If you’re thinking about expansion then, firstly, congratulations! It’s a big deal to get through your first few years of business, and you deserve to celebrate that. But don’t take the plunge into expanding until you know if it’s the right time or not. These signs will help you decide either way.
You’re Run Off Your Feel with Customers
If you’re barely able to keep up with customer demand, or if you can’t keep up at all, that’s a sign that you’re ready to take the next steps to grow your biz. Perhaps you are tracking sales and see it going up every month or your work days have become long with handling requests from shoppers.
Make sure that sales have increased over several months, though, rather than just a single month. That way, you make sure it’s not a fluke that the sales got a boost.
Plan Ahead
Determine short- and long-term goals before you head into the next phase. For example, make sure there’s enough funding for what’s to come your way.
Also, if you are going to expand by offering more products, do you have a facility to store these items? Use LEpro linear LED high bay lights to illuminate the packages, so they’re easy to see from high ceilings. They are powerful lights, just as you will be when you expand.
You Need to Bring in More People
If you don’t have the skillset to do all the work, then you’re not alone. Most business owners outsource or hire in-house workers to do tasks they don’t excel at, and that’s a smart strategy.
Rather than struggling with accounting tasks when you’re not a numbers person, hire someone to do the work in less time and get ahead rather than behind. If you want to bring in more people to get the work done, then the chances are good that it’s time to move from entrepreneur to a budding organization.
You’ve Gotten Complacent
Are you indifferent to business activities now that you’ve been at it a while and don’t feel like it’s a challenge? If so, it’s likely time to grow and try new things with your organization.
The problem is, if you get bored and stop caring as an entrepreneur, then there’s a chance that things could take a step backward rather than forward. If you want this biz to survive then it’s time to expand.
Positive Cash Flow
The numbers don’t lie. For your biz to grow, you need to see profits. If the amount coming in is more than the spend amount for at least six months, that’s terrific.
If you’re not quite there yet but want to increase cash flow, it might be time to look at what products are selling and what ones aren’t because the stagnant items are taking up funds that could be better put elsewhere.
If you also want to expand soon, a good idea is to reach out to existing customers and ask them what they’d like to see from your business in terms of products or services. Build on the customer loyalty that you’ve already been able to secure with hard work and patience. That way, you can plan to offer those extra items and services to them when you do expand one day soon, and you’ll have people ready to buy them.
