When you are running a small business that is going along smoothly, you start wondering about how to grow it. There are many ways to do this, and we have selected and listed only these top 9 ideas for growing your small business.
1. Expand by Adding a New Location: When you start to think that your business is doing well in the current location, that is the right time to expand. It’s really important to follow the right site location process when you want to expand by adding a new location.
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Make use of site selection tools and/or a site location consultant to help you choose the right site for your new branch. You need to look at:
- Style or mode of operation
- Demographics of customers and employees
- Foot traffic
- Competition rate
- Accessibility to other businesses and services
- Zone restrictions
- Office infrastructure and history of the site
- Rental, utilities and other costs
2. Franchise: If your products and business name have gained a certain brand awareness, there’s an opportunity for you to turn it into a franchise operation. You can grow and earn more revenue from franchisees without having to take on the added responsibility of managing each new location yourself. This way, you can also grow fast and add a whole lot more locations in a shorter duration.
3. Licensing your product/service: If you have a great product or services to sell but don’t have the means or reach to do it, then licensing is the next best option. You just give the rights to other organisations to sell your product under their name and packaging, and collecting a certain amount in royalty every time the product is sold.
4. Form Partnerships: Joint ventures, mergers, and associating yourself with a similar type of business or one that complements your product offeirng can help your business grow faster. For example, ola tying up with Mahindra, ecommerce platforms Flipkart and Snapdeal tying up with NBFC, and so on.
5. Diversify: Diversifying is a good option to grow your business because you can have multiple streams of income that can fill seasonal voids. Most common ways of diversifying are:
- Sell complementary products or services
- Offer an integrated solution
- Sell other people’s products or services
6. Expand your target audience: Every product is created to solve certain problems and is limited to a group of people. Study the market to see whether your product can reach beyond the target audience.
You can do it in different ways:
- By studying your competitors;
- Researching and surveying your current audience;
- Looking at the demographics of your website visitors;
- Using social media platforms to identify the unreachable audience; and
- Conducting interviews and sending out survey questionnaires to gather additional information.
7. Apply for government contracts: Working on government contracts in your category is a major step towards growth and recognition. Under the enlistment act, any individual or eligible business person with relevant experience can apply for government contracts.
Government agencies favour small scale industries and businesses, especially those run by minorities, handicapped persons or woman-owned businesses. The government also provides mentorship programs in promoting small startups. Use this link to search & apply for government contracts.
8. Start Exporting: No company that wants to grow can ignore exports and international trade. Find out more about why international trade is important for growing your business.
9. Start your business online: Your business, irrespective of size, needs an online presence for maximum exposure. Find out how to get more sales through digital marketing.
You can get started on one or more of these 9 ideas right away. Need help growing your business? Get an office at Evoma and we will give you the tools and help you need to grow fast.
