Now that you have built a successful business, you have an
established customer base and you are fairly well known in
your geographical area, your industry or both, what do you
do to stay ahead of your competition? You might want to
consider the following tips to help you to expand your
business and take it to the next level.
The following are 8 tips to help you increase the size of
your business and take it to the next level.
1. Open another location.
Either open another location or move into an office space
if you are currently working from a home office. This may
not be the best choice for expansion; however, it is the
first thing business owners often do. If you are thinking
of doing this, be sure you are maintaining a consistent
bottom-line profit and that you have shown steady growth
over the past few years. You also want to ensure your
infrastructure, staff and your systems can accommodate the
growth. Finally, research the demand of taking this next
step and how it will affect your decision.
2. Expand your product or service lines to compliment the
ones you currently have.
This will allow you to offer more selection and it makes
your products and services more appealing to your customer
base. However, first, you need to conduct market research
to determine which products and/or services are in demand,
which would be profitable for you, and which would be
affordable to your customers.
3. Find ways to increase repeat business for your current
customers.
This is a lot less expensive than locating new customers.
Initiate reorder cards that you can send out to remind
customers to reorder products and/or services when you want
them to, not just when they remember to do so. Contact
them more often with a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter via
email or mail to ensure the customer is keeping you on the
top of their minds for additional sales.
Consider developing volume sales discounts, monthly rates,
or other discounts to entice them to purchase more at a
time or for a longer period of time than instead of just a
single sale. If you can, try to get your customer to
contract with your business, if your business is set up to
do so.
4. Update your Website or develop a new one if you do not
have one.
Be sure to add monthly specials, discounts and/or
promotions on your site - especially on the home page to
attract attention. Ensure individuals/businesses visiting
your site sign up in order to qualify to win a drawing or
receive a discount, so that you can add them to your
database. You can also add products and/or services to
sell online. If done correctly, this adds sales and
reduces the time necessary to locate these sales. These
are typically bonus sales above and beyond anything you
would normally sell since they are from a different 'group'
of people.
5. Target other markets.
Only do this if you have already saturated your primary
target market. For example, if you sell to teens, consider
beginning marketing your product and/or service to college
students.
6. Turn your business into a franchise or franchise
opportunity.
You will need to ensure you have developed all your
operating systems needed in order to make your business a
smooth-running machine first, however. You can network
within the franchise industry.
7. Add a partner or merge with another existing
complimentary business.
With the right agreement and business plan, taking this
step can be beneficial to both parties involved. Be sure
to hire a reputable attorney to review all the paperwork
and look out for your best interests.
8. Go global.
Find alternate ways to market yourself globally if you do
not already do so. Consider ways to tweak your business in
order to offer your business and/or services to consumers
outside your current area. Have you considered
teleseminars, Webinars, shopping cart Websites, or search
engines?
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© Copyright 2008 K.Sawa Marketing
Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Relationship Marketing
Coach who's helped hundreds of small business owners take
dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next
level in business, revenues and life. She offers one-on-one
coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself marketing
planning products. Go online now to get started with her
Free Report and Free Audio at
http://www.GetFreeMarketingTips.com !
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