Expanding business strategies and growth

Business Expansion

While some entrepreneurs have a valid reason and perhaps valid opportunities to expand their businesses, such a move could have its own unique pitfalls if not well executed. Some of the things to watch out for when expanding a business entity include, but they are not limited to, the most appropriate business form to embrace, the best financing avenues to explore, and the most workable long-term strategy to implement.

There are a number of steps that Kelly should take to prioritize her business growth strategy. One of these, according to Liabotis (2007) is implementing a valid customer growth strategy. Some of the customer growth strategies that Liabotis mentions include, core business driven growth, the sub-segmentation of customers, and further exploitation of adjacent opportunities. Kelly also ought to enhance her market knowledge. This she could do by sourcing for insight from both existing and target clients and familiarizing herself further with the sales process.

The most sensible business form Kelly should adopt at this point is a partnership. This is more so the case given that this business form could considerably bring down Kelly's expansion costs and enhance her borrowing capacity. With a partnership, Kelly will also have a wider pool of not only business contacts, but also skills and knowledge.

There are a number of financial assistance avenues that Kelly could explore. One of these, as I have already mentioned above, is a partnership form of business. In this case, Kelly's partner could inject into the business additional funds to match or exceed her capital. She could also borrow from friends and relatives. Kelly could also take microloans as she seeks to further smoothen her expansion. Such loans could be accessed from non-traditional banking institutions like Kiva.org. I would recommend that Kelly brings a partner on board as the cash/capital such a partner injects into the business does not have to be repaid -- thus ensuring that a larger portion of profits is injected back into the business to further enhance growth.

It is expected that Kelly's staffing needs will change following the expansion. The total number of employees she has on board will most definitely increase from the total of six she has at the moment. This is particularly the case given that she is keen to implement a grater variety of services as well as further enhance her regional presence and competitive edge. In the light of these, the best organizational structure would be a functional structure. This kind of organizational structure will allow Kelly to group each portion of her business enterprise in line with its purpose for ease of management and to enhance efficiency. Here, she could have a sales and marketing department, a food production department, an accounting department, and a catering department. It is important to note that with this kind of structure, each department mentioned above will be able to tap a specialized team to drive the agenda of the entire business. The training needs of her employees in this case will also be addressed in a more logical and straightforward fashion as each department has its own mode of operation and, hence, training needs.

When it comes to dealing with her existing client base with regard to the change, Kelly will have no option but to embrace a workable customer retention plan. In this case, she could engage her existing clients via social media and constantly update them on new locations, promotions, and any other relevant information. This will make existing customers feel appreciated. Kelly should also set-up and maintain an efficient feedback and complaints mechanism where customers can give their feedback and opinion regarding the firm's products and mode of operation. This will allow Kelly to sufficiently address the concerns of her existing client base -- hence locking them in for longer. To attract customers to her new location, she could consider offering discounts on certain food items.