Tips for Small Business Owners – The goal of every small business owner is to make a profit, and this is done by growing and expanding your business. However, you shouldn’t just jump right into expansion or you could lose a lot of money. If your business has been profitable for at least three years, you have a loyal customer base, and your industry is growing, then these are just a few signs it’s time to expand.
1: Add New Offerings
Seemingly, one of the easiest ways to expand your business is to add new products or services for your consumers. This is easy if you’re able to produce or provide more, but if you specialize in one specific thing, you might one to expand your expertise. A few things to keep in mind before adding new offerings:
- Conduct market research to see what your customers want
- Don’t stray too far away from your core
- Make sure your new product/service complements the original
As a small business owner, you should always be aware of new trends in your industry. This can make it easier to come up with new products/services to offer.
2: Claim a Niche Market
While you’re expanding your products or services, make sure that you’re focusing on a specific niche within your target market. Your target market is a broad group of people who you believe will be interested in your product or service. This is usually narrowed down to a specific gender or age range. To find your niche market, you’ll have to use market optimization to find the specific group of people that are interested in your product/service.
Your niche market may also be your target audience at times. Your target audience is the specific group that is the focus of a campaign.
3: Launch an Ecommerce Website
If you operate your business in person only, then you’ll benefit from launching an eCommerce website. This will be different from your business website— which you should already have— or you can make your new eCommerce website your new business website. The COVID-19 pandemic had more people buying things online, and many people still prefer to make purchases this way. This also allows you to expand your business outside of your local city.
Of course, this only applies to businesses that sell products to customers. Ecommerce sites allow you to sell products, not services.
4: Optimize Your Existing Market
When trying to attract new customers, don’t forget about your existing customers. You likely have loyal customers, so you’ll have to conduct more research to determine your top customers. Once you’ve determined this target audience, you can also come up with marketing campaigns that focus on this group.
Also, consider offering special rewards for your most loyal customers. It doesn’t have to be a free product or service, but it can be a discounted one, or maybe a free one after so many purchases. You want your loyal customers to know that their business is appreciated.
5: Partner with or Acquire Another Business
Strategically partnering with another business that complements yours gives you access to an almost entirely new market. This is a good option if you can’t come up with a new offering from your own business. You could also buy an existing business to double its size of yours. Just make sure that this move will benefit your business.
Keep in mind that both partnering with and acquiring another business expands other portions of your business as well. You’ll likely need to acquire more business insurance and licenses, and also update your cloud business software for enterprise resource planning with GSI.
6: Start an Affiliate Program
Affiliate programs allow your customers to become a part of your business. When they market your products or services to their family, friends, and social media followers, you reward them with a commission on each purchase they refer through their affiliate link. This gets your products and services in front of an audience that you may not have accessed yet, and your affiliates can do this for you.
Start by offering your affiliate program to your most loyal customers because you know they’re willing to tell as many people as possible about your business. This is also a great way to reward your loyal customers.
If you’re unsure about expanding, then it may not be the time to expand. However, optimizing your existing market is always a good idea. Just start slow with your expansion, and soon you’ll see the growth you’ve been wanting.