So, you’ve been doing great for a while now, but you aren’t sure if it’s time to take that next big step for your business. It happens to almost every business owner at some point in their career. Do you enjoy where you’re at, or do you want to shoot for even more? To find the right answer, you need to reexamine your business and your everyday routine. You can use these tips to tell when it’s time to expand your business in a safe and productive way.
You Can’t Keep Up With Demand
A business with too much demand is both a good and bad thing. It’s wonderful that so many people want to buy from you, but if you can’t take advantage of this, you’re leaving money on the table. Maybe you have a line of customers constantly waiting outside your restaurant or maybe you can’t make enough product because your brewery doesn’t have enough tanks. Whatever the issue is for not meeting your demand, expansion is a logical and relatively safe step in this case.
You Have Dedicated Customers
Are you seeing a lot of repeat business from the same clients and customers? It’s a good sign that you’re providing value to a lot of people. It’s one thing to impress a customer or client; it’s another to bring in new customers to your business over time. To have customers continually coming back for more business means that you have the chops to handle more. You can even leverage those relationships to find new customers organically.
You See Consistent Profits
Obviously, seeing profits is always a fantastic sign that you’re doing something right, but try and pay attention to those profit margins as well. If they stay pretty consistent over a decent period of time, you might be able to start expanding. Consistent profit margins show that your business is already sustainable but could be doing even better by scaling things up or branching out a little bit.
You’re Getting Bored of the Same Old
Perhaps one of the best signs it’s time to expand your business is when you just feel tired of the same old stuff you do every day. Stagnation is one of the greatest enemies of a successful business, and that includes personal stagnation, not just revenue stagnation. If you aren’t enjoying running the business as it is, an expansion or a new project might be just the thing to find that spark again and get back on the right track.
