Some people start their businesses planning to conquer the market, but they’re exceptions. Most people are pretty happy if they achieve any level of success. However, while you might have had modest ambitions when you first started, that’s not to say that you can’t step things up if the opportunity arises. In this day and age, the sky’s the limit when it comes to success if you have the right tools, and there’s no inherent reason to stay small when everything is telling you otherwise.
Of course, expanding your business does come with risks, so it’s not a decision you should make lightly. In this post, we’ll outline some signs you may be ready to expand, as well as offer some handy tips on how to do it.
Your Customer Numbers Look Good
There are plenty of signs that you may be in a position to expand, but some are misleading. For instance, a lot of sales does not necessarily mean that you should expand. One metric that can be useful to look at is your customer retention rate, which is a pretty big indicator that your business works. It’s good to get first-time customers, but it’s even better to have customers who come back. If those numbers have been steadily increasing, then you might be able to think about growth.
Explore Opportunities
There’s more than one way to grow. You might decide to open a branch of your business in another location, either elsewhere in the city or in a completely new zone. You might look internationally, add more goods/services to your business model, partner with other companies, or expand your team of staff. As we said, growth can come in various forms. Explore the opportunities available to you and see what makes sense.
Free Up Working Hours
It takes a lot of time and effort to expand a business, almost as much as getting your business started in the first place. If you’re planning to grow, then look at taking some tasks off your ‘to-do list’; the extra time you gain could make all the difference. If you already have employees, then working with a payroll outsourcing company would make sense. You can also outsource IT, marketing, and legal tasks.
Work With A Financial Advisor
Unless you’re a trained accountant, you probably won’t have the expertise to really understand whether growth makes sense or not. Having an accountant or financial expert look over your numbers can be extremely useful since they’ll tell you where you stand from a financial viewpoint.
When It’s Right, It’s Right
There’s unlikely to be an out-and-out obvious sign that you should expand. It should come down to a mix of wanting and having to grow. While it’s more important not to rush into things, it’s sometimes just as valuable not to play things too safe. There’ll always be a risk that your plans won’t come off, but in many cases, it’s a risk worth taking. In any case, taking a few risks here and there is part of what running a business is all about.
