Success stories
Grow your business
Planning business growth is an exciting challenge. Growth brings lots of opportunities and No Limits provides a range of support to help you achieve your potential. If you’re looking for ways to grow, we’ve outlined a few things to think about below. You can also get in touch with us on our freephone number and talk things over with a member of our team.
Why grow?
The reasons for growth can vary from business to business - and what’s right for someone else may not be right for you.
Even if you’re happy with where your business is right now, spotting opportunities for future success keeps you moving in the right direction. It also ensures that you keep up with competitors who will always be looking for ways to develop!
Some of the common reasons to grow include:
- To become more competitive e.g. more staff to take on more work, larger premises to hold more stock, new IT systems to increase efficiency, new products or services to broaden your customer base
- To take advantage of a new opportunity e.g. buying out a competitor, partnering with a business that offers a complementary product or service or exploiting a niche market
- To provide a new challenge and maintain interest in your business
- To find opportunities to reap more rewards from your business
- To respond to customer demand for a new product or service
When’s the best time to grow?
Essentially growth means change and only you will know when your business is ready for this. If you’ve just started, you'll know how easy it is to get lost in the day-to-day running of your business and thoughts of growth may be far from your mind. But the best way to make the most of the hard work you’ve put in so far is to keep looking for ways to develop.
The most successful businesses will always have a plan for the future, even if they’re not planning a major growth phase as it helps them assess whether they’re on track for reaching their goals.
External influences, such as competition or rising costs, may also have as much of an influence on your business as your own ambitions for growth so it’s always good to be prepared.
Choosing the best time to put your plans into action may mean asking yourself a number of questions:
- What’s the reason for growing? (This helps to maintain your focus)
- Can I afford it?
- Will I be able to sustain the quality of my business amidst the changes?
- How will growth affect the culture of my business?
- Will change destroy my unique selling point?
Our team of business experts ensures you have all the information you need to make a decision about what’s right for you. We can also connect you with a network of experienced business people who can help you keep your plans on track.
Where do I start?
Some changes will occur naturally over time; others may not be possible straight away and you will need to plan for them. Setting out a plan of where you’d like your business to go can help you identify all the issues connected with growth - and how to prepare for it. This is especially important if you haven’t updated your business plan since you started trading.
Typical business plans cover just 12 to 24 months and assess current performance in relation to how future growth might be handled. If you need help on what to include in your plan, give No Limits a call.
How much will it cost me?
A cash flow forecast helps you see what money you’ve got coming in and out of the business. Whatever change you decide to make, you must make sure that there’s enough money to cover day-to-day running, without leaving you overstretched.
If you think that financing your plans might be a problem, why not give No Limits a call to find out what help is available. We can talk you through the different finance options open to you and also look at whether you are eligible for any of the funding support that is available with us.
To give you an idea of the sort of finance options that might be right for your business, why not use this interactive tool on the Business Link site.
This can help you assess your business readiness to obtain funding. However, it does not recommend specific products or services so should not be seen as a substitute for the professional advice you can get with No Limits.
Where does No Limits come in?
No Limits is the central gateway to a number of different support projects, each offering a range of help. We know that growth can mean different things for different people which is why we’ve set up a central free phone number 0800 612 2029. You can get in touch and we’ll help you decide what help is right for your business.
If you’d prefer to chat to someone face-to-face we can also set up a meeting for you with one of our expert advisors who can review your plans with you and look at ways in which you can develop it with No Limits.
