Is your business ready for your expansion?
Is your goal for 2022 for your business to expand? Whether it be a bigger premise, additional offices, employing new staff members or even venturing into a new product or service.
Before you start your expansion plans, you need to make sure that you’re ready so it might be worth asking yourself the following questions before you decide to do anything.
Do you have enough money to expand?
Analysing cash flow and bad situations will assist you in determining whether or not your company is financially sound and whether the expansion is a good move for your company.
Following on from this, one of the most important questions, do you have the finance for your growth plans? Do you have the cash in the bank to do so or do you know where you get funding from?
Funding can come from investors or you can use a finance facility such as a business loan or asset finance for example.
It’s important to know how you will make up the funding for your expansion project. If you’re thinking of using what you have in the bank, will it leave you with enough working capital or will you start to have cash flow problems? Or is it worth doing half and half (finance facility and what you have available) or using a finance facility completely so you can retain capital.
With the correct finances, you will be able to expand your business and make it successful. If you’re unsure of what finance facilities are available to you, it might be a good idea to speak to a Commercial Finance Broker like ourselves. We offer a no-obligation discussion about the different types of finance solutions we’re able to arrange and aim to find the best one to suit your business’ needs.
Do you have the right team in place?
It’s important to have the right team in place as having people who are inexperienced, uncommitted or doesn’t have the right skill set will mean your expansion plan will fall at the first hurdle.
For example, if you’re currently outsourcing your marketing but would like to bring it in house, do you have the right team to do that? Or do you need to think about hiring someone new to join your team or is there someone already at your business who has the skills sets to do that?
Do you have the right resources?
Managing resources effectively allows your businesses to deliver services on schedule and a good resource plan increases both resource availability and timetable estimates. Increased productivity means you can service a higher significant number of customers and having the necessary machinery or manpower can give you confidence by allowing you to accomplish your tasks efficiently.
Bringing in the right resources can make your job easier so it might be time to upgrade any machinery or equipment that you may currently have? Or add more to your existing ones to increase your productivity.
Can you maintain the service quality?
Consistency is key – you’re probably expanding because customers trust your business and enjoy your product or service. You will need to maintain that level of service as your expansion plans are more likely to collapse because your customers aren’t receiving the product or service that they already love.
You will need to assess your business and evaluate whether or not you’re able to keep that high level of service and if the answer is no, is there anything that you can do to ensure you keep your high level of service? Such as a manager to overlook the process? Staring your own fleet of delivery vans to improve timescales and keep up with demands?
Are you able to focus?
Your project may require more attention, time and manpower – especially at the start to get everything set up and running so do you have the time and focus to do so?
Another thing to think about is do you know which areas of your business might need more focus and are you able to split your time accordingly? The expansion might get off to a flying start but other parts might be impacted negatively, will you be able to recognise the areas that require greater attention? This can save you time and effort as it will be preventing you from wasting it on areas that are running well and don’t demand immediate attention.
Are you ready to adapt to more changes?
As a business owner, you should expect constant change and you will need to keep up to date with the latest trends and how they may affect your target audience. It’s critical that you’re able to adapt and change quickly.
If you’re planning on expanding in the next 12 months and would like to find out what finance facilities are available you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team. We’re be able to arrange Business Loans, Asset Finance for Large Machinery, Equipment and Commercial as well small assets such as Laptops, Telephones, Security Equipment, Cashflow Finance and much more! Call us on 01270 443510 or complete our enquiry form and we’ll get in touch with you as soon as possible.