You’re hungry to expand your business. But you’re also cognizant of trying to grow too quickly.
Being too aggressive can be just as dangerous as being too complacent. In fact, about 70% of studied businesses were guilty of trying to scale too quickly; and this was a fatal move for many of them.
To ensure you’re not trying to do too much too soon, we’ve compiled a list of the biggest and most common mistakes that businesses make when trying to scale or expand.
Going it Alone
It can be hard to reach new markets using your existing staff and resources. We’re not saying you need to hire a new team full of salespeople with enterprise-level experience. However, you can do your part to ensure your existing team has enterprise-ready skills.
If you’re looking to go after a new market or a big client, there are consulting companies that you can bring in to help you improve your sales process and gain new sales leads. For example, you could expand into new markets with 360 Leads and their new market expansion program.
Too Much Time Selling, Not Enough Developing
Are you trying to reach new markets with basically the Version 1 of your offering? This can be a big mistake.
Your first customers and early adopters are the ones who give you the unfiltered feedback you need to improve your offering and get it ready for the big time.
If your early customers are complaining that your software is too slow or your ordering process is too clunky, you need to fix these issues before these problems are introduced to an even bigger audience.
Ensure your current customers are delighted and your offering is airtight before you try attacking a new market.
Being Too Stringent OR Too Flexible About Who Your Customer is
You may think your offering should appeal to anyone and everyone, and maybe it does. However, marketing and selling without focus will lead to a lot of wasted time and money.
You may spend too much time marketing to people who have no tangible interest. Or maybe you’re wasting time trying to nurture sales leads that will never amount to anything.
Be focused on who you want to target. Then, lock into that market and expand strategically. That’s how you take over the world. However, don’t confuse a focused vision with tunnel vision.
Let’s say you really thought your target market was young and single professionals. But now, you’re getting unexpected interest and traction from young families. Be nimble and adaptable. Notice new trends, react to emerging markets and sub-markets, then create marketing materials that will target them.
Of course, these are only a few of the common pitfalls that businesses in all sectors face when looking to grow their business. There are countless more. However, these are the most common.
Avoiding them will drastically improve your odds of expanding into new markets and beyond.
