Growing your business has never been easier. Today, online tools abound to help you with everything from conferencing to project management. Many of these tools are free if you only use the most basic services available, so you can keep costs low and allocate more money to capital resources like equipment or inventory. What’s even better, the online world allows you to expand your employee base beyond the physical location of your enterprise, which helps you grow your staff and also find the best talent.

Social media is a must nowadays to keep you visible and relevant in a rapidly changing world. Customers want to know what’s happening with your business in near real-time, and having a website and social accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, or a blog are great ways to achieve this. A continuously updated online presence helps raise your visibility on search engines which makes it easier for customers to find you. You should also invest your time in networking so people in your industry know who you are. Attend trade conferences and seminar, or join local clubs that have interests similar to your product.

Once you have successfully gained visibility, you can focus on expansion of your output. Have a look at your customer base and see how you can increase sales volume by offering them additional products. You could start looking at what other markets would have an interest in your product besides the ones you initially targeted. Market research is an ongoing process for building and growing a business, and you should always be mindful of where the market is growing and where it is shrinking so you can remain relevant.

You can also expand your influence by partnering with another enterprise with a similar focus. For instance, if you own a gym you might want to partner with another operation that sells sports nutrition or supplements products, or you could partner with a cruise ship line to put your gym on their ships. You could open your office in another location, or create a franchise.

Of course getting a big partner is a boost. Getting a contract from the government will assure you solid returns and the ability to grow at a fast pace due to the size of the client. The Small Business Administration can help you identify the kinds of contracts you can apply for and how the process works. Your growth is only limited by the efforts you put into exploring the vast opportunities available to you.