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Expand and conquer
(This is a contributed post)
There’s nothing more exciting than the business world. There’s nothing that’s going to offer you more opportunities than the business world. But there is no harder place to make it in life than the business world. Whilst it can bring its riches, it can also bring its hardships, and boy do a lot of business owners seem to face them. It’s sort of pot luck if you want to make it big in the business world. For one, you’re going to have to learn the tricks of the trade that will allow you to expand and conquer. There’s no handbook that gets passed down, you just need to follow some basic guidelines, use your instincts, and know your business well. What you have to remember is that your business is competing against thousands of others, whether they be in your home country or not. So, if you just stay in your little patch of the business world, you’re never going to get where you want to be! If you want our advice, we’ve got a few little pointers for you that should help you to expand and conquer!
What Comes First?
So, do you expand first, or do you conquer? Don’t let the headings of the other sections fool you, expanding and conquering is a difficult game that has many different steps to it. The first is conquering the small business circle that you find yourself stuck in. When you’re a really small business, you have a really small customer base, a really small product and cash flow, and a really small business mind. You might have big ideas, but figuring out how to execute them is sometimes the hardest part for a lot of people. So, the first bit of advice we have is to conquer the small market and start moving your way up in terms of profit. Focus on marketing to bring in those extra customers, and focus on finding a way to boost your profits by investing the money you’re making back into the business. We know you’re only going to have gone into business for one thing, and that’s to make money. But in the beginning, it’s important not to be selfish with your money, and learn that the more you invest, the more you’re eventually going to get back out! Then you have to expand a little, only as and when you can. You don’t want to rush into anything, but we will talk you through it in the following paragraphs. It’s a slow climb of expanding a little and conquering, expanding a little, and conquering etc.
Expanding Your Team
So, once you break free from the smaller market, it’s all about expanding your team to give your business more potential. We know that as you’ve pushed out of that small circle you’ve been in, you’re going to have more and more roles piling up on your plate that you just can’t deal with. So, think of all of the tasks in the day that you just can’t handle. Is it to do with admin, production? It doesn’t matter! But create a role filled with all of those tasks, and put out a job advert. Now, hiring a new employee is risky business, we’re not going to deny that. There are so many rules and regulations to follow, some of which are listed here. We highly recommend that you have a read into them. One mistake, and your business could face a huge backlash in terms of fines, and criticism. However, once your first employee is on board, it’s all about expanding the company. Start marketing to bring in more orders, and actively search for new customers and push for more production. Over the course of around 6 months, you’ll notice the business growing and growing if you’re doing it right. To the point where you might need to hire another employee! Now you’re going to have a space issue on your hand, so onto our next section!
Expanding Your Office
This one is going to be one of the more expensive expansions your business is going to make. But the more space you have, the more room for growth you’re going to create. If you have some offices, then all you need to do is look for an office for sale, and see what you think you like. You ideally want an office in a central location to the nearest city, or in the city if you can, and somewhere close to where your current employees live. Make your new office as funky as possible as well. If you’re leasing, you won’t have as much freedom with this, but if you’re outright buying, then the office can become your own. Think of companies such as Google, and what they do to their offices to make them a room full of fun! The better the environment you’re giving your employees, the harder they’re going to want to work. Some companies are just so grey and dull, and the working environment it creates is terrible.
Conquer
So, expanding is just a slow process of repeating all of the steps above. The changing of the office space might not come around as often as you think, but you should have to expand it at least two or three times within your business career if you’re playing the game right. So, the last step is just to conquer the market, which should come naturally if you’re doing all of the other things right. You really have to push to break through in the market, and you really have to push to make sure you keep growing. There’s going to be competitors following in your footsteps constantly, so maintaining your position is going to be hard. But as long as you’re focusing on your marketing efforts, and good quality products, there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t keep climbing all the way to the top!
Do you think your business has what it takes to expand and conquer? This process can take 10 or more years, and you’ll be seriously lucky if it’s any quicker!
