How can I grow my business?

Entrepreneurs who want to grow their business can use a number of tactics. These include:

• Expand geographically. Opening another branch of your business is one of the most common growth tactics, but it requires careful research and planning to ensure you pick the right market to grow into.

• Diversify. Adding new or complementary products and services to your existing product range is a relatively easy way to grow. Talk to your customers about what other products they might want from you.

• Form an alliance. Setting up some sort of joint venture with another company to have them sell your products is a good way to leverage someone else’s customer base and brand. But be aware, they will expect you to help sell their products to.

• Acquire another business or merge. Putting your business together with another company through a merger or acquisition can quickly deliver you scale and size. However, executing a merger or takeover is not easy and you should seek help.

• License your products. Allowing someone else to sell your products under their brand can be a low-risk method of expansion, although you do lose some control over how your product is sold.

• Franchise. Depending on the type of business you run, you may be able to expand by selling franchises to other entrepreneurs who want to be able to leverage your strong brand. However, this growth model requires strong internal systems and procedures to be in place.

• Export. Taking your product to the world isn’t easy, but it can be very rewarding.

All of these options have their advantages and disadvantages, so it is worth consulting with your advisors before deciding on the path for you.