August 2022 Volume 4

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT

refers to as cross-selling. When I put it into those terms, doesn’t the concept make sense? The difference in approach is that when attempting to cross-sell to their customers, most business owners do it haphazardly. In the 10KSB program, we teach business owners how to be intentional about cross-selling. Maybe that’s why we don’t use the term. If we tell a business owner that we’re going to teach them how to cross-sell, that business owner will say, “Oh, I already know how to do that!” The reality is that they don’t. That’s why we teach them how to undertake a process through which they identify, evaluate, and execute a growth opportunity for their business. We’re teaching them how to be intentional about it. But, remember, cross selling is only one of the strategies we teach for business growth. As I mentioned previously, the other approach is to expand a business’s market. While this doesn’t entail any change in the business’s product mix, market expansion requires the same degree of intentionality as expanding a business’s product or service lines. What do I mean? There are many ways in which to expand one’s market. To what demographic do you currently sell? As you are most certainly aware, there are many ways to describe your demographic. Are your customers commercial or consumer customers? Do you currently sell to a particular industry segment? Do you sell to a particular gender or ethnic group? As you are probably beginning to see, there are many ways to slice and dice your market and, therefore, many ways to position yourself to enter another market. As is the case with product or service expansion, market expansion must also be entered into with a large degree of intentionality. In being intentional about expanding your products, services, or markets, there are many questions you must ask yourself as a business owner. Who is my competition? What do I bring to the

table that they don’t? What new capabilities or skills do I need to effectively enter this space? What new equipment do I need? Who do I need to hire? How will I gather the data to make appropriate assumptions in order to create a meaningful forecast? As you see, there are many questions to consider before embarking on the path to grow your business. But, with the right approach, and the right advisors on your team, you can more easily reduce or even eliminate the risk from the decision. The important takeaway here is that when considering growth opportunities for your business, it is important to be intentional, methodical, and thorough in researching and analyzing your proposed opportunity. You can and should assemble your own team to conduct this evaluation, but, also know that the 10KSB program is a valuable free resource to teach you a methodical, repeatable, process through which to be more successful. To learn more, visit our website – www.tri-c.edu/10ksb. That’s the first step to move from hoping to knowing. Howard J. Kass, CPA (Inactive) Business Service Advisor Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses in Partnership with Cuyahoga Community College Phone: 216-987-3689 Email: Howard.Kass@tri-c.edu www.tri-c.edu/10ksb

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