Ask Ian & Kate: How Do I Effectively Grow My Business Into a New Sector?

I’m a bit concerned about the looming recession. I don’t think it’s going to put an end to our business, but we currently only offer a few services in one sector and I feel like this could be a bit risky. Is it worth looking into other sectors to cover our bases, and if so, how do we go about doing this? 

• Priya, Reading

Great question, Priya – and you’re not the only person asking this at the moment. With the recession in our line of sight, and the ongoing post-pandemic and post-Brexit challenges, a lot of organisations all over the UK are trying to figure out how to effectively diversify what they offer customers or clients.

Regardless of the sector your organisation is currently in and the services you offer or products you provide, you need to ensure what you’re currently offering is strong enough to provide to other markets. Your first step should always be to evaluate the market and see if what you’re currently offering would be beneficial elsewhere. 

For example, if you are a marketing company providing marketing services for clients in the retail space, could these marketing services be beneficial to other industries? Is what you offer transferable to other areas, such as tech, leisure, hospitality or finance? Evaluate where you think your current services would be most useful, and solve the most problems for businesses.

From here, when you’ve decided on which industries and sectors you’d like to move into, first you need to evaluate the market. Have a look at pain points for businesses in these areas and create a USP that will catch their attention. It’s also worth assessing your potential competitors, too – what are they currently offering, and how can you stand out in comparison?

From here, come up with a go-to-market strategy. Most businesses have an existing GTM strategy based on their existing sectors and services, so these can often just be adapted and updated to align with the new sectors you’d like to target, or the new services you’d like to offer.

One thing we will say is this: don’t be reluctant to adapt your services or products for customers or clients in new areas. What you’re currently doing for your existing customer base might work for them, but if you’re moving into entire new markets, customers will likely have different needs and expectations. This is why it’s important to see what the trends are as you move into these new areas – keep track of them, and update your services as you go along, based on what your target audiences are looking for.

Another key point to remember is that you can’t underestimate the power of marketing your new services or products. Execute an entire marketing strategy before you go to market – update your website, create compelling content, target key audiences on social media and make sure your employees are networking with relevant people.

And, lastly, make sure your employees are educated and on board with what’s going on. They are the ones who will be brand ambassadors and servicing your customers or clients, so ensuring that they fully understand the new markets that your organisation is covering is crucial. Of course, if you need help with recruiting new employees as part of your plans to expand into new markets, don’t hesitate to get in touch with McCarthy.

Got a question for Ian and Kate?

If you’ve got an issue or work-related question you’d like to put to Ian and Kate, email enquiries@mccarthyrecruitment.com with the subject line “Ask Ian & Kate”. We can’t answer every question, but we will try our best to point you in the right direction.