How Can Businesses Increase Sales and Become More Sustainable?

New Jersey small and mid-sized manufacturers are navigating an increasingly competitive business landscape. Every business unit is facing challenge after challenge, while constantly pushing forward to bring in more business. When it comes to small to mid-sized manufacturing operations, leadership is often wearing many hats. Planning, innovating, marketing, the digital transformation, there are countless business objectives to manage. Handling all these separate business goals can quickly become overwhelming. Maintaining a successful manufacturing operation today often requires leveraging the right resources and partners. 

To address these challenges, NJMEP created the Business Growth Suite of services. The Suite provides manufacturers with valuable resources, expertise, and cost-effective strategies to help them grow.   

Understanding Market and Competition

Having a clear and current understanding of the market and competition is critical to maintaining competitive advantages, marketing effectively, and increasing sales. Nearly every business leader knows this to be true. However, monitoring the market and keeping a close eye on the competition is much easier said than done. Achieving this can be a second full-time job. Small and mid-size manufacturers are already responsible for multiple roles within an organization and adding another task to the to-do list will prove to be unmanageable. 

Research is just one of the many services offered through the NJMEP Business Growth Suite.

Development of Sales Channels

Businesses often need to consider new strategies in order to grow.  One strategy is to leverage a new sales channel. From identifying potential new distributors to eCommerce, businesses have a number of options. Finding the processes that will work the best and weighing the effort and cost to implement a new channel is a challenge. Whether a company is in a state of profitability and growth, or a business is struggling to keep its head above water, the development of new sales channels can make a significant impact. To perpetuate growth or to regain lost market share, businesses could develop a new sales channel to move their business forward. 

NJMEP’s Business Growth Suite team will become an extension of a manufacturer’s business development team. Collaborating with NJMEP provides the company with a cost-effective way to expand their team without needing to enlarge its workforce and increase overhead.

Embracing Industry 4.0

The manufacturing industry is riding the wave of the fourth industrial revolution. Manufacturers are embracing new technologies to produce more, produce faster and do more with less.  Big Data & Analytics are being used in decision making, processes flow and are tracked through robust ERP systems, machinery, and entire facility floors are being automated with robotics, sensors, 3D Printing, etc.  With smart factory cyber-physical systems communicating and cooperating with humans in real-time over the Internet of Things, the focus on Cybersecurity becomes even more important. Technology has not only changed the way factories operate but it’s also changed the way client’s buy.  Many manufacturers are redesigning their websites, incorporating Search Engine Optimization in order to be found, and building eCommerce sites.  

NJMEP’s Business Growth Suite provides manufacturers with the expertise to navigate and incorporate this new technology.

Growth Planning / Succession Planning

Many business owners are so busy working in their business that they fail to work on their business or their future vision.  Planning often takes a back seat to the everyday fires that need to be put out. Growth and Succession planning are often afterthoughts.  Sometimes businesses miss the opportunity to plan or planning is only considered when absolutely needed.  

Many small to mid-size manufacturers hit a plateau or have trouble managing the growth they are experiencing.  Growing sounds like a good problem to have but growing too fast without the proper plan in place can become unmanageable, quickly. Having a strategy and actionable plan to manage growth is vital. Properly navigating growth will give businesses the ability to take advantage of all the opportunities that begin to arise instead of focusing only on filling that next order and keeping pace with demand.

Succession planning can set a business up to continue growing long after the original owner is ready to retire. Thinking about handing a company down is stressful and usually not an exciting discussion. However, leaving a company as an owner with no plan in place could leave employees with no direction. The legacy knowledge an owner holds may be gone forever upon their early departure. This can cost people their livelihood. Employees rely on management to keep the business producing to feed their families and provide for themselves, even after an owner makes their exit 

The Business Growth Suite of Services focuses on maximizing opportunities and minimizing threats to an organization. Having plans in place is critical to not only support short term growth but also ensure long term sustainable success. 

Get Started with the NJMEP Business Growth Suite of Services

The NJMEP Business Growth Suite of Services is ideal for any small – mid-sized manufacturer intent on surviving and thriving throughout an onslaught of disruptions. Decision-makers might be too close to their business to fully realize all the opportunities available to them. Limited resources are now not the deciding factor if a manufacturer can move forward into the future and continue to innovate. Partnering with NJMEP allows owners and leaders to continue doing what they do best while NJMEP resources fill the gaps and provide additional assistance. Through collaborative efforts, NJMEP and any manufacturer can take the right steps to address any deficiency or identify additional strategies to increase sales and become a more sustainable business. 

NJMEP wants to work with you to find the best solutions for any challenge. To learn about upcoming workshops or to take part in a no-cost business growth assessment, contact Ben Dominguez using the contact information below. 

Ben Dominguez, Innovation and Growth Services Specialist
Email: bdominguez@njmep.org
Phone: 973-998-9801