan.
– If you are not an accountant, hire one to get support on financial and accounting issue like tax or cash flow.
– Use an online accounting system such as Xero (https://www.xero.com/) to improve all accounting activities.
– Use a data storage and delivery system to ensure all your documents can be saved and shared quickly and simply.
Improve sale operation & process
The purpose of frequently conducting market research is to improve your sale. Either the customers’ choices are based on concern for health or differentiation, try to meet it to gain their interest. In order to grow your business, make sure your products and services are doing their best to not fall behind competitors’ return ratios.
– Improve marketing channels to broadcast your products.
– Improve customer care services.
– Try cooperating with other brands for a joining product or service to expand the market segment.
Website
Whether your company is an online business or not, an official website is always necessary for all company’s public information. However, creating a website is not simple at all. You should not only post some contact information yet you also should not post every business information on it.
– Provide official contact details.
– Provide brief information about your services and products.
– The link to the website should appear on other marketing channels like a Facebook page or Instagram to direct customers straight to it.
– Some buttons like “Call us” or “Buy now” should be available on the product tab so that visitors can easily make their purchase.
Build a strong tribe
It is ok to be both the employer and the employee at the same time when starting your business. Nevertheless, if you are about to expand it, building a team, even small, might be really necessary. It is hard to excel in every aspect so find someone who can be your “wingman” in your disadvantage fields. They do not need to be talented or have an excellent resume. What you need is the right people handle the right tasks. Before carrying out the recruitment, make sure your business is attractive enough to lure them all.
– Provide attractive working environment full of collaboration and competition.
– Ensure appropriate promotion to encourage more effort.
– Support them with both career and personal issues.
Business expansion is never easy and relaxing. However, with the right strategies and the willingness to learn from the best, follow those pieces of advice and it will no longer be a dream.
