Starting a business or expanding an existing one is a thrilling yet demanding endeavor for businesses of all sizes. Given the current business landscape, careful planning is needed to face distinctive challenges such as heightened competition, shifting economic conditions, and continually changing customer preferences.
In this article, we’ll explore advice tailored for entrepreneurs and small business owners navigating the complexities of launching a business or expanding an existing one in today’s market. These tips are valuable whether you are adding a new product or service, expanding your physical footprint, or fully starting a new business from scratch.
Here are four things to consider when launching or expanding a business to chart a path toward success and sustainable growth.
1. Know your market and unique value
Understand your market well! While it may seem like the most obvious advice, many business launches and expansions fail by making assumptions about what customers want. To ensure your strategy succeeds, you must first confirm the value of your product or service and ensure it addresses specific customer problems. If pursuing an expansion, be sure you can answer questions on how customers will benefit from it: will it expand your target market, will it make the buying experience better, etc.
Find out what your customers seek, test your product or service early on, and refine your marketing message. Tailor your marketing to show you understand your customers and why they should choose your product or service over another option. This will not only help promote a successful launch or expansion but will also give you a competitive edge.
2. Crunch the numbers
When launching a new business or investing in a major expansion, it’s crucial to understand the financial impact it will have. This includes potential revenue, increased costs, and how it might affect your existing products or services. Knowing the financial side helps justify the budget for your marketing and allows you to set appropriate sales goals.
A business plan is a valuable tool that can be used to understand the impact on your profitability early on and when you can expect the return on your investment.
3. Monitor how it’s going
Thinking the job is done once a launch or expansion is live is a common mistake. It’s important to recognize that a successful launch involves ongoing adjustments. Feedback from the market is crucial to continually meet your growth goals. Immediate customer feedback can offer valuable insights into whether your marketing is effective, if your pricing or packaging needs tweaking, or if any other changes are needed to boost sales. New launches are also a great opportunity to test different strategies and see their impact on growth. For example, it may be a good time to try out new marketing channels to drive brand awareness and customer engagement.
Once again, a business plan is a useful tool that can help track performance when your new venture is live.
4. Talk to a business consultant
It never hurts to have help. Business launches and expansions are often complex and resource-intensive efforts. In-house marketing and financial resources may be limited for small businesses and entrepreneurs. This is why working with a consultant can be attractive, especially when crafting your business plan or marketing strategy.
Consultants bring comprehensive expertise, drawing from diverse experiences across industries and projects. Opting for a business consultant can improve the time to market for your launch or expansion while offering cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and better results.
In conclusion, the key lies in planning your strategy, whether you are about to start a new business launch or are in the midst of expansion. You can navigate potential challenges by leveraging these insights while fostering growth and profitability in an ever-evolving market.
Monica is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Savita, a consultancy helping small businesses and entrepreneurs achieve profitable growth with business planning, marketing, and strategy support.
For more business tips, follow us @Savitaconsulting on Linkedin and Instagram, or visit our website to learn more about how we can help your business grow.
