One of the challenges of running a successful business is to keep it growing. A stagnant business is a dying business. You need to keep at the cutting edge of innovation, which means constantly looking for new ways to grow and improve your business.
For example, it might be a good idea to establish a branch of your company in a new area. This opens up another box of complications and challenges to overcome, but it’s often worth it.
But why is expanding to a new area such a good idea, and how can you ensure success for your company?
The Benefits of Expansion
One of the primary benefits of expanding your business, and particularly establishing a branch in a new area is that you can also expand your customer base. This means that your business reaches more customers in the new area, which in turn leads to more sales and profit potential.
Expanding your business also creates more assets and opportunities in the business itself, which boosts its net worth.
A good business should constantly be investing back into itself. Rather than sitting on profits or wasting them, it’s much better to use any gains to develop your business and keep it growing. This leads to a pattern of consistent growth and a stable, healthy company.
Also, increasing the scale of your company means that it can achieve more and potentially save money. You can buy goods and services in bulk, potentially reducing costs. You can provide better customer service to more people. You solidify your brand identity.
These are just a few of the ways your company can benefit from expanding and growing to a new area. Yes, it’s a huge amount of work to set up, but if the expansion is dealt with properly, it can be incredibly profitable.
Research Slowly, Expand Quickly
While expanding undoubtedly has a lot of potential upsides, it can also be a potential pitfall. Yes, it’s important to invest in your business and encourage growth. But unsustainable growth is another issue entirely. When a company expands too quickly, it can cause a whole host of issues that can lead to collapse.
It’s a bit like trying to build a tower without bothering to build a foundation. You might be able to get fairly high very quickly, but the more it grows, the more unstable it becomes. The same applies to your business. Before you grow it, you need to build that foundation.
This means planning the expansion carefully. The planning stage will establish where would be best to expand to, what strategies to employ, and what financial backing you may need.
While all of these points are important, the last will also set you up for getting a business loan or talking through the growth with shareholders. A business plan entails what you need to spend, as well as the potential profits of moving to an area and when you will earn those profits.
Explore potential risks and look for ways to mitigate them as much as possible. But on the other hand, don’t fall into the trap of only planning and never taking action.
Once you have a plan in place, execute the plan as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Setting Up the Branch
As well as the financial concerns, there are practical things to consider when setting up a new branch. First, you need to find a location that suits your needs and potentially allows more room for growth, depending on how the branch fares in the months and years ahead.
You should also consider creating a local presence for your branch. For example, phone numbers and local social media accounts will make your company part of the community and make it easier for customers to contact the branch they need. So, if you are setting up a branch in North Carolina, look for North Carolina phone numbers and a switchboard to help you manage the company effectively.
This way, you can enhance your customer service and begin developing a loyal customer base in the new area.
It’s also beneficial to find local vendors and other businesses that can help you establish your brand in that area. Look for community events and expos as they can provide great opportunities.
Finally, before you’re ready to start training, it’s important to find local employees who can keep the business running. As your business grows, it will become more difficult to run on your own. So find employees you can trust in management positions and delegate the day-to-day operations, allowing the branch to work independently and flexibly according to its needs.
Marketing and Sales
A new branch won’t be able to generate a profit immediately, but the sooner you can start selling in an area and establishing your brand, the sooner your investment can start paying for itself.
One way to link the new branch with the rest of your company is through a business website. This allows customers to learn more about the company and potentially buy online, as well as create a point of contact for any concerns they may have.
But a good business website is more than just a page people can explore. It can provide plenty of opportunities for content marketing, especially if you link your business website to social media. Marketing is all about making your brand as visible as possible, and the best way to do this is through making sure your company is where potential customers are.
People spend a huge amount of time online, so if you provide valuable and useful content that they enjoy, you give them an incentive to go on your website and follow your social media page. This, in turn, gives you more opportunities to market your business and advertise certain promotions, products, and deals.
As well as marketing your new branch, keep an eye on sales and look for ways to encourage people to not only check out the new business but buy from it as well. An opening up sale, as well as the aforementioned expos and events are a great way to get started.