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Some entrepreneurs who own multiple businesses thrive and create and run more organizations based on their goals, their lifestyle. Often the businesses are in different industries which means diversification of their products, customers, and revenues.
Having the choice, the business owner can have more businesses with lucrative goals at least theoretically. Multiple businesses can offer advantages like income diversification and opportunity to share knowledge. It also means creating increased administrative demands and adding complexity difficult to handle.
Let’s look at some advantages when owning multiple businesses.
- Diversifying revenues. When more streams of income add up, the financial risk, glitches in cash flow decline.
- Reaching more markets. Multiple businesses get access to various customer markets and market segments.
- Observing trends. Consider customer behaviour for diverse audiences
- Cross-teams learning. One business’ experiences may be applied to all correspondingly, with significantly less effort and budget.
- Reducing risks. One business may face challenges, and others may come forth with experiential knowledge and their applications.
- Increased Financing. Multiple businesses can serve as a robust base which may influence potential investors positively to provide funds for new ventures.
And now let’s view some of the challenges facing an owner of multiple businesses.
- Higher administrative base. Undoubtedly, there is more paperwork, income filings, communication with more organizations, bookkeeping, and accounting.
- More complex finance administration. Funds management and tracking can become too elaborated.
- Rising financial risks. While businesses still define themselves and run autonomously, it is a chance of a potential impact on others if something goes wrong in terms of funds and financing..
- Owners’ exhaustion. Due to increased efforts and demands on all businesses, entrepreneurs who own multiple businesses may feel stressed and experience burnout.
- Obliviated work life balance. The continuous demands to get results in all organizations can make the owners often feel substantial time constraints.
- Diminished focus. When resources are shared among organizations, slow business may occur at various levels.
Considering the pros and cons, entrepreneurs who own multiple businesses may take into account the following key factors.
- Exit strategy. Define your final destination for your businesses when you decide to stop running them.
- Delegation. Appoint competent people to run different aspects of your businesses.
- Development of business relationships. Which of the multiple businesses are related and which are apart and shape the audiences target the markets accordingly.
- Personal Stamina. Manage multiple businesses considering focus, reliable, and lucrative results maintaining your strong self.
Essentially, multiple businesses could produce lucrative results if you account for your and your teams’ capabilities, what industry your companies are in, and the markets’ demands. Make the most of the advantages while taking into consideration the ideas mentioned above. Which are based on doable plans engaging competent team members working in harmony with a prolific and towards an error free eco-system in multiple businesses.