Plus500

You've Got The Moves! The Skill In Adding More Locations To Your Company



The great thing about building a business is when you get to the stage where your company is now starting to trade in the big leagues, and demand is so high that you now need to plan how to start selling in more than one location, it is a big deal. You have worked hard to get to this point, now all you need is the right plan to make sure that you can replicate your business success.

Irrespective of your previous location, the new place of business will present a whole new set of challenges. The fact that a new place of business will bring up different tasks, all relating to factors like culture, the local market, local restrictions or guidelines, and even possibly the economic conditions, especially if there is a reliance on one industry in that area. Once you have drawn up a business plan that takes into account every defining factor of your new location, you will need to start getting the employees hired. The difficulty in getting the right staff, especially if you have already set a date for trading, is that the process can be a long and drawn out affair. Building a team and training them up takes a lot of time too. If you use people in senior positions that are from within the company to take control of the new location, it will be a far faster process, while also biding you time as the new additions to the team are trained up.

The second phase of the plan is the development of the product. By taking a product to a new location you will need to check if new or different certifications are required. While taking a product to another country will require a major renovation of the “localization” of the product, there may be some sticky issues you will need to assess and overcome, even if it is 500 miles down the road. The logistical aspect of shipping the product is an important factor. You need to choose a specialist haulage firm that caters to your product. If you have a very delicate product to ship then you have to communicate this properly so it is not damaged in transit. You need to research the haulage firms that are best for your product and your budget.

The final piece of the puzzle is keeping the operation running smoothly. The difficulty in sustaining a business over multiple sites is one that needs to be addressed early on in the process. The vast upscaling of any company comes with challenges like keeping employees engaged and evaluating the structure on a regular basis to come up with improvements. Once you are implementing policies and procedures in line with your original site, you will have a business operating comfortably over two sites. The next challenge is to see if there is enough demand to start a third site. The nature of supply and demand means that you need to step up to the challenge, can you do it?

Please note that the above article may contain affiliate links

No comments