Time to Expand? Get the Basics Right First

October 4, 2017

Expanding a company is one of those tasks that you want to arrive sooner rather than later. But don’t let your haste get in the way of carrying out your expansion in the correct and sensible way. There are so many things you need to get right if you want to your business to expand in a sustainable way, and you’re the one in the driving seat. First of all, you need to go back to basics and make sure you’re getting those things right before worrying about anything else.
Do the Sums
Before worrying about anything else, you should make sure you do the sums regarding this whole expansion. If you fail to do that, you could land your business in hot water. No company should undertake an expansion that, in truth, they can't really afford. It might even be worth contacting an accountant if you're not very clear on the financial aspect of this whole expansion. It's simply a bad idea, and it rarely has a happy ending for the business in question, so keep that in mind.
Know What Your Customers Want and Why They Like You
As your business grows, it runs the risk of losing touch with what made it so successful to begin with. That's clearly not something you want to happen, but it is a risk worth being aware of. That's why you need to dedicate some thought to what your customers actually want from you and why they liked your company in the first place. You can then keep those things in mind and not lose touch of them as the business expands.

Consider the Physical Necessities of This Expansion
When your business grows, it usually means you’re in need of more space. So, if you’re wondering what this will look like going forward, start putting plans in place. Will you need additional storage space for your goods and products? If so, steel frame building systems could provide you with what you need. Do you need to move into a bigger office space? This is hard to predict, but you need to consider how your business and your team cope now, as well as how those things will change going forward.
Prepare Your Workforce and Ensure They’ll Cope
The team of people working hard in your office are the ones who are going to be driving the business forward and helping it to succeed. If you can't ensure their readiness, now might not be the right time to push on with the expansion. Everyone has to be on board if you want an expansion like this to turn out well. Without your employees by your side supporting your decisions, this whole thing will be an even greater challenge. We all like a challenge, but this one might be too much to handle.
Your business will be built on strong foundations if you cover all of the above things and get the basics right. Don’t forget about the importance of that.

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

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