Business expansion is the ultimate goal for any SME. To achieve growth from a small number of clients in a local area to a national, or even international level is sought after by every company with dreams of making it big. Not only does growth of this size mean significantly increased profits, but it also represents brand awareness, and the knowledge that something you created and nurtured has been successful. However, business expansion is often the most challenging period of a business’ life, and a wrong move here can have disastrous consequences. As such, we have listed some of the most important things you need to know about achieving successful business expansion for your SME.
1. Ensure you have customer loyalty
It costs up to three times more money to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing ones, so having loyal customers gives you a solid sales foundation if you are looking to divert money into business expansion. Creating customer loyalty programmes is a great way to keep existing customers, as well as also recruiting new ones because of the scheme. This gives you a solid sales figure base on which to make more accurate and precise forecasting decisions.
2. Identify your key demographics
By understanding your target audience properly, you can make better judgments about how and what to sell, as well as branding and marketing campaigns. Equally, by understanding what resonates with your key clientele, you will be more likely to discover new opportunities that will help with your business growth. It also means there will be less time, money and resources wasted on trying to convert people who are unlikely to be interested in your services.
3. Examine your finance levels
Initially, it is likely that business expansion will end up costing you significant amounts of capital. Whether this is investing in new property, machinery or employees, you need to ensure that you have the finances to make the expansion successful, as well as having some funds in reserve as a caveat. In some cases, it is well worth considering business finance as a means to ensure you have the funding available for successful expansion.
Business expansion – where to find out more
If you’d like some help with obtaining finance to expand your SME, please get in touch, we’d be happy to help
Or visit our alternative funding page to find out more about the different finance solutions we can offer.
