Tony Ramos
Recruitment brand manager, HSBC

Chris has built his success on developing his own brand to create differentiation in the marketplace. Relationship management and first-hand experience in the industry have produced encouraging results. The challenge when considering diversification, is whether he can retain these key elements in a different sector. Will he be able to create differentiation to attract new clients and will he be able to offer the personalised service he presently provides, or just become another player in an overcrowded marketplace?

Research will be key in any expansion or diversification plans. Chris needs to fully research and understand his new marketplace and clearly define his proposition. He will also need to ensure that any plans to expand or diversify don’t impact upon his ability to continue to deliver the core business that he has established. Networking and word of mouth recommendation are excellent ways of increasing Onside’s client business, but Chris should also consider targeting key companies.

The preparation of a fully developed business plan will assist Chris in deciding when the time is right. Onside has enjoyed success due to Chris’s vision and business acumen to date, he needs to apply these skills to his new challenges.

Michaela Johns
Director of business services, Tenon

It is never easy to judge when to take on that first employee. I tell my clients to record what opportunities they are missing by not taking on an individual and that way they then focus on what they could be missing out on and then try to put an annual figure to that and balance that against the cost of a salary. You need to balance risk and reward.

The level of staff will depend on the amount of time he has to train an individual and also the period of time that Chris plans to let this new person pay for themselves. Expanding into an area that you do not have any experience in would need some market research to determine if the demand is there. What is the restricting factor to growth in your business at the moment? If it is time in the sector you are already experienced in, then stay in that sector.

Increasing your client base can be achieved in many ways ­ seminars/golf days/drinks parties/mailing/use of industry association/exhibitions/careers fairs/partnering. It is all about working the network. It is better to staff up and reach that critical mass, before the influx of new work ­ this way the work will be serviced well and clients will refer more to you. If done the other way, then bad service is often spread to on average ten potential clients and damages your reputation.

Robert Craven
Author of best-selling business books Kick-Start Your Business and Customer Is King

Chris needs to measure and improve each step of the customer acquisition journey. If each consultant can generate, say, £100,000 revenue, then Chris will need to decide how much turnover he needs and employ (and fund) the appropriate number of consultants ­ he would then need to factor in how long it takes for them to ‘get up to speed’ ­ this can be done with experience and some spreadsheet skills. As he starts to employ additional resources, so Chris will enter ‘Death Valley’ ­ turnover increases, but costs grow disproportionately ­ and profits fall till he reaches a point where profits start to rise again. The trick to going through Death Valley is to go through it as quickly as possible. He must do the numbers.

If ‘word-of-mouth’ works for Chris then he should do more and do it more systematically. Getting your ambassadors and ‘raving fans’ to do your marketing for you is much more effective than buying attention with adverts. Why try growing your business by talking/selling to strangers, when you could be talking and working through ‘friends’ and ‘lovers’ who can actively help you? Going it alone is all about putting two fingers up at systems, processes and bureaucracy ­ the very thing Chris needs is systems, processes and performance indicators.

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