Eventually, most organizations need to expand their product or service lines since a single product usually doesn’t cut it. While a successful core product establishes a brand, competitors will inevitably find a way to produce something similar. https://www.tycoonstory.com/business-ideas/4-ways-to-expand-your-business-lines-when-the-market-wants-you-to-stay-in-your-lane/

1. 4 Ways to Expand Your Business Lines
When the Market Wants You to Stay in
Your Lane
Eventually, most organizations need to expand their product or service lines
since a single product usually doesn’t cut it. While a successful core product
establishesa brand,competitors willinevitably find a way to producesomething
similar. As more related and substitute products and services enter the market,
it becomes more difficult for yours to stand out.
Expanding core product and service lines is a way to get revenue and market
share moving again. But in saturated markets, introducing new business lines
can present growth challenges if your strategy runs off course.
Arming decision-makers with data from the correct sources will reveal where
demand and potential are the greatest. Using the four methods below, you can
still expand your business lines in adverse market conditions.
1. Analyze and Understand Market Needs
The development and launch of your core products or services didn’t happen
without analyzing and understanding the market. More than likely, the
development process began with gathering data from multiple sources,
including surveys and focus groups. You identified unmet or underserved needs
in defined population groups, designing products or services that filled those
gaps.

2. Business line expansions in highly competitive markets often follow the same
blueprint. For example, telehealth company Nurx successfully branched out
from providing birth control prescriptions to broader health products and
services.Thecompanydid this by listening to patients’ needs and understanding
their behaviors.
Organizations that are already serving defined markets have the advantage of
immediate access to first-party data. Satisfaction surveys, direct interactions,
and purchase histories can identify behavioral trends and unmet needs.
Analyzing this information against current market share, competitor activity,
and environmental forces can reveal the most viable expansion opportunities.
An opportunity may be a service line with above-averageperformancethat has
room to move into the exceptional category.
2. Establish an Ongoing Connection
Individuals who have purchased or used your products and services in the past
can be a sourceof future business. Butthis future business is not just limited to
the products and services you offer now. By establishing ongoing
communication with current and past clients, your brand will remain relevant.
Some companies effectively use reward programs or CRM data to continuously
send targeted communications and create interaction opportunities. These
often digital interactions help convertprior customers who may notbe ready to
buy somethingtoday. They mightbe ready tomorrowor sometimein the future.
They may not necessarily in the same way they made purchases from you in the
past, though.
For instance, Starbucks has expanded its productlines in the saturated specialty
coffee market using targeted mobile app communications. Personalized
opportunities for earning rewards are tied to classic, new, and seasonal
products.Customersseewaystoaccumulaterewardsthroughproductlines sold
in grocery stores and coffeehouselocations. Email and mobile apps are ways to
stay in touch with customers, but you can also leverage events, PR, and
interactive contests.

3. 3. Make Improvements to Existing Products and Services
Insaturatedmarkets, new customeracquisition isn’tas straightforwardaswhen
there’s less competition. Your products and services often have to appeal to a
unique selling proposition or niche to achieve growth. However, some
companies have been able to expand using a combination of exceptional
branding and constant improvements to existing products.
Oneexample is Apple. Thecompany maintains a higher marketsharein the U.S.
and Japan for its mobile OS. Apple does this by promoting a senseof exclusivity
around its brand in markets with higher disposableincomes. The company also
makes constant improvements and upgrades to its products, capitalizing on
consumers’ desire to have the latest technology.
Businesses that are first-to-marketwith product or service line improvements
can encounter increased risks. Those risks are usually tied to higher
development and marketingcosts.Plus,there is the chancethat actualadoption
rates will fall short of projections. However, being a leader with improvements
and advancements comes with advantages. Your products and services will be
more likely to be perceived as being innovative and of higher quality.
4. Go Into Nearby, Underserved Markets
You may be able to expand your products and services into adjacent,
underserved markets. If growth is tapping out in existing service areas, see
whether there are locations where competition is less fierce. Regional wireless
carriers are examples of organizations that tend to carry out this strategy well.
These companies investin building infrastructurein underserved markets, such
as rural communities.
Instead of trying to match the service areas of major wireless carriers, regional
providerspartnerwith them. Majorcarriersend up relying on smaller providers’
networks to offer seamless coveragein ruralareas. Theseare locations where it
doesn’t make fiscal sense for large service providers to build. Regional carriers
also rely on larger providers’ networks to offer subscribers national coverage.
But by focusing on and expanding into narrowly defined service areas, regional
wireless carriers can capture more local market share. Some of this is

4. accomplished through branding that emphasizes personalized, accessible
service. Branded messaging reinforces that this service comes from employees
who understand the community’s way of life. Service expansions also capture
local market share by harnessing existing infrastructure and offering bundled
packages.
Conclusion
Growing your company’s business lines in markets where there’s a lot of
competition is similar to navigating an obstacle course. Just when you think
you’veovercomeonepotential hurdle, there arefivemorelined up to challenge
your tenacity.
Despite demanding market forces, expansion is possiblewhen you align current
insights and resources with effective strategies. By working around existing
barriers, you can choose the battles you’re most likely to win.