(ThyBlackMan.com) Want to know how to expand your business? Then I have some amazing tips for you. Find out all you need to know, down below:
Use The Internet & Modern Technology
One of the best ways to expand your business is to utilize modern technology. This is a stellar way to get ahead of the competition, and drive yourself forward. Technology can help your company achieve so much more than you thought it could. There are so many small businesses that aren’t embracing it. As a result, they don’t expand as much as they should, and never will. Something as simple as upgrading your office with all the latest tech will make a huge difference. It can improve productivity, and increase your workload. It lets you get more sales finalized, and grows your business.
Then, you have the biggest thing of all, the internet. If your company isn’t using it, then you can forget about expanding. The internet is the easiest way to take a small business, and make it a global phenomenon. Create a website and some social media accounts, and your company can now tap into the global market. Online technology makes it easy to communicate with consumers all over the world. And, it makes it easier for them to communicate 
with you. Someone on the other side of the world can visit your website and purchase items. Think about your target market for a second. It’s likely that you’ll find them all over the world, not just in your local area. So, use the internet to expand and find all these other potential customers.
Make Networking A Top Priority
There are two types of business owners in this world; those that network, and those that don’t. The people that don’t network want to try and do everything on their own. They like to close their business off, as they think it protects it. If you aren’t networking with anyone, then there’s less risk of ideas being stolen, right? Now, this may be true, but only if you’re very paranoid! The simple fact is, networking is a must for every business owner. Why? Because it’s the doorway to business expansion.
Let me break it down for you right here. There’s every chance you aren’t the most experienced person out there. You don’t have incredible contacts and find it hard to generate leads. But, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that are the opposite. So, it makes sense to try and befriend them and get their advice/knowledge. Good business networking can help you generate a huge list of contacts and leads. It gives you a better chance at making your business successful. Other business owners can give you tips on how to expand and what you need to do. You might find people with links to media contacts. As such, you can get your company in the news, which helps promote it. Promoting your business increases its appeal, and makes expansion far easier. In short, don’t shy away from networking, it’s a great thing to do.
It may seem like expanding your business is an easy thing to do. After all, these ideas are hardly revolutionary! The concept of expansion is simple, but, putting it into practice can be difficult. It all depends on numerous factors in your business. For starters, if you aren’t making any money, then you can’t start thinking about growth. You have to think about getting your business to a point where it makes money and doesn’t lose it!
Healthy businesses are the only ones that can expand with any success. However, there are still a couple of concerns to be aware of. I’ve got two points that you need to be concerned about when trying to expand your business:
Order Fulfillment
Order fulfillment will be a big concern when your business is expanding. Why? Because a growing business tends to mean you get more and more orders in. Everything’s going well, and you’re making sales left, right, and center. From an outsider’s point of view, this can only mean good things for your company. More sales mean more customers, which equates to more money! However, for a small business, dealing with the extra demand can be tough. It’s one of the things a lot of companies have trouble with when they try and expand.
My advice is to ensure you can keep up with your order demands. Brace yourself for change, and put things in place to cope with this. Many small businesses choose to outsource fulfillment companies to help them deal with everything. After all, your company can come crashing back down to earth if you aren’t on the ball with order fulfillment. Take too long to ship and process orders, and you’ll have some unhappy customers. And, if you’re making lots of sales, that means you have even more customers that will be unhappy. So, the negativity they spread will have grave consequences on your business. You’ll be shamed for poor customer service, and your company will very quickly shrink, rather than expand.
Foreign Markets
When a business expands, it tends to tap into foreign markets. Maybe not right at the start of the expansion, but it happens at some point. This is because you want to bring your business to people all over the world. There are so many countries that your company could be successful in. Think about how much money you’re missing out on when you only sell things to a national audience!
Of course, selling to foreign markets doesn’t come without its concerns. Primarily, you must be aware of the shipping rules and regulations. Some countries have limits on what you can ship in and out of it. Likewise, you have to be up to speed with marketing laws in these foreign countries too. Something that’s fine over here may be banned overseas. Thirdly, you’ve got to know about the culture of the country you’re expanding into. Once again, things are different overseas than they are here. Phrases and gestures might be playful here, but they could be offensive overseas. To sum this point up, get to know foreign markets inside out before you sell there. Otherwise, you’ll shoot your business in the foot.
That’s all I have for you today; I hope this piece is useful to you. Now, you know a bit more about expanding a business, and the main concerns.
Staff Writer; Sherry Patterson
