As you may have read in the news, the US and UK are beginning to show signs of life after the long drawn out period of recession. This means that it is much more viable for small business owners to expand their enterprise.Â
There are signals that consumer spending will begin to recover this year, which means that many business owners could find themselves in a strong position, and with many more opportunities than previous years.
In recent years, most small business owners have been forced to conduct their business from home in order to cut down on overhead, such as rent and travel expenses. They could even save money using business energy as well if they work at home. If this is something that interests you then you could find out more by checking out something like Simply Switch as this can help you save money on your utility bills if you work from home. However, this becomes much more difficult as your business starts to grow.
Any business that does well is likely to grow, but the task of expanding your business safely and efficiently can be an incredibly difficult one. We have provided you with a guide to making the successful transition from your home office to a professional space.
SEGMENT, SEGMENT, SEGMENT
One of the most critical elements of any business is the effective segmentation of your market. Segmentation basically revolves around deciding on who is most going to benefit from your product/service. Many small businesses make the fatal mistake of trying to sell their product/service to anyone and everyone. This can be a costly waste of resources; instead, you should focus on your key demographic, whether it is males, females, adolescents, young parents, or professionals. By doing this, you will be able to better direct your marketing resources, as you can try and appeal directly to your target market, which should help to drive sales.
BE VISIBLE
With around 1 billion searches conducted daily, online marketing is one of the most integral ways of getting your business noticed. Moreover, it is infinitely more cost effective than traditional print and media advertising. If you already have a website, it would be extremely beneficial for you to invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for your site, which can increase the online visibility of your site. This will help to drive traffic to your site, and hopefully increase sales. Furthermore, online marketing is much easier to track, which will give you a better ROI.
LOOK THE PART
As your business grows, it is inevitable that you will need to relocate your operation to a more suitable environment. Therefore, if you finding yourself needing to take on more staff or handle larger volumes of stock, it may be wise to rent an office instead of handling proceedings from the comfort of your own home. From personal experience, Easy Offices provides an excellent range of offices to rent for business start-ups in a number of cities across the UK. Renting a serviced office will also help your business to look more professional if you ever need to meet with prospective clients; as we all know, appearance is everything!
SLOW & STEADY WINS THE BUSINESS RACE
If history has taught us anything, it has shown us that a large number of firms have collapsed simply because they have expanded too quickly. You should try and learn from the mistakes of these businesses and take every caution to ensure that you don’t overstretch yourself.
One golden piece of advice I would offer is to make sure you conduct exhaustive research before you make any significant decisions (there is a valid reason that we were taught the value of a SWOT analysis in school). It would also be wise to guarantee that you can adequately fund your growth and manage your cash flow at the same time; otherwise you could find yourself in trouble.
So, to summarise, the current environment is an exciting time for small businesses; by utilising adequate and thorough planning, and some creative thinking, you can help to secure organic growth for your business that will ultimately lay the foundations for success!
Guest Post by: EASYOFFICES.COMÂ
