It’s time to expand but you don’t want to move your home-based business out of the home.
What do you do?
You’ve been in business for at least five years and have seen steady sales growth and profits for the last three. You’ve looked at the trends, both economic and consumer and see strong indications that your product has staying power. Your business is growing and you know it’s time to expand.
But you’re afraid that if you hire employees and move out of your home office that you’ll break the bank. It’s too big of a leap. You’d be committing business suicide if you did and up your personal stress factor by 10.
So, what’s the solution? Is there a way to expand your home-based business while keeping it at home?
Yes, indeed there is.
Expanding at home is one of the safest, lowest-risk growth strategies for a home-based business owner to consider. If you’re ready to expand and want to strengthen your product base while increasing sales, these three expansion options are worth considering:
Three Low Risk Home-Based Business Expansions
1. License your product.
This is a low-cost expansion project that can quickly add an additional income stream to your home business. What you’ll be doing is licensing your service product or branded product. Licensing minimizes your risk and is easy to do.
Before you begin, get in touch with a small business attorney who specializes in intellectual property rights and have him or her draw up a licensing agreement for you. Then, start researching individuals, businesses, and companies that provide products and services similar to yours and set-up a meeting to discuss possibilities.
2. Expand your niche market.
I know. This is just the opposite of what your business coach told you when you first started up your business. Then, it was narrow your niche market. Now, it’s expand. Obviously, you’ve done a good job at targeting your current niche market.
Now it’s time to look around at other markets to see where you can expand into. Look for complementary niche markets. Think of the products and services you now have and see what can be modified or redesigned to satisfy the needs of your expanded market.
Think in terms of expanding into a broader niche market as well as into a more focused target group. If you work with women, consider expanding into men. If you usually sell to larger retail stores, now focus on boutiques. If your niche market is national, go global.
3. Add a government contract.
This is one of the best ways to expand and add a steady revenue stream to your business. Having the U.S. Federal Government as a customer is a real feather in your cap. The only problem is: the paper work is extensive and it can take a long time. Don’t let that stand in your way. The first contract is the hardest to get. Once you have your foot in the door, however, many other contracts will come your way.
To get started, go on the Web to the Business Matchmaking site and start reading. Or, attend one of the Business Matchmaking Conferences held several times a year. If contract work looks like something you might be interested in, then, head over to the Central Contractor Registration site and register your business.
You don’t have to move your home-based business out of your home or break the bank to expand. You can expand your business, right at home, without having to hire employees or build an addition onto your home. Licensing your products, expanding your niche market, and adding a government contract are three of the safest, lowest-risk growth strategies for a home-based business owner to consider.
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