After a certain amount of success, many small businesses often look to expand in order to bring more sales and recognition to the company. Businesses that sell products have numerous ways to grow beyond its current status within their available market. Though the idea can be daunting, there are steps that can be taken to explore the expansion option in small steps.
Explore specific niches
Every company’s product is designed to attract a certain type of clientele. Within that market are customers with specific wants and needs that go beyond the use of what the original product offers. That market can be broken down to explore these customers’ desires and allow the company to cater to these newfound niches. By diversifying products to focus on particular niches, a larger customer base can be gained and more loyalty can be received.
An expanding company can take its original product and design new lines that meet the demands of the customers who fall into these submarkets. ExtremeBeam, a company that creates flashlights, offers models specifically designed for military use, hunting, everyday carry, and more.
Patent company products
For those businesses that have a unique or original product, patenting is a way to avoid copies and counterfeits appearing on the market. According to patent attorney James Yang, a patent permits the owner to stop other companies from producing or importing the same product into the United States. Because other businesses will not be able to produce something of the same design, this eliminates much of the competition. Patented products can assure customers about merchandise quality, letting them know that they are able to buy the very best that are available to them.
Yang also believes that trademarking a product can result in higher profit margins. Because the patented product will be something that is one-of-a-kind and available to customers, patent owners may charge a higher price for the process of making the product or the product itself.
Advertise
Small companies can be cast into the shadows of more domineering businesses, making it difficult to get positive results from their products’ promotion. According to Simona Covel, senior content manager at Meredith Corporation, companies looking to expand should examine non-traditional advertising methods that will reach customers in the market needed such as ads in small niche magazines.
Advertising a product on online education forums is a way for a company to gain the trust of potential customers. Instead of designing and placing an ad to be displayed in a sidebar, a small company has the luxury of taking the time to promote its merchandise in a more personal manner.
Marketing conference Affiliate Summit explains how to use forums to benefit an expanding business’s sales and get in touch with merchants and customers. By answering questions from the target market, a company can build a wider customer base by proving its knowledge and understanding of the product, as well as the needs and wants of its buyers.
Originally posted on May 20, 2015 @ 10:44 pm
