When you’re running a business you always need to keep an eye on the future. In the current economic climate, you need to keep moving just to stay still, and if you’re planning on growing, you need to be making plans months in advance and getting ready to ruthlessly exploit gaps in the market. You need to be impressing clients and customers to secure your new income, and establish regular revenue streams so your new expansions don’t overbalance your whole business.

Today we’re showing you a tips for growing your business without the pain and stress.

Showing the Right Face to the World

When you’re pitching to new clients, securing the vital revenue that will help to stabilise your expansion, you need to make sure you’re showing them a suitable side of your business.

If you’re currently a small operation, working from hired space in a generic office building you likely won’t impress the big spending clients you need, even if you have exactly the expertise they need. If you’re trying to woo high end clients, it’s worth looking further abroad for a venue that lets you show off just what you’re capable of.

Using a company like VenueScanner helps you find a meeting place that offers the facilities you need, that’s also tuned to the expectations of the client, so you can make sure they’re already to preparing to say ‘yes’ before you open your mouth.

Planning Carefully

One of the most important things you can do is make sure you’re planning carefully. If you commit to a big expansion like a new branch, or a new market before you’re ready, the results can destabilise an already successful business.

There are two forms of checks you will need to make to be confident that it’s the right time to start your expansion: checks on your own business and checks on your new target market.

For your own business, you will want to make sure you’re match fit. This will mean different things to different business: you may wish to ensure you reach a certain level of revenue each month, a certain number of clients served or products sold. Whatever you feel gives the best indication of your business’ health, test for consistency, rather than fixating on one good month: if you’re hitting your required targets for three months in a row, you can be assured you’re ready to break out.

The market research you do will depend on the kind of business you are and the area you wish to expand into. If you’re a retail business looking to open another physical branch you will want to be sure the customers exist in your new location to make it worth while. If you’re planning for your consulting business to offer another service, make sure this would really give you an edge over the competition. If you’re expanding into an already oversubscribed niche you might find you don’t get the returns you need.

As long as you plan like this, you can sure you’re starting your expansion on a firm footing!