Whether your business has been trading for decades or a matter of days, you’ll be aware of the importance of a diverse, varied, and effective product portfolio. Diversification is key to business growth. And, if you haven’t yet put your plan to action and diversified your business, then there’s no better time than 2021.
If 2020 proved anything to the world, it was that the brands capable of quickly adapting and modifying their service had the highest chance of prospering in an uncertain market. When you diversify your business, you significantly improve your likelihood of being able to face adversity head-on.
That’s all well and good. But how do you diversify your brand? How do you market new products and services your customers actually care about, and what can you do to make sure you’re successful in doing so? We’re delving into why diversifying your business is essential for business growth and how to achieve this in the year ahead.
What’s the value in diversifying?
Diversifying your brand isn’t cheap, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. But it does bring with it plenty of value. You may well have become a market leader, and that’s a fantastic achievement! But there’s one problem: your specialisation in that field is only useful while that market exists. What do you do when that market is no longer there?
If, on the other hand, your business is capable of providing that same excellent quality with a range of different services or products, then you’re less reliant on one single market. Expanding into new customer bases reduces business risk and allows you to adapt as the market rapidly changes.
To diversify your business is to incorporate various products and services into your portfolio, or grow your presence in a new industry, market or region – reaching a larger pool of consumers. And between the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak and the business uncertainty surrounding Brexit, it’s essential that you diversify your brand.
3 steps to diversify your business in 2021
It’s clear that diversification is essential and critical for business growth and stability, but knowing how to diversify your business can be a challenge. Here are our top 4 ways to diversify your business in 2021.
1. Identify new market opportunities
There are two key ways to identify new opportunities: exploring your existing market and exploring new markets. First of all, re-evaluate your practice in your current market. Can you alter your long-term strategy to provide a new, more efficient service to your customers? Talk to your existing customers and analyse their feedback. These customers are already loyal to your brand, and so their input is priceless.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to build a presence in a new market, you need to be able to spot opportunities in a different way. Flying head-first into a new field with little understanding or experience is unlikely to yield any business success.
Take the time to identify and explore any gaps in the market. Conduct surveys, analyse consumer data and speak to experts in the field. Build benchmarks and develop customer profiles to enhance your understanding. This data will all help you gauge how viable any new market opportunities will be.
2. Diversify and develop your team
As you’re looking outward and examining new markets under the magnifying glass, take a moment to look inward too. Building a more diverse team leads to smarter innovation and better business creativity.
When you build a diverse and varied team, you’ll have new voices, extra opinions, and different backgrounds all in the same room, and that’s crucial when it comes to studying the bigger picture. Varied input from a team made up of professionals from all walks of life ensures every product is carefully developed with a broad range of perspectives in mind.
3. Develop new strategies
Once you’ve identified gaps in the market and spoken to your existing customers, it’s time to start developing new business ideas. If the focus is on existing customers, how are you adding new value to their experience? It could be something as simple as providing them with a payment plan option or building an online store to enhance their shopping experience or manage regular, repeat orders.
More and more eco-conscious customers are considering a company’s commitment to sustainability before completing their purchase. This is one opportunity for businesses to consider to expand into green markets.
A market that violently shifts from one extreme to the other is a challenge for everyone. When you have a unique portfolio of diverse products and services in a range of developing fields, you’ll adapt far quicker than your competitors and remain stable while they struggle.
Diversifying your business requires dedication, innovation, and courage. But now, with so many industries becoming increasingly difficult to predict, it’s an investment that will prove its worth in 2021 and beyond.
Related: 7 Reasons why you should hire a marketing consultant to help grow your business
