So, you think it is time to grow your business. What is your plan? Depending on what your business actually is will depend on how you would want to plan to grow. There are several key factors to consider and a lot of questions that will need to be answered before proceeding.
Key Factors to consider:
- Do you have the funds to grow your business? I have always tried to grow my business without taking on additional debt. Have you built a reserve to help with the process of growing?
- Do you have enough personnel to handle the additional growth?
- Will there be additional space needed for your business to grow? (i.e. office space, is more space needed to accommodate additional equipment, etc.) Will you need to relocate?
These items are your Key Factors, however, there is still a lot more items to consider.
a) In growing your business is there going to be a need for additional equipment?
b) Are you going to be doing the marketing yourself to grow your business or are you going to need to hire a marketing firm?
c) How big are you planning to grow?
Since you have been in business a little while and you are making the decision to grow, you need to look at how you are going to achieve this.
Are you going to expand by bringing on new contracts? Soliciting new business by an advertising campaign? Adding a new product to your current product line? Thinking of building a wholesale base? Are you expanding to an Online presence? Are you thinking of merging with another company that will compliment your business? Or have you assessed a need of some of your current clients that you may be able to up sell additional services? Or, are you considering franchising your business model?
Whichever way you are looking at expanding, you need to know that timing is everything. It is wise to prepare a growth plan with a timeline to complete the necessary steps to be able to expand accordingly. If you have a team of people who are working with you, it is easier to delegate the various items that need to be completed. If you are working within a smaller framework of personnel or are doing this process yourself, you will need to determine a realistic time frame in which you will be able to complete this process.
The thing that you DO NOT want to happen is to take on a new project and find out that you cannot meet the constraints of the contract. (i.e. you cannot meet the contract timeline, you do not have enough personnel to fulfill their orders, you have under budgeted and there are no funds to complete the project, the end product does not meet with your client’s approval, etc.)
In your growth plan, you need to make sure that you prepare for the unexpected as well as the expected.
In making the decision to grow you need to ask yourself – What is your competitor doing in the industry? Are you ahead of the market? Behind the market? Or, just staying on trend within the market? It is always best to either be ahead of the market or to be on trend within the market. But, the question is “What sets you apart within your market?
If you are expanding into something new, you need to make sure that you have covered yourself the best way that you can by completing patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc. You will want to contact your local attorneys to make sure that you have everything covered legally and take the necessary steps to protect your intellectual property and/or your new products/designs.
Each business will have an individualized growth plan. If you are looking at growing your business the question is “What is going to be the best path to take to achieve this growth?”
As this blog continues we will look at the various strategies that you may want to consider in growing your business. For example: If you are in a business that operates on contracts or renewed contracts on an annual basis, you will want to look at the additional businesses that you may be able to start soliciting new business from. Are you working with various municipalities (cities, states, townships, or federal) in bidding for various business opportunities? Are you soliciting contracts from within the private sector of business? Determining where you need to start depends on your business.
Do you have a business you are looking at growing? Let’s brainstorm. Send me an email and we will start looking at your various options.