WINTER2016
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1. Make sure you are maximizing
the space, the time, and the
programs you have.
Sullivan says that a common problem
facilities have is going straight to the
building addition. "People start to feel
full in the wintertime, and they all of the
sudden think that in order to grow their
businesses, they just have to add more
inventory, and then they're full the next
winter. But they have all that overhead
when they're not full in the summer."
Even with a full building during one
season, the extra overhead can actually
hurt revenues.
2. Do your due diligence.
In addition to knowing what groups you'll
be working with to use field time or to
lease space, talk to your customers to
see what they want. "Reinvesting in your
facility or expanding your facility is a
great way to retain customers, because
you're showing that you're taking their
dollars and putting them
back to use so they
can have a better
experience."
3. Minimize the impact of
expansion on your current
business.
Your staff will be excited about
expansion and will want to be a part
of it, but your current customers still
need attention. "If you don't have a good
system and process and have the right
staff allocated to the project to see it
through, you might actually hurt your
existing business because you're pulling
your management staff and pulling
your ownership staff off of the existing
business to work on the new business."
4. Understand the strategy behind
expansion.
Knowing your expansion strategy will
help shape your expansion process.
"Do we just want to create more
revenue in the same market here
locally, or do we want to look to
expand into other locations to increase
market share overall and even protect
the market from outside
or other service
providers?"
Eric asks.
TIPS FOR EXPANSION
