Growth and development:
The series of changes to the shape, size, components, and functions of
an individual organism that occur overtime as the organism progresses from
its initial form to full size and maturity.
Once your business has been running for a while, you will reach a stage where you need to
decide whether to grow. This is an important decision because business growth has both
advantages and disadvantages.
To make this decision you need to know how your business is currently performing. This will
help you to identify areas with growth potential.
Once you have identified where your business can grow, you need to decide how. This will
depend on what you are trying to achieve.
This guide explains the advantages and disadvantages of growing your business, the different
types of business expansion, and what you need to do to make it happen. It also has
information about government support that's available, as well as some of the common
mistakes that businesses make and how to avoid them.
Slow growth
A business can choose to grow slowly but steadily, or it can try to grow quickly. Rapid
growth may be more profitable, but is often achieved through moving into new, untried areas -
so it is rarely as safe as slow but steady growth.
One way you can achieve rapid growth is by buying another business. You could buy the
whole business, or you could just buy part of it. The business could be one of your competitors,
or it could be a business that would complement the range of goods and services that you
supply.
There are a number of issues to think about when considering buying another business - for
more information, see our guide on mergers and acquisitions.
Organic growthOrganic growth typically takes longer than growing by buying another
business, but tends to be safer. This is because you are growing by doing more of what you are
already good at. You can grow organically by selling:
docsity.com
