For many successful businesses the decision to grow is one that they will face at some point. Having proved that your idea works, you now have to decide if it is time to do more of what’s working or not. There are many reason to grow a business, these range from the desire to increase profits to the desire to sell the business at a later stage. How you actually go about the process will depend on your reason. Here are a few well established strategies for growing your existing window cleaning business.

1. Make use of existing customers

There are 2 ways to do this. The first is by asking your current customers for referrals in return for a discount. There is nothing better than word of mouth advertising, it is a great way to increase your client base without much effort or cost.

The second is by offering improved and new services to your existing customers. Ask existing customers for feedback on how you could provide a better service for them, and then by making use of technology or better equipment you could make the required changes. You could try changing your pricing structure, to persuade one-off users to become repeat users of your service, by offering them some form of bundle discount. Also you could contact former customers who have not used your service for a while and try to get back.

2. Get new customers

Although this may require some expenditure, finding new customers is another tried and tested strategy for growing a business. There are many options when it comes to finding new clients, but it is wise to start with the lowest risk strategies. For example if your primary customer base consists of just private clients, then you may decide to target the corporate market by approaching a few companies in your area to offer them your services. Then there is the option of partnering with another business in a related field, for example partnering with gardeners or painters. This will be mutually beneficial as you can have access to each others customer bases, and you can offer them your services.

You could also use the internet to find new customers and it won’t cost you much to advertise and promote your window cleaning business. If you don’t already have one, then put up a website to showcase your business and the services you offer. Then get your business and website listed in the relevant trade directories in your area. You need to join the various social networks and forums so as to interact with your potential audience.

3. Develop a product

One way to grow your business is to develop a product that solves a problem or fills a need for your market. It requires plenty of market research to define a niche and produce a product development plan. Nowadays, the manufacturing of these products can be outsourced to contract manufacturers, so you don’t need your own production unit. This makes it easy to go from idea to product in a short period of time.

Another alternative is to become an affiliate or distributor for someone else’s product. You would sell their product for a commission, and they fulfil and dispatch the order from their warehouses. This means you wont need to buy any inventory or store any goods, and so involves less risk than making your own product.

Growing a window cleaning business can be a very rewarding process, higher profits and a larger market share are often the result. However to be successful, it requires a combination of timing, funding and plenty of planning. It is important that the growth is well managed, so that it does not reduce the profit margins and increase risk for your existing business.