The Expansion stage is when you as a business owner begin to feel like a wily veteran.
Not only do you have a tried-and-true blueprint for how you want your company to operate, but you’ve established yourself in a competitive industry and have even gone so far as to turn several time-consuming operations pieces over to your staff – allowing you more freedom to turn your attention to other projects. One of the bigger projects involves expansion. You’ve increased your capacity to grow and can now consider expanding your reach into different markets with perhaps a larger list of available products and services from when you first started.
The Expansion stage is where most businesses experience rapid growth into other areas, but it’s important to be careful and don’t take on too much. While you should be looking for ways to expand and take on more opportunities, follow the same methodologies that got you here in the first place by having a carefully thought out plan in place. Research other markets to ensure you will have similar success, and go through the same alpha and beta testing phases to see how new clients react to your services. Take a holistic look at everything and take serious note of potential risks as you expand.