When things are going well for your business, the obvious best next step is to expand your business. However, this is a process that should be done very tentatively, as if you rush into it when your business isn’t prepared, it could impact your existing business negatively as well as not working in terms of expansion. Whether you’re a small business or a larger business, take your time planning out the process and it could be just what your business needs. We’re here with four different directions you can take to expand your business, so no matter what industry you’re in, hopefully, you can find some inspiration to start the planning process!
Create New Product Lines or Services
The first thing you can do to expand your business and attract new customers is to create new product lines. For example, if you have a jewellery business and you’ve mainly been focused on normal earrings, perhaps you could branch out and introduce some other piercing jewellery like daith earrings, conch, helix or tragus. The absolute key thing here is to ensure that when you’re introducing new lines, you don’t lose what makes you unique as a business nor does the quality of the jewellery or experience of the customer diminish in any way. Another example may be if you run a marketing agency, you could hire new members on your team experienced in an area you’re not currently offering, to increase the spending of some current clients and also expand the number of businesses that would be interested in working with you if you offer a full service. There are so many more examples but it’s best for you to think about this in relation to your own business and to look for new product lines or services you can provide.
Launch Internationally
Something else you can do which is a more extreme option is to launch internationally. Of course, taking your business overseas massively increases the amount of people you’re able to target, so it is an obvious way to expand. However, there are so many things to consider with this, from how demand is different in different countries, cultural differences, how your supply chain would work internationally, whether you need additional insurance like export credit insurance to protect your business, how the impact of your product may be impacted and whether or not the expansion is going to cause issues for your main business. This is a process that should be managed with experts, from your supply chain to internationalise your website, so as long as you’re prepared to invest time and money into this properly, it could be a good move for your business.
Invest In Forward-Thinking Staff
Another avenue to take when it comes to expanding your business is to invest in forward-thinking staff. If you work in quite a traditional industry, or you’ve found it difficult to be creative within your industry, then looking to hire up-and-coming people in the industry who have great ideas for change is going to be beneficial. They may be able to make suggestions that you never thought of, but could be relatively easy to implement. As a successful business, it can be difficult to look to the future at times, so having dedicated people thinking about the future of the business is important. Optimism about a company’s future not only benefits the owners, but the entire team will see opportunities for growth and development (as long as you highlight this clearly to them), which will motivate them to do well. Just make sure that as the business grows, you’re rewarding people so that you maintain a strong team of people you can trust. The last thing you want is to let down the people who helped you bring the business to where it is today.
Change Your Marketing Strategy
Changing up your marketing strategy is another fantastic way to expand your business. There are so many channels out there that can help you reach brand-new users. With investment in the right places, you can transform your business. We’d always recommend working with a well-recommended agency as they will be able to look at your business specifically and provide the right channels for you to market through. For an insurance company, this could be LinkedIn ads and PPC ads, whereas a fashion brand may be more focused on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook ads. There should never be a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy, so creating a custom strategy to choose the best channels can be transformative for your business. Speaking to a few different agencies and comparing is important, as you want to make sure you’re choosing someone who is invested in learning about your business to ensure the absolute right strategy is in place.