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According to a recent survey, 26% of small and medium-sized
businesses are exploring a variety of strategies to give
themselves a competitive edge in the market. In this article we
take a look at 11 ways you can grow your business by entering
new markets or selling new products and services.
1. Collaborate
Collaboration is a way of bringing the skills and experience of
your business together with those of another complementary
business that has a similar customer base to yours.
Forterun Global, a growth focused management consultancy in
Lagos, collaborates with lawyers because they have a similar
customer base to them.
They offer services that lawyers play a major role in which
includes Access to Investment, Market Entry Services, Business
Match Making. For these services to succeed, a lawyer needs to
be part of the business mix especially for tasks like due diligence,
company formation, agreements etc.
By joining forces with a similar business to yours you can raise
awareness of your brand with customers in your target market
that might never have heard of you. Same with your
collaborator.
2. Open a new location
If you’ve already established a successful business in one
location, one option for expansion is to set up shop elsewhere.
Opening a new location in the UK would not be a bad idea at all.
The ease of doing business in the UK is not as strenuous as it is
to set up in most countries. In less than 10 minutes you could
have your company all set up including your Certificate of
Incorporation automatically emailed to you.
It is that simple.
This needs to be carefully considered though – ask yourself, is
your business successful because of its current location and
could it run without you especially if you had to spend most of
your time setting up elsewhere?
You may need to nominate a management consultant or an
auditor to manage your company in your absence if you would
not be living in the UK.
And it depends on your agreement, the two of you can
successfully operate the business in the UK via correspondence
provided you keep your part of the agreement.
Remember, the UK is no Nigeria. Once you enter an agreement it
is expected that all parties adhere to the terms. Their courts work
extremely well and you know what that means.
Examples of successful growth into the UK markets include: GTB,
Access Bank, Arik Air, etc.
3. Franchise your business
Another option for anyone with a proven business model
is franchising.
Effectively, your franchisee takes on the risk of setting up in a
different location, but you still have to put in the hard work to
manage your franchises and it needs to be a business model that
can work in multiple locations.
If you are confused, just take time to study other popular
franchises that you see scattered all over Nigeria. Good examples
include: KFC, Dominos, Coldstone, Mr. Biggs, etc.
4. License a product
You may have a fantastic business idea, but if you’ve reached
your limit for producing your product on a large scale, one
option available is to license it.
This is where another company takes over the responsibility for
producing and distributing the product, but they take the lion’s
share of the profits and pay you royalties.
This isn’t for every company, but some entrepreneurs have
made successful businesses from licensing such things as
designs, games and software, leaving them more time to come
up with new products.
5. Sell complementary
products or services
If people are already buying from you, could you potentially
increase the cost of their purchases and improve customer
loyalty by offering them something else they might need.
This could involve selling a related product or service from a third
party, which you make commission on, or you could put your
skills to use producing something that fills a gap in your market.
A company that uses this strategy a lot is yoghurt startup – Bia.
Bia is located in the food section of Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall in
Surulere, Lagos. So next time you visit that Mall. You might go
there and see this strategy in action by spending 1,000 naira and
learn how they cross sell and up-sell their products to get
customers to pay more.
Pharmacies and supermarkets use this strategy to sell
magazines. A good example is Medplus.
6. Enter new markets
This could be selling in a new area, a new country or to a
completely different type of customer. Whichever new market
you choose to enter, one thing is for sure – you must do your
research first!
Like this resource?
Contact me below and let’s talk about your unique needs.
Don’t expect that they will behave just the same as customers in
your existing markets. Understand their wants and needs and
then develop a relevant product or service that satisfies these.
7. Public procurement
With government targets to award 25% of small public-sector
contracts to small and medium-sized businesses, there has never
been a better time to explore the opportunities available to you in
this new market.
8. Exporting
Nigeria exports increased in the 3rd quarter of 2017 and many
businesses have got in on the act as the demand for Nigerian
products improved overseas.
