How to optimise your business: diversify into new areas

Evolving over time is vital if you want your business to last. The market doesn’t stand still, so it’s important to diversify and keep your offering fresh.

In this series, we’ll look at some key ways to optimise your business, exploring different avenues to evolve your enterprise and create a legacy you can be proud of.

We’ve got some suggestions on ways to diversify your business offering.

5 ways you can diversify as a small business

You may well have a product range and a customer base that’s ticking over nicely. But customer and market needs can change very quickly. Blockbuster, for example, had a huge international business, but the invention of on-demand movies killed that business in just a few years.

If you want to bake longevity into your business, it’s crucial to keep moving and reexamining the value that you bring to your audience.

Here are five potential strategies for diversifying your business:

→ Introduce new products or services

Expand your offerings by developing complementary products and/or services. This could mean bundling existing offerings or creating entirely new lines to cater to existing and new customer needs.

→ Diversify into new sectors

It’s easy to get comfortable in your existing market niche. But you’ll find more opportunities by entering new, related or unrelated markets. This cuts your reliance on a single market, cutting down the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket. It also introduces your brand to a whole new customer audience.

→ Deepen your market penetration

Going deeper into your existing target market can reveal a whole new audience. Think about what you can add to make your offering more attractive. Put cross-selling and upselling strategies in place to increase the sales potential from existing and new customers and listen hard to customer feedback.

→ Expand into new territories

Having a new market to sell into is a great way to boost your sales opportunities. Find an international market that has a relevant customer demographic and tailor your products and services to this new foreign audience. Bear in mind though the compliance, customs and tax requirements of going international.

→ Form strategic partnerships

Your reach and revenue potential is greater when you collaborate with other businesses. Entering into a partnership helps you offer joint products or services, leverage your partner’s customer base, or explore new distribution channels. This could be a partner in your existing market, or in a complementary market.

Talk to us about diversifying your business offering

If your aim is to optimise your business, diversification is a real must. It introduces you to new sectors and audiences, increases your sales opportunities and reduces risk.