No matter how small your business is at the moment, there will probably come a time when you need to think about expanding it, either by taking on more staff, expanding to other geographical areas or moving into a larger property.
The common elements to all of thses types of expansion is that you are an element of your business to make it more efficient and therefore more profitable.
What is clear with any type of expansion is that planning is of the utmost importance. Without a good business plan you will waste precious time and money exploring various options that could come to nothing. Take your time to evaluate your expansion plans and test the various scenarios until you are confident both that you can actually expand and that it will give you the return on your investment that you expect.
Money for Expansion
As we have mentioned in our article about financing a new business you should think about the various funding option sthat are available. Many small business consultants will tell that you should look to your own resources first before going outside of your business for any financial help. This is certainly good advice, if you have some spare capital then reinvesting it into the business may be the best thing to do. You should however remember there are other sources of finance that your business can explore. One area that is often overlooked is business grants. Only around 7% of small businesses take advantage of the many grants that are available. It's estimated that UK businesses miss out on over £125 million of grant aid each year. We recommend that you talk to your accountant about the grants that may be avaiable and the benefits of each (if you need to look for a local accountant you can find one using our search option at the top of this page).
There are several sources of grants available to the small business, depending on your business these can include :-
- The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) - for farming and rural development.
- The Princes Trust - for new businesses where the owner is under the age of 30.
- The Arts Council - for artists and arts related businesses.
- The Energy Saving Trust - grants towards energy efficiency.
- Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS).
- and many others...
Once again, you accountant should be able to advise you on the right direction to go if you are looking for a grant as they will either know about grants or will have professional contacts that will know about the grants that might be available to your business.
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