Whether your business is struggling to grow or growing but not as quickly as you’d like, it may be time to invest in a new growth strategy.
Just like a tree that finds every possible way to branch out and grow to occupy as much “sun space” as possible, the best business policy will seek exposure to as large a customer base as possible.
Here are 7 ways to achieve that:
1. Install Wi-Fi Connected Sales Kiosks
Self-service sales kiosks equipped with powerful, up to date kiosk software can greatly expand your business reach. Not only can you install kiosks in-store or just outside your store within reach of the foot traffic stream, you can install them at key locations all over the country or even internationally.
They can be kept running 24/7, remotely monitored for security and maintenance alerts, and equipped with helpful information on your business and all its services/products to create a full shopping experience. It is literally possible to double or triple your overall sales via a kiosk strategy.
2. Open a New Location
Though more expensive than installing a kiosk, there may come a time when you need to open a new business location. Growth may be slow at your present location after you virtually have reached full potential there, and only by breaking into new markets can you experience rapid growth. Be sure to place the new location not too close to your old one, nor too far; you don’t want to compete with yourself but logistics may require a local or regional approach.
3. License Out Your Products
Instead of selling directly all the time, with relatively little investment and rigmarole, you can license your products and get royalties on the sales others are making for you. Licensing makes it easy to retain full rights and make potentially high-volume sales with little risk and little investment on your part. And you can both license and sell directly to maximize sales.
4. Franchise Your Business
If you have a successful business model that can be readily duplicated and mass produced, and if you are looking for a way to rapidly expand without having to manage every individual store personally, franchising may be for you. Your focus will become setting and maintaining the overall franchise vision and carefully selecting franchisees rather than direct management, and you could end up being far more successful doing the former rather than the latter.
5. Buy Out Another Business
One quick way to expand your enterprise is to simply buy out competitors, which essentially “kills two birds with one stone.” Even if the other business is failing, it may have valuable assets and good staff you can rehire. And if you don’t buy out a competitor that is “on the rocks,” other competitors may, or that business may resurge, and you will miss out on gaining a good part of their customer base.
6. Diversify
Another growth strategy is to simply expand into related but different markets, areas you have or can easily gain the expertise for but that your current products/services are not covering. Diversification can even mean adding educational classes on things you already sell. By diversifying to the max, you open up multiple revenue streams and help not only the bottom line but the cash flow.
7. Pursue a Government Contract
While government contracts can take significant time to win, if you do win them, they open up large amounts of new revenue potential. And once you have the government contract, it is much easier to keep it than it was to acquire it. And it will be easier to pursue and win further big-government contracts after you’ve proven your worth on the first one.
