Now that your business has made it through the survival phase, it’s time to begin the growth phase and take your company to a new level of profitability. Your business plan should have included your ideas for growth when you first founded the company. However, times have changed, and the business landscape may have changed since you last looked at it. Your business plan could do with some adjustment, bring it up to date with the latest growth opportunities you have available to you.

Your business is unique and not all growth strategies will suit your business plan. However, if you are struggling to think of growth ideas for your firm, then here are five strategies for you to consider, pick the option that resonates with your company and investigate it further.

#1 Are You Online?

Is your business online? In today’s information era, this is the easiest, most cost-effective means of expanding the reach of your business. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques can improve the visibility of your website in the search engine rankings. Creating social media profiles and collaborating with industry influencers in your niche will gain your exposure to large audiences.

Launching these sort of online campaigns offers tremendous value for your marketing dollar. When compared to traditional forms of media advertising such as radio, billboard, and TV adverts, take a fraction of that budget and apply it to your social campaigns; you will be astounded with the results.

#2 Licensing Your Product

This strategy works well for companies that sell an information-based product. Offering your product to other people on a licensing agreement effectively gains you a sales force that you don’t have to pay any costs to maintain. In fact, licensing agreements often come with up-front retainer fees as well as royalties or commissions on all sales made by licensees.

#3 Grow Stronger Through Partnership

If your business is weak in certain areas, then consider partnering with other firms to strengthen those weaknesses. Partnering with companies does not mean that you have to give equity up to take advantage of the partnership.

#4 Find a Second Home

If you run a traditional physical business location, then it’s time to expand the bricks and mortar to another part of town. Opening another branch requires almost as much work as was required researching your first business. However, the second time around will be much easier and provided that you have the right people and the right location combined with the market research, then you should do well in your second home.

#5 Offer a Franchise Opportunity

Did you build your business on the back of proven systems and procedures? If so, franchising can provide your company and brand a lot of opportunities to grow. A franchise model is attractive for new investors as it is an established blueprint for a successful business. Franchises are a business-in-a-box which is particularly attractive for entrepreneurs that are risk-averse. Franchises come with complete instructions on how to run the business; therefore the owner does not even have to be on site to manage the business. This model allows you to grow your brand using other peoples time and still reap the benefits of franchise fees and commission.

In Closing

New companies usually have not applied for credit, because they have not needed it. This lack of a credit record puts them in a position where they are unable to apply for credit with a financial institution like a bank. Banks require a credit history and a positive credit score before they will loan money to any business.

If you have no credit history or a bad credit score due to a mistake you made in your survival phase, you can learn how to apply for a business loan with bad credit. In most situations, you will have to spend money to grow, speak to your accountant before undertaking any loan agreements and ensure that your cash flow can handle the repayments.