As a business, expanding as soon as you can is something you plan well ahead for. Bringing in new customers, opening up new locations, even heading abroad to do business there - these are all ambitions that cross our minds when registering a new small company.
When the day comes that you feel ready to finally cross a few expansion ideas off the list, you can pat yourself on the back with how far you’ve come. However, you need to be sure you’re ready to take these steps. Are all your ducks in a row right now? Let’s think about it below.
If your customer base is already crying out for more products from you, don’t wait around to make them. Start the process as soon as possible; do your research, create your prototypes, get feedback on them, and then start selling something new. The more you can make with the one idea you have, the stronger the value of your whole business becomes, and that’s a great foundation for developing a whole line of products.
If your team knows what they’re doing, your business will be growing strong too! This means they know how to take initiative, and they know how to get the job done as fast and efficiently as possible. A strong team can take you anywhere, and if you hand them more responsibilities, they'll respond to them very well. But make sure you don’t skimp on the communication here - your team needs to know the moves you’re planning to make, and need to be involved in choosing the direction you expand in.
If you’re running out of office space, because you’ve needed to hire more employees or you need to expand your in-house servers, take this as the ball rolling. A new location means more footfall and customers, more chances for leads and the ability to serve them, and that's the surest sign of growth any business could ever have. Maybe you can work out of more than one office now? Maybe you need to set up another store in a nearby town? Whatever it is that’s got you looking at commercial real estate, push as hard as you can into it.
If the industry you work in has had a lot of upward trends recently, this could be the final sign you’re looking for. If it’s going well elsewhere, there’s a good chance that’ll trickle down your way and allow you to make more success. Indeed, it may lead you abroad to a new, rich market; you could work in Barcelona by the end of the year! It could also mean there’s a bigger demand for services across the globe, and a lot more custom is coming your way - that’s a sign it’s time to update the website at least!
Got expansion plans? Look for the signs above before deploying them.
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