I'm a Locksmith/Security Integrator/Alarm Installer. How can I add safes to my existing business?

I'm a Locksmith/Security Integrator/Alarm Installer. How can I add gun safes and gun vaults to my business?

Growing and expanding your business are usually the key goals for most owners and entrepreneurs. 

Here are several proven expansion strategies that could help you take your security business to the next level:

• Add new products and services to your existing product mix. This strategy sounds relatively easy to do, but executing it well can be a challenge. To starters, you need to figure out which safes and vaults as well as installation and services your existing customers will want, and how much they’ll be willing to pay for them. Next, determine whether or not you can sell these products and services at a profit. Let's expand both points:

The best way to accomplish this is through doing some market research before committing any of your resources, whether it be financial and human, to the new safe and vault lines or service expansion. Ask your current customers what they think about your new gun safe and vault products and service ideas, including potential price points. Then get out in the field and visit every existing safe and vault dealer within 100 miles of your current establishment. Your in-the-field market research needs to focus on what your competitors are stocking and selling, their safe and vault retail price points and what your competitors charge for delivery and installation. You also must assess your existing customer and potential customer's demand at each safe and vault price point. Considerations need to include the geographic area... are you in a city, a suburban area or rural area? What is the median household income? How many shooting ranges, gun clubs and gun shops are located within 100 miles of your establishment? Do your research thoroughly. You will be glad you did.

• Sell gun safes and gun vaults and related services to your existing customers. This is the flip side of the first strategy: Penetrating deeper into your current customer base. Start by performing a market segmentation analysis to identify the customer segments that are more likely to buy so you can focus your sales and marketing efforts on these market segments.

This analysis will divide your customers into segments based on the criteria you choose such as commercial account, retail account, location, buying history, or location so you can analyze their potential profitability when it comes to selling them new products and services. Armed with this information, you can better allocate your sales and marketing dollars.

• Expand into new territories. The idea here is to market and sell your existing products and services to new customers in a different location from where you currently operate whether across town or in a different county. Doing so will require a significant investment of both time and money, so perform thorough market research first to make sure there is enough customer demand in the new territory to justify the expansion.

When thinking about expanding into new areas determine if you need to specialize your advertising for your new market or can split or increase your marketing efforts between or among two or more locations. Will you need additional service vehicles or can you utilize your current delivery and service vehicles for both or several locations? Can additional location(s) be reduced in size to create more of a showroom and sales center than creating a full-blown retail location having a complete service shop?  This could drastically reduce the number of personnel needed at the new location? Explore the costs compared to the financial benefits.

• Tap into new selling and delivery channels. The Internet is the best example of how you can transform a small business. Many entrepreneurs have reinvented their companies to take advantage of online opportunities. Brick-and-mortar retailers are opening online stores and mobile service providers who are able to reach a much broader audience, whether local or regional, by advertising online and using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to rank highly in Web searches conducted by the prospective customers.