You’ve done the work of starting a small business. You’re established and things are going well. Now, you’re ready for the next challenge. Whether you want to grow bigger in your local community or take on the globe, it’s time to take the next steps and think about the different ways you can expand.

Diversify Your Offerings

If you started small, you’ve probably narrowed in on very specific products or services. Your company is known for excelling in a specific area. What else could your business accomplish? If you are a party planning company known for planning amazing weddings, maybe it’s time to build packages for engagement parties and bridal showers. While companies like Pepsi are known for their cola drink, they also sell many other drinks that are also popular on the market. Those products still fit into their brand.

Ask yourself, “What else do my customers need? Can I provide it for them?”

Consider Franchising

Instead of expanding your offerings to your customers, consider franchising your business. This will take a lot of money and complex marketing work, but if you’re looking to grow, franchising is a big way to do it.

Financing

When you first started your business, money was tight. You got into a groove, started to grow, and found stable ground along the way. This is similar to what happens when you expand your business. Growth puts pressure on your finances. You need healthy cash flow to accomplish your goals and earn more in the long run.

You also need to be smart about how you handle this, because just like when your business is first started, a strain on cash flow during an expansion phase has been the failure of many businesses. You need to have a firm hold on what the finances are like for your company currently. Once you have that data, you can plan for how much you’ll need to accomplish your goals. This is a time where business loans can help you with funding for your expansion. Taking out a small business loan will keep money flowing while you’re overcoming the challenges involved with a growing business.

Partner With Other Companies

This may be easier said than done, but if you can spot the right company to work with, you can both expand your customer base by working together. You’d need to find the right company and have the right proposal to make this a reality.

Pay Good People To Do Some of the Work

Yes, hire people. You may not yet be ready to hire employees, or maybe you can but not for all the work you should delegate. Can you outsource some of the work? Can you hire a virtual personal assistant to take care of some of these tasks?

Virtual assistants can help you take care of a lot of the more time-consuming work you need to accomplish online. Many growing businesses benefit from hiring a professional to handle the finances of the company. If you’re still doing them yourself, is there a way you can move toward hiring that out?

The people who start small businesses are hard workers who are willing and ready to do what it takes to make their companies successful. This is especially true for those looking to expand their business. But you need to look carefully at the value of your time. There are probably tasks only you can do. Prioritize those in your schedule. Then take a careful look at everything else and consider who you might hire to take some of those tasks off your plate so you can spend more time doing the things you do best.

As your business grows, the list of tasks you need to delegate will also grow. Your time will become more valuable. Keep this in mind as you move forward.

Understand Your Goals