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One of the main headaches in business expansion is that there is a time when profits plummet. This is generally due to either downtime as your business relocates, or increased expenses wiping out your profits. Of course, you could be particularly unfortunate and find that you are caught up in both scenarios at the same time.
However, for your business to grow and prosper, you are at some stage going to have to take the plunge. Before you do this, you may be interested to know that there are ways around this that could provide your business and your profit margin with a bit of cushioning, at least until you return to your current momentum.
Get the Appropriate Finance
Undoubtedly, you are going to need finance options and there are, of course, different types that are available for you. You could, for instance, look to investors to help your cause, but they are going to want to see a very quick return on their money and will also want to see how it is increasing regularly. You will have to keep in mind that with a stake in your business, your business will never be regarded as totally yours. This is because they will have a say in certain areas of your business.
A way in which you can keep your business yours through and through is to check out business loans that may be available to you. To qualify for a business loan, you are going to need to comply with and submit certain criteria. It is up to the lending company as to whether or not your business and your application will be successful. Having a business will help with budgeting your business’s money while the expansion is taking place, which means that you will not have any added stress factors of large bills that you haven’t foreseen.
However, you will have to choose which type of business loan is best for you, your budget, and your business needs. You will be faced with a choice of two different types – a fixed loan or a variable rate – each with its good points. When seeking information about fixed loan vs variable rates, you should most certainly speak to professional and well-established lending companies before making your conclusion.
Of course, once you have your finances in place, you can then turn your mind to how you want to go about expanding your business.
To Extend Premises
If you own the property that you are currently working in, you could choose to extend it. This will undoubtedly take time and you will have to make sure that the part of the premises not being expended is still safe for your employees to work in. This can prove to be a bit of a health and safety nightmare, and you should make sure that you go into this scenario with your eyes wide open.
Rent a Larger Premises
You could rent larger premises for your employees to work in. This will limit your worker’s downtime but could be costly if your company has a lot of large machinery that will also require relocating.
Rent Additional Premises
Or, you could keep your additional premises and hire extra space elsewhere. Of course, you will have to split your workforce in two to be able to make the best of both worlds and, therefore, make space in both locations. This can be a costly decision, as you will be paying out two rents and have the maintenance of two properties. You will probably be stationed at one and will be on tenterhooks as to whether those employees in your other unit are doing what you pay them for in your absence.
There Is Another Alternative Open to You
You could stay where you are and change the working conditions of your office workers and, therefore, invest your additional finances into product research to grow your range and your business further.
Whether you are choosing to hire additional employees, or just stick to the ones that you have, you can save space by offering different working conditions. For instance:
Remote Workers
Having your office workers working from their homes as remote workers will undoubtedly free up your office space, which can then be used for other important areas of your business.
Hybrid Workers
If you are not happy with your teams working from their homes, you have the option of offering them hybrid working conditions. This will mean that during some of the working week, they will work from home, and the other part, they will be onsite, in your office. If you work out your rotas carefully, you will not have all of your office workers on-site at any one time, and this means that your office space could potentially be half in size.
