Should You Expand Your Product/Service Line?

Things are getting better. At least I think so. But is it nice out in the land of business development and sales expansion? I don’t think so. As a business owner you start to wonder is it a good time to broaden our product line or go into other areas of services to attract a wider measure of companies or people to my business?

Diversification might look like a good way to go, but is it?

As a testament to narrow niching my own company to grow faster, companies will find that by sticking to their core capabilities and knowledge base they will expand even faster in today’s market place. People are begging to find the magic elixir and if you become an expert you can be perceived as that “Magic Man”.

If you go down the road of diversification and add core competencies or products you can (and will) become distracted. Your company’s vision will lose its way. You might find yourself supporting less revenue bearing services or products just because you now have to, when the real muscle of your business, your core competencies are ready to roll, robustly.

By the time this “Great Recession” is really over companies will find that the new markets they might have tried to get into have not even gotten starting and are still a drain on your company’s recourses or time and money.

Really, stop, look, listen. Unless your service or product has become obsolete, having and staying in your niche a totally lost cause because it doesn’t exist anymore, you need to think. Becoming an expert in your nitch in an ever crowded broad based market gets you now where. Don’t become weak and dull. You need to stay strong, and become sharp, like the edge of a knife

Larson Notes & Satire: A year ago last June I was not a happy camper. Sales were down; getting new customers was a real struggle. I was looking for ways to expand into other markets, other service areas I could be doing. Then I got, out of the blue, a phone call from an old friend. He wanted to use Me and My company, just because I would and I could do cold calls and I knew and understood the printing business better than other telemarketing companies. I said yes, of course. We needed the project. Then I took the pause that refreshes, if he needs this help and came to me because I have a special knowledge, why not others?

BINGO!

In 1 week I narrowed my marketing attack down to a narrow niche of printers and other graphic related companies. Why? Because we know you, and we can sell you better than the competition! I can’t say, yet, the rest is history, but sales are up 75% over a year ago.

There is still work to do, but life is good and getting better.

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.