NFIB

Reach Out: Questions to Ask Before You Expand
07/ 24/ 2003

1. Will this expansion play to your company's strengths? As Kodner of The Crack Team says, "You want to stick with your core business, and wring the rag dry."

2. Is the market growing? If not, it will be hard to recoup the investment needed to enter it.

3. Who are your new competitors, and can you reasonably take them on? Entering a new market may mean facing bigger, more established, or better-financed competitors.

4. Have you thought through all that's needed to expand? This is essential, especially when you'll need outside funding. "You have to demonstrate to the lender that you've thought of everything," says Chris Lehnes, vice president of business development with CIT Small Business Lending, Livingston, N.J.

5. Can you expand in reasonable steps? "Just put out the dollars you can afford to lose," advises Bill Broadbent of T-ShirtKing.com.

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This Web extra is supplement to the article "Blue Sky Thinking," which appears in the August/September 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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