Achieving the dream of owning a fully fledged, money-making business is the ultimate sign that you are succeeding. After years of trying to secure funding, refining your business plan and coming up with a workable vision, you have finally seen all of your hard work pay off. The business is securing orders left, right and center, you are busier than you ever have been and your profits are going stratospheric. What is the best way to ensure that this revenue is utilized wisely?
You could, of course, reinvest in your company. Do you need new premises? Should you be thinking about expanding to an international market? Or would the latest piece of software help your business run more efficiently? Consider your options carefully and return at least a portion of your profits back to the business.
However, this is not your sole option. As the managing director, owner, finance chief and head honcho of your startup, you can think more creatively when you choose the investment avenues to take a meander down. Take a look at these options when trying to work out how to make your company’s money work best for you.
Your Staff
As an employer, it always pays to show your employees just how much they are valued. You could invest in their professional development, pay for them to take courses, become clued up on a new piece of software or even allow them to undertake a professional qualification. Investing in your team is investing in your business as these new skills will be brought into your company. Your staff members can then pass on their newfound skills to all new starters and you could create an ethos of continual learning within your business.
As well as professional development, you could consider hiring new staff. As the remit for your company widens, you may need more bodies to handle the increasing workload. Expanding may require you to hire staff with new skills as you branch into niche areas you had not previously considered.
Land
As you expand, you may consider opening up new physical stores, shops or warehouses. You could lease or build your own. While purchasing the land on which to build your structure might not be something you’ve considered before, it could be worth your while. Self-building means that you are able to generate a bespoke structure specific to your business requirements. You can decide the square footage, the ceiling height and the facilities that you need under one roof. Land and property are continually viewed as one of the most stable, long-term investment options.
By sourcing the relevant professionals, tradespeople and architects, you could start work on your new property once all the planning permissions and building regulations have been sought. Check out the available earth-moving equipment for hire such as backhoe loader, excavators and graders and project manage the job yourself to save money. Once the building is complete, you have an extra asset for your company.
Future-proofing your company with bricks and mortar means you have something to offload should things take a turn for the worse. Similarly, you have an extra source from which to make money if you choose to move your business and lease out your structure to another company.
Marketing
You could have the finest business idea the world has ever seen with the most intuitive and exciting website and products at exceptional prices, yet if you’re not visible as a company, no one will know about it. You need to use some of your profits to ensure that your marketing capability is up to scratch. Consider outsourcing some of your content marketing, social media tasks and SEO to an external company. They will manage the public face of your company, post to your Facebook page and Twitter feeds, and ensure that your loyal customer base is kept informed of new offers, product launches and discounts.
With appropriate AdWord investment, you will also attract potential new business, revenue and sales. Tapping into offsite expertise means that you don’t have to worry about training in-house and can concern yourself with the nitty-gritty of your business.
SEO is still quite the mythical beast and requires individuals who understand the algorithms of Google rather than someone who knows how to utilize the odd keyword or two. You need to be competitive and keep up with your rivals within your industry sector. Be as visible as possible and also be willing to pay to get noticed.
Expand
It costs money to go international, launch a new product or try to break into a new demographic. Conduct market research to gauge the challenges facing your current consumers. If you can come up with a viable product that will allow your customer base to overcome these barriers, you will be on to a winner. People crave for their lives to be easier, more efficient or quicker. By fulfilling this need, you are bringing a much-wanted product to market.
If you’re tempted to try your luck overseas, you must make sure that your product or service will have the same uptake as it does on home soil. Not every idea has international reach, and it’s vital you understand your company’s limitations. Branching out internationally only to find that you are looking at a failed product launch could be a costly mistake to make. Instead, do your research, investigate other companies selling similar products to yours and gauge their success. If you spot a gap in the market, go for it. If the field is already crowded, think about launching elsewhere.
If you’re in the fortunate position of having a healthy company bank balance that continues to increase, you might not simply want to squirrel it away for a rainy day. Use a chunk to invest more aggressively, create new assets for your company and invest in your staff team. Keep your business vision at the center of everything that you do, remember the ethos of your company and strive for continued success.
