A growing number of people are choosing to take a leap of faith and set up their own business. If you launched a home-based venture, and it’s progressed by leaps and bounds, you may be thinking about the next step. Are you ready to move from home to the high street and turn your brand into a household name? If you’re keen to expand, here are some top tips to take on board.
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[ctt template=”4″ link=”2fgIG” via=”yes” ]Are you ready to move from home to the high street and turn your brand into a household name? If you’re keen to expand a growing home business, here are some top tips to take on board.[/ctt]
From Home To The High Street: Tips To Expand A Growing Home Business
Image source: https://kaboompics.com/photo/4896/businesswoman-working-at-her-laptop
Do your homework
Taking your business to the next level may not always be a straightforward move. If you’re relocating from home, you’ll need to think about your new business premises, hiring members of staff and adapting your sales techniques. If you’re used to selling online, for example, and you’re thinking of opening a store, you need to consider how you’re going to drive sales on both platforms. Before you expand, make sure that there is a growing demand for your business. If sales are slow, or you’re not in profit yet, it may be wise to wait. To succeed, you need customers to buy your products or services. If the market is saturated, think twice about taking that chance. If you have experienced an increase in orders and your profile is growing, don’t underestimate the importance of the location of your new store. If you rely on footfall, you need to pick a spot that will attract passing trade. Research the local area, look at which other stores are nearby and compare rental rates.
Expand your skill set
If you’re going to be dealing with employees, you’ll be making face to face contact with clients, or you’re keen to try and strike better deals with suppliers, it’s useful to undertake training to better equip you for the next level. Leadership and management skills, sales training and the ability to understand the supply chain and hone your own strategy will all come in handy. There are many options available to help you develop your skills from drop-in sessions and workshops to courses like a master of supply chain management online. You may find that you identify areas where you could improve further down the line, for example, when you’re trying to manage the accounts or deal with a difficult situation involving two employees. If you do have weaknesses, investing in training will benefit both you and your business.
Hire the best people
When your business grows, it’s common to consider employing other people to help you out. If you can’t manage on your own, you want a better work-life balance, or you need more staff members to make that next step viable, focus on attracting and hiring the best people for the job. Don’t rush the recruitment process, make sure adverts contain details about the qualifications and character traits you’re looking for, and use the interview stage to get to know the candidates. Look for people with passion and enthusiasm, as well as academic qualifications and retail experience.
Picture taken from https://kaboompics.com/photo/7494/women-with-shopping-bags-walking-out-from-shop
Are you toying with the idea of branching out of your home office and trying to set the high street or the mall alight? If so, hopefully, you’ll find this guide helpful. Many happy sales to you!
This is a contributed post.
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For those ready to expand their businesses from their home to streets; congrats, you have successfully kickstarted the entrepreneur journey. But you are at a critical stage, and you can’t afford to miss it. First thing, be sure your market is growing, else expanding will be self-destruction. Hire the best hands; your workforce will be your best asset and will be critical in your success or failure.
Obviously, the first reason your business will benefit from implementing ongoing sales training courses for your sales team is that sales will naturally increase, leading to greater profits. The more understanding your staff members have of the sales process, the easier it is to convert customer inquiries into sales. As your staff learn sales skills, like starting the sales dialogue, discovering the reason for the purchase, and closing the deal, you will definitely increase your sales.
I would love to start a home business and have made several attempts. For myself I made reusable straw sleeves, Bento bags, cloth sandwich wraps (not beeswax), cloth popcorn bags, etc. People would say “These are great! You could sell these! I’d buy them!” So I make up 50 of each item and let people know I have an inventory and there’s a variety to choose from. Not one taker. So I made a Facebook page and post on eBay. Not one sale. It seems that people would love to have these items as gifts but not buy them! So, while I would love to sell items that are also useful, there doesn’t seem to be a market. Etsy is too costly with the fees involved, and so many others selling the same things. So, I am well stocked for a while for my own use!