Grow your business

Do you want to grow your business? You may be considering opportunities to expand into other locations or markets, innovate, capitalise on your success and hard work and employ more staff to respond to increased demand. 

Growth can put pressure on staff and resources, as well as financial and management structures.

There are different ways to grow your business, depending on what you want to achieve.

Get personalised support to grow your business

For free, ongoing and personalised support when planning the next stage of your business, talk to a Business Concierge from the Service NSW Business Bureau. They can provide information on government regulations, financial support and programs, and opportunities for growth.

You can also book an appointment with a Service NSW Business Connect advisor. They can help you plan and research the growth of your business so that it's sustainable, and talk to you about mitigating risks, such as financial, legal, staffing, resource or supplier problems.

Business Connect advisors have experience running their own business and provide independent, tailored support suited to your individual circumstances.

Find out more about the Service NSW Business Bureau.

Expand your products and services

Add new products or services to your business offering. You may be able to improve a product or service your business already offers. 

Research your market to help you understand what might succeed. Look at customer feedback, what’s existing in the marketplace, consumer insight and other research.

Find information about developing innovative products and processes in your business.

Visit Invest NSW for information about support for innovative startups, research and developments. 

Reach customers online

Make sure customers can find your business on the internet. This will increase awareness about your products and services.

Having an online presence for your business can range from a social media account to a website to a mobile app. 

If you have a unique product or idea, finding a way to sell or trade it online makes good business sense. It may help you reach more customers.

When growing your business online, key considerations include:

• online marketing – including paid advertising, email marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) and analytics
• social media
• omnichannel strategy
• e-commerce
• cyber security.

Service NSW Business Connect provides personalised advice and skills training in growing your business online.

Visit www.business.gov.au for more information about how online tools and skills can help grow your business.

Develop a marketing plan

Effective marketing techniques can help you gain and retain your customers. To develop your marketing plan and goals, you should consider your:

• products and services
• marketplace
• customers
• competitors.

It is important to focus on who your customers are, and their wants and needs. 

A marketing plan will help you manage your marketing activities. This will also provide a clear understanding of what budgeting is being used. 

Having marketing goals and objectives will mean you can measure results of your marketing spend. You should update your marketing plan as your circumstances change.

Speak to a Business Connect advisor to find out how effective marketing can help your business grow.

Find out more about marketing, including how to write a marketing plan.

Hire staff including trainees and apprentices

If your business is getting more work or orders than you can handle, or you need a specific skillset, you may need to employ staff. 

There are different types of employment arrangements in Australia, from shiftworkers to full-time employees. 

Employment conditions, employee entitlements, pay rates, and other costs vary for each type.

For further information, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman.

A Service NSW Business Connect advisor can connect you to local professional services, including HR support. 

Trainees and apprentices

Taking on an apprentice or trainee may be a good fit for your business. Apprenticeships combine time at work with training. They can be full-time, part-time or school-based. 

The NSW Government Smart and Skilled scheme provides government-subsidised vocational education and training. For further information visit Smart and Skilled.

Workplace supervisors should have the skills to oversee the on-the-job training for an apprentice or trainee. Visit training.nsw.gov.au for more information.

Train yourself and your staff

Upgrading the skills of your team can help you to continue delivering quality products and services while staying competitive.

Training and industry events can help improve your business skills, update you on new products, services and technologies, and grow your network.

For more information and to find training courses and events, visit 

• events, webinars and workshops for small businesses
• TAFE Enterprise
• My Skills 
• Skills and Training
• business.gov.au

Export goods or services overseas 

Exporting is selling goods or services you produce in your home country in another. It may mean selling into a new or bigger market. Products and services with a high demand in overseas markets offer the best potential for success. 

It’s important to research the places you plan to export to. This will give you an understanding of the suitability of your product or service in that market. 

Develop a detailed export plan that includes:

• your business goals and objectives 
• capabilities and constraints of your product or service
• the suitability of your product in that market
• potential size of the export market
• your competition 
• local economic conditions.

For further information, including laws and regulations about exporting, visit:

• Investment NSW
• business.gov.au
• Export Finance Australia.

Franchise your business 

If you have a successful business, franchising may be an option to consider as a way of expanding your operations. 

Franchising is where you as the owner of the business providing the product or service (franchisor) allow franchisee/s to sell and distribute your goods or service or intellectual property.

Service NSW Business Connect advisors can support you to understand your options and take the next step. 

As franchises use your business name, it can potentially expose your business to new markets. 

For further information visit Franchise Council of Australia.

Supply goods or services to government

The NSW Government assists businesses to engage with industry supply chains and offers procurement opportunities in a variety of ways.  

The main way the NSW Government buys is through contracts and schemes. Schemes can be used by NSW Government agencies to seek proposals or quotes from a limited number of approved listed suppliers.  

You can register to become a NSW Government supplier. Once registered, you can apply for contracts and schemes on eTendering, where agencies publish their tenders.

There are special rules to make it easier to supply to the NSW Government if you run a small-to- medium-sized enterprise (SME), are regionally based or are an Aboriginal business. 

Find more information at buy.nsw.gov.au.

Service NSW Business Connect procurement advisors work with small businesses to provide advice on tenders and processes and deliver events and webinars to help build capability and skills.

Resources to help your business sell to Government

The NSW Small Business Commission's Selling to the NSW Government: A Guide for Small Business, provides key information about the processes and requirements involved in supplying goods and services to the NSW Government. In addition, in partnership with TAFE NSW, they offer free online training modules on how to become a successful supplier to the NSW Government. The modules cover four topics: Getting Business Ready, Finding Opportunities, Selling to Government and Successful Supplying. 

The Australian Government’s Make Selling to Government Your Business is a guide to selling to the government. The guidance can be applied to selling to state and local government organisations. 

If you want to learn more information about procurement with the Department of Defence, visit Doing Business with Defence. 

Supplying to other businesses

The Industry Capability Network (ICN) provides services that match suppliers with NSW Government projects and some large private sector projects. 

ICN distributes information via an online marketplace known as the Gateway. This provides an opportunity where businesses and suppliers can create free online profiles about the products and services they offer. 

Other supplier matching services: 

• Cordell Connect offers business matching in the Residential Building and Construction sector
• BMV Solutions offers a free tender search page to attract business to their Tender Consultancy business
• Tender Search offers a comprehensive tender notification service as well as a number of other tender support services

 Many commercial entities have their own online procurement platforms including: 

• Rio Tinto business-partnering program
• Supplying to BHP 
• IBM Global Procurement