Thinking of expanding your Workshop? Whether you are looking at expanding locations, expanding your service offering or anything in-between, here are 5 things you need to consider before expanding.
1. Do Your Research
The worst thing you can do when it comes to expanding is going into the process blind. To be successful expanding any part of your Workshop, you need to research and figure out if expansion is viable for your shop or not.
The first thing that your Workshop should do is put together a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a study put together by your business that outlines your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The benefit of putting together a SWOT Analysis is it will help your Workshop determine if expansion is right or not.
2. Cashflow
Before you begin expanding it is important that your Workshop understands the costs involved. Expanding any part of your Workshop will cost money so you need to be sure you have the funds available to do so.
Before you begin your expansion plans it is important that you put together a cost analysis. You will need to figure out how much your business will need to spend to complete your expansion plans. It is important to consider staff expenses, rent expenses, and other potential expenses that come along with your expansion plans.
Related Article: 5 Signs Your Workshop Could Have a Cashflow Issue.
3. Staff Factors
Whether you are expanding locations, services etc. any expansion will have an impact on your staff. It is important that your Workshop understands what the implications an expansion will have on your current staff and if you require more staff to complete the expansion.
If you are expanding location, you may need to undertake staff hiring which does take time. On the flip side if it is your service offering that you are looking to expand you may need to invest time, money, and resources into training your current staff on the new services.
Related Article: How Australian Workshops Can Minimise the Impacts of a Staff Shortage.
4. Impact on Customers
The most important thing that your Workshop needs to consider when it comes to expanding is the impacts an expansion will have on your current customers. Your customers are the be all and end all, you need to ensure that your expansion plans have little to no impact on your current customers.
To ensure you have minimal impact on your customers, it is important that you plan your expansion strategically. The last thing that your Workshop wants is to delay or turn away customers due to your expansion.
It is always best practice to implement an expansion project timeline to avoid running into any customer issues or down time.
5. Quality Issues
One of the biggest fundamental mistakes that so many businesses make during an expansion is a decrease in service quality. To attract and retain customers your Workshop needs to ensure that you maintain your promise and service standard at all times.
To reduce the risk of running into quality issues it is important that your Workshop implements key performance indicators to track results. This way you can keep your staff accountable for their roles and responsibilities. Just as important, your Workshop will also need to ensure you roster on the appropriate staff required to achieve the job to the highest quality.
Final Word,
Expanding your Workshop is no easy task. Expansion requires strong planning to be successful. It is important that your Workshop understands what you are getting into before undertaking any expansion plans. The 5 things mentioned above need to be considered before expanding a Mechanical Workshop.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To read more articles like this, please visit the Workshop Mate latest news page here.
About Workshop Mate,
Workshop Mate by Jeal is an Australian, Web-based, Workshop Management Software that simplifies and automates the daily tasks of running a mechanical Workshop. Using innovative technologies, Workshop Mate removes common frustrations experienced at the Workshop – opening your doors for future growth.
Workshop Mate features include Job Management, Stock Management, Quotes, Invoicing, Integrated Accounting, Barcoding, Customer Bookings, Service History, Job Allocation and more – in the one central, easy-to-use application.
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