When considering how to expand an existing business outside of an established service area, it is often necessary to use new business tools, marketing or products. The use of the Internet’s potential to expand markets is something that almost any business can do. It may be that the most marketable  thing about your business is not hard products, but knowledge. If you can teach people how to make money, save money or improve their lives in this dismal economy you have something you can sell. 

 Products may have to be modified to appeal to a larger market or even produced on more efficient machinery.  Sometimes a redesign can result in an improved product that is actually less costly than the original, as many original designs are often overcomplicated to start with. However, there is a tendency in today’s market to “race to the bottom” so far as price is concerned, even at the cost of decrease service life and usefulness.  Such an approach will ultimately backfire, and the brand will lose sales as a consequence.

  Refinancing a company will often be necessary to enlarge production. The safest approach is to first use low-cost tools to establish demand, and then, after orders are received, it is easier to finance expansion. Again, the Internet is often the most efficient way to make this market test.

 Successfully establishing a presence in a larger market can have a stabilizing effect on a company because it is less vulnerable to local, unforeseeable, changes in markets, as when a community’s only  factory closes and sales plummet.  

  The following is one of 21 videos on starting your own outdoor-based business which is now available on YouTube. If you have trouble viewing it here, it may be seen on my YouTube channel, wmhoveysmith, at: http://youtu.be/2emL_2TJnZk .