Grow Your Business

By expanding your business to a new location, you are effectively broadening your market reach. Bu like all business decisions, it does come with potential nightmares, in the form of a lot of pressures, stress and anxiety, especially when you think of the logistical nightmares it entails.

START DELEGATING As you ramp up your expansion to another area, there is a tendency to lose focus and overlook your original business.To prevent this, Junio says you need to appoint someone who will manage your business while you are away.

"Having a good business structure means you must have someone trustworthy, qualified and disciplined enough to maintain your business even with minimal supervision," he said.

 

DO YOUR RESEARCH Studying the different factors that may affect your business include political, economic, social, historical, environmental and demographical conditions. Junio says a critical component of this would be market research to establish if there is demand for your product or service.

"It would be best to locate your business in an area where there is a good level of demand for your products and services and is a market with customers who will be able to avail of your products or services," he said.

 

STICK TO A BUDGET Look at your books and see how much money you can spend or need to secure in order to expand. Include in your research whether it is feasible to move into a new location, and check if your cash flow is up to the task. Junio says to always include expansion and contingency costs on your budget in order to avoid problems later on.

 

EVALUATE AND TRAIN YOUR STAFF If you're moving to a new location, conditions may be different and thus procedures may have to be done differently. In a new environment, your employees may need a little familiarity to get going. Training them in advance and letting them in on the expansion plan helps communicate the message you want to convey.

VET NEW HIRES One of the crucial factors in expanding is finding the qualified people to man your business.

"Do some research on the area and the kind of people living within the area of your business. For instance, cultures might be different. And salary expectations might be different among locations," Junio said.

 

SPREAD THE WORD Conduct a preemptive marketing campaign that targets your specific audience. In an age when word of mouth is still a reliable sales tool, using social networks and other form of below the line marketing strategies like flyering will help drum up interest for your business.

"It's a preemptive strike, and lets people know you're coming. Your campaign must always feature your strengths and advantages over other competitors. Your goal is to establish a certain level of familiarity even before setting up shop in the new market," Junio said.

Finally, he counsels entrepreneurs to expand with caution, and to make sure to have a manageable plan in place and execute it efficiently. Studying your market well, and preparing to invest in some marketing to help spread the are keys to success, Junio said.

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