To find out more about exporting opportunities, spend time on
mrpepe.com more, visit the Nigerian Export Promotion Council
website or their office to get more information on Exporting.
9. Deliver online
The web offers the owners of small and medium-sized
businesses a cost-effective way of diversifying.
Options include selling products online to increase your reach to
customers in other geographical areas, or taking your existing
product and delivering it online, making it available to customers
around the world, 24/7.
This is particularly suitable for anyone selling an educational or
training product or service.
10. Deliver Offline
More as we like to scream online these days, we should also
remember that more than 85% of the population is still largely
offline. This is a market we would need to cater to. To win in this
space requires a lot of strategy, ingenuity and execution to
succeed.
Most banks in Nigeria get it right but one bank stands out from
the pack – Guaranty Trust Bank PLC. You can use GTB as it is
often referred as your case study and see how they have
successfully transitioned into mobile banking while still having
internet banking, and direct sales banking also referred to as retail
banking. Each channel doing the same thing and achieving the
same purpose of brand awareness and getting clients
seamlessly. GTB is so brilliant with its marketing that they have
further gone into sponsorships of key industries: Fashion, Food
and Media. These are notably seen in the GT Bank Fashion
Weekend, GT Bank Food Fair and Ndani TV on YouTube. Each
channel earns the bank additional revenue.
11. Buy another business
This is a big strategic risk for small businesses because of the
amount of time, money and legal complexities usually involved in
acquiring another company, but if done successfully it
guarantees an increased market share and can create accelerated
growth.
Bonus Strategy
Merge your business with another business and suddenly you
have grown from a small business to a bigger business. This
was what most of the banks did during Professor Charles
Soludo’s tenure as CBN governor. The banks then either merged
or were acquired to meet up the capital base that the Central Bank
of Nigeria outlined for them to continue to do business in Nigeria.
Expanding your business can be risky, and all of the strategies
above are not without their hazards, so you should carry out a
thorough research and plan carefully to spot opportunities plus
anticipate and manage risks wherever possible.
Seek advice from professionals and other business owners
before making a decision.
businesses are exploring a variety of strategies to give
themselves a competitive edge in the market. In this article we
take a look at 11 ways you can grow your business by entering
new markets or selling new products and services.
1. Collaborate
Collaboration is a way of bringing the skills and experience of
your business together with those of another complementary
business that has a similar customer base to yours.
Forterun Global, a growth focused management consultancy in
Lagos, collaborates with lawyers because they have a similar
customer base to them.
They offer services that lawyers play a major role in which
includes Access to Investment, Market Entry Services, Business
Match Making. For these services to succeed, a lawyer needs to
be part of the business mix especially for tasks like due diligence,
company formation, agreements etc.
By joining forces with a similar business to yours you can raise
awareness of your brand with customers in your target market
that might never have heard of you. Same with your
collaborator.
2. Open a new location
If you’ve already established a successful business in one
location, one option for expansion is to set up shop elsewhere.
Opening a new location in the UK would not be a bad idea at all.
The ease of doing business in the UK is not as strenuous as it is
to set up in most countries. In less than 10 minutes you could
have your company all set up including your Certificate of
Incorporation automatically emailed to you.
It is that simple.
This needs to be carefully considered though – ask yourself, is
your business successful because of its current location and
could it run without you especially if you had to spend most of
your time setting up elsewhere?
You may need to nominate a management consultant or an
auditor to manage your company in your absence if you would
not be living in the UK.
And it depends on your agreement, the two of you can
successfully operate the business in the UK via correspondence
provided you keep your part of the agreement.
Remember, the UK is no Nigeria. Once you enter an agreement it
is expected that all parties adhere to the terms. Their courts work
extremely well and you know what that means.
Examples of successful growth into the UK markets include: GTB,
Access Bank, Arik Air, etc.
3. Franchise your business
Another option for anyone with a proven business model
is franchising.
Effectively, your franchisee takes on the risk of setting up in a
different location, but you still have to put in the hard work to
manage your franchises and it needs to be a business model that
can work in multiple locations.
