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Has your small business suddenly begun to expand? If this is the case, you need to be ready for it and know what to do to make the most of it. Luckily, there are many steps that you can take as your business grows to make the transition easier on both you and your staff and to check that it does not crumble as soon as it sizes up. Then, read on for some of the initial actions you should consider taking if you are beginning to attract more customers and get more orders in.
• Look for New Premises
You might have spent ages before you opened the doors of your business looking for the perfect premises, and the thoughts of doing this again might be deflating. However much affection you have for your original location, though, if you let your company outgrow it, it might act as a detriment to your business and hold it back. You never want your company to feel cramped or to be unable to reach its potential heights due to a too-small office and factory space. This means that you should look around for new premises at the very first signs that your company is growing, or that you believe it is ready to. Selling up can take some time, so starting the process in advance will enable the move to be completed at the right time. Once you have settled on new premises and get a lawyer involved, it is time to hire an office relocation service, such as ventures like Office Movers Bristol. They can shift the gadgets and possessions you are keeping to your new space without you having to do so. This will allow you to focus on running your company throughout the move.
• Start Delegating
As your business grows, it is unlikely that you will be able to continue to do everything yourself, as much as you might want to head up every area of your company. This is where delegating can help you. Giving different tasks to others and even setting up individual taskforces and departments can allow all the different aspects of your business to be handled at once- just not by you. This will give you the chance to spread your leadership wings and start managing your team properly, being the central force that oversees each element of your business and brings them together. There is only so much delegating you can do, though, and you should check that you only delegate tasks to people who are equipped to handle them. It is also important that you do not delegate too much to one person. Relying on a single staff member can lead to burnout and can mean that you are left afloat if they quit.
• Change Your Marketing
You might have spent ages streamlining your marketing campaign to suit the initial stages of your business, but everything is different now. Your marketing campaign is going to need to pull its weight by being bigger and brighter than ever before. This campaign should attract old customers back while appealing to new potential clients and different target audiences. You might also need to start pouring more money into your marketing fund to compete with the larger businesses you are now battling for space and your customer’s attention. You might even use some of this money to hire marketing professionals who will be able to make your campaign sleeker. When you are looking for these individuals, you should settle on those who have developed strategies for companies within your industry before and know exactly what your competitors are doing- and what they will do next.
• Maintain a Great Reputation
As the owner of a growing business, it can be harder and harder to keep its reputation under control. However, there are a few little steps that you can take to ensure your company’s longevity. Maintaining the high quality of the products that you sell is important, as is replying to customers in a polite, friendly, and speedy manner when they want to ask a question or file a complaint.
It is also vital that you maintain your attention to detail, that you deal with PR issues immediately, and that you commit to staff training programs that educate your team on how to behave both inside and out of the office when they are in uniform or representing your business. The better your reputation, the further your business will grow and the less likely that your company will fall from grace and leave your competition taking over.