Expanding your side hustle can take your once-hobby business into a new area of growth and success. This can secure your future and finances while presenting unique opportunities and challenges. From competition research to ongoing development, here are some suggestions.
Knowing When To Franchise
Some of the world’s largest corporations today were once local small businesses. McDonald’s is a perfect example. The tiny burger shack from California was transformed into a global megacorp with aggressive expansion. But how? Franchising, that’s how. Franchising allows others to open up their part-owned business under your successful name. Rosen Karol Salis, franchise lawyers, and others in the business can help you understand what you need to know.
Understand The Competition
Further understanding, you won’t get far without understanding what you are up against. No matter the business you operate, from making clown costumes to personalized gift cards, there will always be competition. Some have more or less, depending on how niche the business is. But with competition research, you can get a better feel for what works and what doesn’t in your niche. See what they are doing right, emulate it, and try to offer customers what they do not.
Know The Audience When Expanding Your Side Hustle
The word “niche” is mentioned above, but what does that really mean? A niche is the area in which you operate. For example, building office computers at affordable prices or selling football team dinnerware. A niche can be broad or laser-focused on something really specific:
- Identify the general market for your niche.
- Look for an underserved area of the specific market.
- Market products and services to a subset within a broad niche.
The more specific a niche is, the higher the chance of success. In fact, the number of people who click off a generic site with too broad a niche is 22% higher than a focused niche site. Any online business campaign must define and address a specific audience for a niche.
Ongoing Product And Service Development
In almost every niche or business area, it helps to innovate to stay above board. Companies that won’t embrace the future or adapt to new products and services generally don’t last. Ask yourself, where would Blockbuster be right now if they accepted the partnership with Netflix? It helps to set aside some company cash for innovation and research. This way, you can offer your customers the best products and services related to your business that they actually want.
Focus On Branding Your Company
There is always competition, and your business must stand out. Marketing and branding is a powerful way to become a recognizable company in any niche. Colors, logos, and taglines are important. They help form a corporate identity customers know and trust. Marketing is also essential. And today, this requires more than a magazine ad. Social media, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, and optimized (SEO) content for organic traffic are all vital for modern brands.
Summary
Considering franchising your business can help when expanding your side hustle into something more. Of course, research is vital, and you must research the audience you cater to and any competition. This will help make the most of branding efforts via PPC and SEO.