If you are confused, just take time to study other popular
franchises that you see scattered all over Nigeria. Good examples
include: KFC, Dominos, Coldstone, Mr. Biggs, etc.
4. License a product
You may have a fantastic business idea, but if you’ve reached
your limit for producing your product on a large scale, one
option available is to license it.
This is where another company takes over the responsibility for
producing and distributing the product, but they take the lion’s
share of the profits and pay you royalties.
This isn’t for every company, but some entrepreneurs have
made successful businesses from licensing such things as
designs, games and software, leaving them more time to come
up with new products.
5. Sell complementary
products or services
If people are already buying from you, could you potentially
increase the cost of their purchases and improve customer
loyalty by offering them something else they might need.
This could involve selling a related product or service from a third
party, which you make commission on, or you could put your
skills to use producing something that fills a gap in your market.
A company that uses this strategy a lot is yoghurt startup – Bia.
Bia is located in the food section of Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall in
Surulere, Lagos. So next time you visit that Mall. You might go
there and see this strategy in action by spending 1,000 naira and
learn how they cross sell and up-sell their products to get
customers to pay more.
Pharmacies and supermarkets use this strategy to sell
magazines. A good example is Medplus.
6. Enter new markets
This could be selling in a new area, a new country or to a
completely different type of customer. Whichever new market
you choose to enter, one thing is for sure – you must do your
research first!
Like this resource?
Contact me below and let’s talk about your unique needs.
Don’t expect that they will behave just the same as customers in
your existing markets. Understand their wants and needs and
then develop a relevant product or service that satisfies these.
7. Public procurement
With government targets to award 25% of small public-sector
contracts to small and medium-sized businesses, there has never
been a better time to explore the opportunities available to you in
this new market.
8. Exporting
Nigeria exports increased in the 3rd quarter of 2017 and many
businesses have got in on the act as the demand for Nigerian
products improved overseas.
To find out more about exporting opportunities, spend time on
mrpepe.com more, visit the Nigerian Export Promotion Council
website or their office to get more information on Exporting.
9. Deliver online
The web offers the owners of small and medium-sized
businesses a cost-effective way of diversifying.
Options include selling products online to increase your reach to
customers in other geographical areas, or taking your existing
product and delivering it online, making it available to customers
around the world, 24/7.
This is particularly suitable for anyone selling an educational or
training product or service.
10. Deliver Offline
More as we like to scream online these days, we should also
remember that more than 85% of the population is still largely
offline. This is a market we would need to cater to. To win in this
space requires a lot of strategy, ingenuity and execution to
succeed.
Most banks in Nigeria get it right but one bank stands out from
the pack – Guaranty Trust Bank PLC. You can use GTB as it is
often referred as your case study and see how they have
successfully transitioned into mobile banking while still having
internet banking, and direct sales banking also referred to as retail
banking. Each channel doing the same thing and achieving the
same purpose of brand awareness and getting clients
seamlessly. GTB is so brilliant with its marketing that they have
further gone into sponsorships of key industries: Fashion, Food
and Media. These are notably seen in the GT Bank Fashion
Weekend, GT Bank Food Fair and Ndani TV on YouTube. Each
channel earns the bank additional revenue.
11. Buy another business
This is a big strategic risk for small businesses because of the
amount of time, money and legal complexities usually involved in
acquiring another company, but if done successfully it
guarantees an increased market share and can create accelerated
growth.
Bonus Strategy
Merge your business with another business and suddenly you
have grown from a small business to a bigger business. This
was what most of the banks did during Professor Charles
Soludo’s tenure as CBN governor. The banks then either merged
or were acquired to meet up the capital base that the Central Bank
of Nigeria outlined for them to continue to do business in Nigeria.
Expanding your business can be risky, and all of the strategies
above are not without their hazards, so you should carry out a
thorough research and plan carefully to spot opportunities plus
anticipate and manage risks wherever possible.
Seek advice from professionals and other business owners
before making a decision.
