Exploring New Markets

Exploring New Markets

When sales start to slow down or reach their peak, owners have a tendency to think of expansion. The decision to expand into new markets can be exciting and full of challenges. How do you start the expansion process?

First -Decide if you want to expand your business geographically or internationally. Geographically could mean new regions or new states. There are many advantages to expanding into new markets geographically. Familiarity with the territory and knowing customers in this area might make for a quicker transition process.

Internationally would mean another country with less access to your company and products. That being said: According to the Department of Commerce, exporting your products to other countries could assist business growth by 20 percent compared to businesses that choose to focus solely on domestic markets.

Second- What would it take to start this process? How would you go about setting up a new presence in a new area? What are the costs involved regarding time, marketing, staff and resources?

Setting up a new location for your product or services in a new state would require a large amount of capital and resources but could give you the expansion and growth needed to boost sales and company profits.

Finally- If your company has been successful in the United States, chances are you will be successful in other geographical/international markets as well. These types of areas have similar needs and preferences when it comes to products and services.

Things to consider before taking your products to other geographical areas are the availability of similar products, the ability to manufacture products in other countries as well as the unique features of your product/service.

Take business growth one day at a time. If you have decided you want to expand geographically or internationally and you plan to target multiple areas or countries, ease into the markets one at a time. This will give you greater control over demand, minimize potential losses for specific markets, and could generate revenue for future expansion projects.