5 Innovative Strategies for Business Expansion

 

Seeking out new opportunities for company growth is an exciting yet stressful endeavor.

If you want to expand into new markets, you will need to do a lot of prep work to get a solid understanding of what this sort of market expansion entails. It is hard to know exactly where to start and what to do. But there are plenty of things you can do to make the process easier.

Expand your business using these 5 strategies

Taking the time to properly develop your international business strategy will benefit you greatly in the long run. You will create more avenues for profit. You are paving the way for even more expansion and more financial gains.

We’ve uncovered five helpful techniques to see better profit margins than ever before.

Related: Land and Expand Using Account Hierarchies

1. Choose the right market

You may have some idea of where you want to expand. You think the nearest or biggest market is the obvious step forward. There may be better options out there. Deciding which market will suit you best takes time and strategizing.

Consider how you should define your target market. Are you looking at cities, countries, languages? There could be other ways to identify your market. This will all be based on your specific brand and where you think you will flourish.

Begin by doing thorough research into potential markets and discussing things with your team. Factor in all of your options. You should look at each market for this information:

  • Size
  • Growth potential
  • Competition
  • Need for your product or service
  • Economic differences

This is just a small list to start. You have to understand your possible markets and your place in them. In your analysis, you may find that your initial idea of where to go isn’t the best option available. Minimizing your risks and maximizing your potential is key to choosing the right market for your expansion.

2. Form strategic partnerships or joint ventures

Expansion doesn’t need to be done by yourself. You can seek out a company that offers products or services that work in tandem with what you are offering. Attempting to form a strategic partnership or joint venture with a complementary company is a great way to support both businesses, fostering collective growth.

Strategic partnerships and joint ventures are similar concepts, but there is one major difference: A joint venture is formal and has a contract while a strategic partnership is more informal and does not necessarily need a contract.

Both types of business expansion techniques can be attempted through networking and reaching out to like-minded or compatible companies that you think could benefit from what you can offer them.

You should seek to work with a company that has the experience, influence, or resources that you could benefit from. The terms of your combination and the goals of the joint venture must be clear.

This can be an incredibly complicated process, since you need to communicate meaningfully. This company most likely has different objectives, visions, and goals. It may take a lot of prep work and deliberation to reach a mutual understanding, but getting to this point would be well worth the struggle, as the benefits will be immense.

3. Diversify your offer lineup

Your new or current market could benefit from the products or services you are capable of offering. Try adding new offerings to your lineup, making your brand more enticing. Begin to think outside the box in terms of what you are capable of bringing to the table. There could be some easy alternatives you can offer customers who may not want exactly what you are offering, such as smaller packages or bundle deals.

Offering more variety has the potential to bring in more customers. It’s simple: the more you have, the more people could be interested. This is also a great way to protect your company from potential financial challenges. If one product or service is falling behind something else, you have more options to fall back on.

4. License products

A sophisticated way to grow your business is by licensing products for other companies to manufacture. If you have a product that sells well but could use more outreach, bring it to the attention of a company with more traction. They will put in the work to produce and sell your product. You will get paid for it through royalties.

Licensing your product to a company with more of a presence in the market will get your name out there. You will have more customers coming directly to you if they like the licensed product.

If you have intellectual property, you have a potential goldmine on your hands. Licensing is a low-risk option for getting your product sold. You don’t have to worry about the manufacturing costs.

Keep in mind that once you enter a licensing agreement, it is nearly impossible to back out of it. Weigh your options and approach a licensing deal with confidence that this will be a net positive for your company. Like strategic partnerships or joint ventures, getting your product licensed can be a lengthy process with a lot of back and forth. When successful, licensing can be a great benefit to you.

5. Look into franchising

Having the means to franchise your business ensures you fast access to capital. Like licensing, franchising puts the work into the hands of someone else. If your business already has some success, you can seek out others to control your business in new markets. Franchising is a surefire way to develop brand awareness in a new market.

Another benefit of franchising is you don’t have to overwhelm your staff with the additional workload. If others purchase the rights to run your business, your team can focus on the bigger issues without feeling like they are being pulled in too many directions. This leads to a more productive team with brighter ideas who are more capable of making good choices for your business.

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