Congratulations: your small company is thriving. You have a healthy base of regular customers eager for additional products, services, or business hours. As a result, you have stable, predictable profits—and your market is growing, which means there’s opportunity to tap into new revenue streams. In fact, demand is so hot that you’re struggling to keep up with it. If this is the case, it might be time to expand your business. Here’s how to get going on growing.
Ways to Expand Your Business
- Create a sales funnel. Building a sales funnel can help your business grow quickly by automating the path through which customers develop interest and are motivated to make purchases. First, choose a funnel model that will work best for your business. You can learn more about sales funnels here.
- Use a customer management system. A customer management system, also known as a customer relationship management (CRM) system, tracks sales transactions, but it also helps manage relationships between team members, vendors, and other partners.
- Tap into global platforms. If you’re in ecommerce and you want to put your product in front of more customers, you may want to sell items on popular global platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and other popular one-stop digital marketplaces.
- Diversify your offerings. Particularly if your customers have consistently been asking about specific additional products and services, it may be time to offer them. This could be anything from online ordering to gift wrap to fun merchandise with your company logo. Think of ways to add value to your existing offerings.
- Create a customer loyalty program. Reward your existing regular customers for their loyalty and keep them coming in. New customers will appreciate this too, especially if your business is geographically or logistically convenient for them to use.
- Form strategic partnerships. Look for companies that offer products or services that complement yours and consider forming a partnership. This will increase the visibility of your business and reach more customers. One way to test the waters is to collaborate on a one-time event or product with a potential business partner.
Expand Your Small Business with a Business Accelerator
If the prospect of expanding your small business sounds risky or overwhelming, consider working with a coach who specializes in this area. Growth-minded businesses in the Northwest Chicagoland area should consider applying for admission to a business accelerator program focused on one-on-one coaching with Next Level Northwest.
Next Level Northwest is a business acceleration public-private partnership serving the Northwest Chicagoland region. We support regional and local businesses through collaborative and innovative initiatives to help grow the economy. Download our Program Overview (PDF).
Ready to take your business leadership to the next level? Download and prepare your application following this process today!
