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Four Steps to Help You Grow Your Business

Posted: 20th September 2021 08:09
Having a business is great but being able to grow and sustain the business is where the hard work starts. Many businesses that are consideringgrowth and expansion often struggleto make the growth stick or to appreciably benefit from business expansion. There are increased costs and additional risks to consider and being bigger is not always better. Here are a few tips as to how you can sustain and grow your business. These are generic tips and should work and suit any business out there.

Be the best at what it is you do before you consider expansion

Regardless of how big the demand for your product or service is, don’t take on additional orders or work until you are the best at what it is you do. Perfect the business function before you expand. This is the first step in any business growth or expansion. Make sure that what it is that customers and consumers want is the best that it can be. Compare yourself/your products and service to your competitors’ and be honest about how you can improve. Implement these improvements and then reconsider any expansion plans.

Be on top of your finances

Know how much money you have and where, understand your business credit scores, and be able to accurately present a financial summary of where the business is. What’s the net profit and how much is this expected to increase from any expansion? The cost of the expansion and where this money will come from is critical and must be computed and calculated as accurately as possible. It’s essentially the finances and expected returns for the business that will determine your decision on your business expansion. Be confident in this knowledge of your business finances and if not, start reading balance statements.

Understand the sector and related industries

Unless yours is a one-off, stand-alone business, you must know the sector inside out. What are the current developments and who are the movers and shakers? What product ranges in your sector are moving fastest and who sells them, apart from you? This type of whole market research is what will stand you apart from the competitors. Knowledge of the market, current trends and understanding your competition will provide context for your growth planning.

Rework the business plan to plot growth

Many small and emerging businesses believe that business growth should be organic, determined by the market and as such doesn’t need the detailed planning that the initial business startup required. This is a huge mistake and as many closed businesses can attest to, it’s in the growth and expansion that many a business flounders and fails.

Overcapitalizing, or overestimating the sustainable demand for your products and services, is a known route to failure. Hence the advice is always to update and adjust the current business plan, so that any expansion or growth canbe plotted on paper before it costs in reality.