Not sure whether it’s time to expand your business or not? Business growth could result in more profit, but there are times when it may not be worthwhile. This post lists a few questions to consider to help you decide whether to grow or not grow your business.
Are you in a good place financially to grow?
Growth could allow you to take in more income, but to get there you may have to invest a lot of funds. You don’t want to take out too many debts unless you’re certain you can make the revenue soon enough to pay these off. A mistake that many businesses make is trying to expand too quickly – often taking on more expenses and debts than they can handle before they are able to increase their revenue enough. It’s important that your business is already getting a steady flow of customers and that you’re already making a profit. You also don’t want to have too many unpaid debts before taking on new ones.
Every business’s financial situation is different, so it could be worth paying for some financial consulting. This could provide you with personalized advice as to whether or not you’re financially ready to grow.
Are you looking for a new challenge?
Some business owners reach a point where they’re happy to keep cruising at the same pace. Business could be steady and easy to manage, and you may not want to take on extra stress. After all, growth could require big changes like having to learn new technology or more responsibility such as taking on more staff – you may not want the hassle of this.
Alternatively, you may be craving a new challenge. Perhaps things have started to get a little too easy and you feel you’re wasting your potential. If this is the case, it could be time to grow.
Have you got the time and energy to focus on growth?
On top of having the motivation to grow your business, it’s important that you physically have the time and energy to grow your business. If your personal life is very busy at the moment or you’re battling health problems, it may be too much of a strain to start growing your business.
Make sure that you are able to find free time to grow your business without sacrificing too much time with family or sleep. Outsourcing business processes could be a good way to free up this time. Similarly, it could be worth recovering from any health problems before you take on extra stress.
Does everyone keep telling you to grow?
Are friends and family telling you to grow your business? Are customers suggesting that you take measures to grow? If more than one person is urging you to grow your business, it could be a sign that it’s the right thing to do.
If suggestions of business growth are met with negative reactions, this could be a sign that now isn’t the time for growth. Having support from people around you is important – while it’s okay to have to convince some people that growth is a good idea, you shouldn’t have to convince everyone that it’s a good idea.
Are you looking to sell your business in the near future?
Growth can have advantages and disadvantages when selling a business. On one hand, a growing business could be more attractive to buyers. On the other hand, you may not want to pour more energy into a business that you plan to sell.
Ideally, if you are going to grow your business before selling, you should focus on growing first and then focus on selling. Trying to do both at the same time could be too much of a strain – both growing a business and finding buyers can be time-consuming and you could find that one task distracts you from the other.
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