Multimillionaire Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s leader and founder, once said, “We can’t be in survival mode. We have to be in growth mode.”

But, how can we expand without dying in the process? What steps must we take so that it does not turn into an enormous risk, but a sustainable and positive step?

In actuality, businesses must not remain static. One way to develop a solid position in the market is to expand business operations. By doing so, your business will remain relevant in competitive environments, overcrowded by product and service offers.

Below, we will share 5 key tips to expand business operations in a definite and effective way.

1. Evaluate current operative capabilities

All companies, regardless of their market, share a main objective: growth.

In today’s globalized world, reaching new countries, taking advantage of the Internet, and achieving greater market penetration in any niche, becomes a realistic and reachable objective for any type of organization. 

However, this does not mean that it is easy to expand business operations.  It also does not mean that you will not require a well-structured initial plan, and, especially, to overcome a series of challenges. 

This is why we have to keep our feet on the ground and analyze the current state of our business. What must improve in order for growth to occur? What issues must be urgently rectified? What processes can be executed internally, and what can be outsourced?

The answers to these questions will allow you to trace a clear and effective path towards optimizing and expanding operations. 

2. Refine your customer service before expanding your portfolio

It is necessary to guarantee scalability and the customer experience when you plan to expand business operations.

To achieve this, the first step is to optimize the experience for those who already form a part of your user portfolio.

The following metrics can help you measure the current state of the customer service you offer:

• NPS (NPS) rated by active users;
• First Call Resolution (FCR);
• General resolution rate;
• Retention rate for different products and services;
• Average number of customer support tickets (in a given timeframe).

These type of indicators can provide a general diagnostic, which will help you find areas of opportunity in order to optimize service processes. 

From here, build an action plan to improve overall service. As a result, you will be able to expand your operations with a much more solid base in terms of quality standards and experience. This will that will allow you to retain new users, too.

This will also aid in improving financial projections in the event that your expansion is related to raises in rates and migration to premium service models. 

According to research performed by the global consulting firm PWC, 86% of customers are willing to pay more if they receive a better experience. 

3. Nearshore processes that go beyond your core business 

Part of growing is also letting go of operative responsibilities that you are unable to handle with the necessary expertise. 

It is important for you to identify anything you may not be an expert on, and that does not form part of your core business. It is intelligent to opt for outsourcing that will focus on optimization.

One of the best ways to achieve this is in the nearshore, an outsourcing alternative that offers quality and guarantees cultural proximity, focusing on your customers. 

Relocating operations from a Call Center to Mexico, the ideal country for nearshore outsourcing, will not only allow you to save up to 40% compared to the cost of BPO services in the United States, but will also provide you with bicultural, qualified manpower.

Furthermore, BPO experts in Mexico have adopted quality standards that are required by the American market, including backup DPR plans and quality control thorough the analysis of call recordings.  

4. Focus on OPEX instead of CAPEX

Joint research performed by the Kauffman Firm and Wells Fargo revealed that  more than half of small and medium businesses do not know exactly what their working capital must be in order to remain operational. 

Conversely, 82% of said businesses admit that they are experiencing cash flow management issues.  This data shows that organizations can face enormous challenges when deciding to expand business operations.

Seldom do businesses count on a lofty savings fund that can be reinvested in a growth plan entailing asset purchases, machinery, and other goods. In the business world, this is known as CAPEX.

However, this does not mean renouncing to your growth objectives. In this case, the key is a paradigm shift: substitute CAPEX for OPEX.

OPEX stands for assuming permanent costs to be able to achieve a specific goal. A great example of such is optimizing customer service.

Within this context, instead of allocating an ample sum of money to train talent, rent infrastructure, and buy software licenses, you can opt to contract services from an specialized outsourcer in exchange of a monthly fee. In other words, by doing so, you will not have to overcome the barrier of an enormous initial investment. 

5. Find areas of opportunity in digitization

Lastly, aside from nearshore operations and outsourcing in general, we must assess the value in digitization. It can be an ally as you expand business operations.

The bigger the number of manual tasks we are able to migrate into a digital environment, the faster and more efficient our new processes will become. By doing so, we will gain the operative capacity to grow. 

At the same time, this integral digital transformation will help to gradually save on operative costs, making overall growth sustainable. 

Now you know how to expand business operations, with a scalable and optimum focus. 

As you can see, having external assistance and internal controls in place are fundamental aspects to keep in mind. 

To complement the information you have just read, we invite you to check out the following post on our blog: 

Why is NDS an excellent offshoring solution?