Sometimes, we become so caught up in the day to day process of running our businesses – so many constant to-do list tasks shouting for our attention, so little time – that we almost lose sight of what we’re doing and why. If things go well, and business continues to expand, then it can happen almost without much design – events are occuring so fast that any sense of strategy goes out of the window. In the long run, this isn’t always a good thing – so if business is taking off, try to take a moment to think about your long-term objectives and business values. Because there is a right and a wrong way to upgrade your business!
Find Out What Matters To Your Customers
Before expanding in any direction, it’s a good idea to sense check what you’re planning to do against that most essential of factors – what your audience wants. So many businesses make the mistake of forging ahead without this crucial step – and then manage to be surprised when it doesn’t work out. There are so many ways to sense check the direction of travel – you can try some social listening to find out what customer’s concerns and issues are, you could try conducting a poll on your website or setting up an incentivized email survey – you could even set up a focus group to gather some real qualitative insight.
Consider Your Resources
Business growth is a resource-intensive time, so it’s better to understand exactly what you will need and understand how you will source it. It may be about people – you might need to make some new hires to deliver core activity, and may find that hiring a recruitment consultant helps you to avoid expensive hiring mistakes and find the right candidate for the role far quicker. It might be about equipment – you could find yourself trying to source wide format printers, additional materials or the tools to fabricate something new. Sometimes it’s about space – do you need more storage in warehousing, or a larger office premises? Thinking through all of the implications of expansion and mapping out exactly what it will cost you keeps you on track, as you may need to secure growth funding to ensure you can expand at this time.
Create Your Objectives
Expansion must have an end point – an aim that is tied to your company values and your overall goals for the business. Every action should take place to create the business you want and not just occur haphazardly. Use SMART goals to make sure that what you’re doing has a broader purpose and contributes positively – otherwise you can expend a whole lot of energy and time pursuing something that doesn’t fit and might later be discarded. This will also help you out with setting objectives for your staff and making sure that the role profiles of any new positions that you create deliver exactly what you need them to. It will also make sure that you can differentiate your business from the competition and communicate clearly to customers and your stakeholders as to what is changing and why.
- This post has been written by an outside source – See Disclosure Policy
