Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one
of our readers about how to grow from a small at home business, to a larger at home business.
If you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.
Q: "How do you make the jump from a boutique business to a larger business?"
A. If you've been in business for 5 years are more, you're company is doing well, are getting more orders than you can handle, and can check off everything on this list, then yes!
Pre-expansion Checklist for the Home-Based Business Owner- Determine if this is a growth spurt or sustained growth. If you have been in business less than three years, what you may be experiencing is a growth spurt. Growth spurts are surges of activity indicating an interest for your product. Don't make the mistake of thinking a spurt is an indicator for future growth. Make sure you are showing steady, increased growth over the past two years.
- Check your bottom-line profit numbers for the past three years. Has your business shown a consistent, steady growth?
- Look at the trends, both economic and consumer. Are there strong indications that your product has staying power? Especially in our current economic market.
- Do you already have in place the necessary administrative and management systems to support your expansion? The last thing you want to do is expand at the same time you're putting them in place. Instead, put them in place beforehand to keep your business running smoothly during the expansion.
- Do a new business plan. Not just an update. You're new business plan will help you determine when it's time to expand, what you need to have in place to make it happen, and how you'll accomplish it.
- Obtain financing. You'll need financing for an expansion. Don't depend on there being an increase in sales during your expansion. More likely, the opposite will be true. Just like when you started up, it will take more time and money than you think to grow, and sales will take time to match your expansion.
- Make sure your website is ready to handle the expansion. Besides having all the necessities for handling increased sales, make sure your product landing pages, home page, and navigation links are all optimized for the search engines and your clients. Your website has to be ready to play with the big boys and girls and must have a professional look and feel to it. Consider hiring a SEO expert to review your site and a copywriter to write great copy for key pages.
- Rev-up your sales to existing customers. Before you expand, boost you revenue by selling more to the customers you already have. You can do this through volume discounts, buy-two-get-one-free offers, and expanding your product line to include complimentary products. This will not only build in excitement and generate income; it will also get you used to handling more.
That's my answer and I'm sticking to it!
Do you have any other suggestions? If so, leave a comment and let us know. And, if you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.
Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business ExpertAward-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
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