3 top considerations for expanding your business

Are you considering expanding your business? Do you have a great product but don’t know where to start? Is the process of expansion scary for you? If you are thinking of expanding your business then you need to get advice to avoid the problems that so many businesses face when they expand too quickly.

Here are the top three considerations for small to medium-sized businesses looking to expand.

1. Is expansion right for you?

   There is often a lot made of the success of business owners who expand their businesses, especially those who do so quickly. So business owners often jump straight into expanding their business without first considering if it is right for them to do.

   If you are thinking of expansion, ask yourself these three, simple questions:
   • What are the goals of my business?
   • What are my personal goals?
   • Can I dedicate the time and energy needed to the expanded business, and is it right for me?

   These are all points that you need to consider before you expand your business. If you are unable to answer ‘yes’ to these questions and are not sure about being able to put in the necessary time and energy then you should not expand.

   It may be that you need to spend time putting the right steps in place before you look at expanding. You also need to consider what you need from a legal perspective: What is the additional cost and can you cover those costs?

2. Problems Multiplied

   When you expand your business, you must face the fact that any problems that you have in your business will be multiplied in the expanded business. For example, where a business operates through an online structure, if you expand that business, can the online structure handle the additional work?

   If you have multiple offices, are your systems and procedures good enough to be expanded and replicated in the new location?

   Weaknesses in your business model will became more apparent as you expand, so you need to make sure that you take steps to prevent these problems.

3. Staff

   Usually, expansion will involve the hiring of additional staff. With more staff, come additional challenges. As a business expands, it is very easy to avoid putting the steps in place that are necessary to build a successful business.

   For example, you need to make sure that all staff are on similar employment contracts, that you have workplace policies in place to set the expectations that you have for your staff. As you grow and your team grows, it becomes crucial that you protect your business and your employees to ensure that they function properly.