Trying to expand your company when your funds are limited is not the easiest thing to do, but it is possible. You can find business advice blogs designed to help you do this in many different ways, but three of the easiest ones are to build your brand, your bartering skills, and your community.
Build Your Brand
Building your brand does not have to cost anything but time and brainpower. To build your brand you will want to ask yourself what kind of personality you want it to have. This will help inform how your brand and company should interact with customers, competitors, and suppliers. The more concrete your brand is on paper, the easier it will be to portray to those your company interacts with on a daily basis. Once you are happy with your brand personality on paper, you can train your employees in how to interact with customers, suppliers, and competitors in person and through online media outlets.
Build Your Bartering Skills
Some of the best business advice you can find for expanding your company is to build up your bartering skills. This can help you make deals and get supplies without dipping into your cash flow. For instance, if your coffee shop is next to a computer store, see if you can trade coffee for tech support. You can even find bartering groups online to help you find more items to trade with a wider range of partners. Remember that a good barter agreement makes each side feel like they are getting a deal and that it is okay to walk away from an offer if an agreement cannot be made at this time.
Build Your Community
Building your community means networking your brand with other companies, suppliers and even customers. This community an act as free advertisements and recommendations to drive more business your way and improve your cash flow. While some community building activities will require cash flow, not all of them do. You can make sure that you are thanking customers, visiting local vendor fairs and much more just by paying attention to what your community is doing and what it needs.
Some of the best business advice you can find when you are short on cash is that you can still grow and expand your business by building your brand, your bartering skills, and your community. This can help keep you engaged with all aspects of your company and even help you build up your cash flow to purchase new supplies and equipment.