How to Expand Your Business in the Energy Market in Tanzania
Do you want to know how to expand your business in the energy market in Tanzania?
The increased speed of change, the high level of unpredictability, and the extreme intricacy of events such as the Covid-19 crisis, changes in market conditions, and political pressures have forced many business owners to think creatively, be more flexible and embrace change.
If your business is losing money because of changing market and industry conditions, you may want to expand your business in the new market.
As a business owner, you are constantly challenged to expand and test new ideas. But more than ever, you need ideas that work and get you a cash flow fast.
Expanding your business in the energy market is one of the best ways to stand out in changing economic conditions. Here is how you can expand your business in the energy sector.
Step 1: Pick the right Opportunities
You must be careful with your business decisions when expanding in a new field. Opportunities in the energy sector are immense, From starting petrol stations to LPG sales and lubricants. If you want to start a petrol station, do you want to build it from scratch, or do you want to lease or be a dealer of a large oil marketing firm?
If you decide to start an LPG business, are you looking do you want to be a distributor of existing oil marketing firms? Do you like to introduce your own brand of LPG cylinder?
Step 2: Market Research.
The game is not to expand your business in a new market. The game is to stay in the market for the long term. And doing market research is critical long term success of your business. Research what are the requirements for starting your project of choice in Tanzania. What estimated sales volume can you achieve from that business per month? Identify whether your location is viable and can attract sufficient customers to make you profitable. Research what are the risks and opportunities involved in the market. Who are competitors, and what are their strengths and weakness?
This information is essential to expand your business successfully in the energy market.
You could quickly go out, buy land on a busy street and start building a petrol station. But that is a very risky approach. Why? Because you have no data-based evidence as to whether there would be enough customers in the target group to make your effort worthwhile. Also not all petrol station sites located on busy streets are profitable. Motorists and consumers can pay more to avoid turning into a petrol station, which makes entering or exiting difficult.
That’s why research is so important.
Imagine if your research uncovers that your desired petrol station site will sell only 500 liters daily. But you thought you would sell 5000 liters per month. OR imagine if your study uncovers your desired petrol station site will sell more fuel. But you wanted to build a service bay for a car wash, restaurant, and supermarket.
If you do research in advance, you can adjust accordingly. If you don’t research, you’ll still come to the same conclusion but lose money and time on the way.
Step 03. Make Decisions
Now, you have acquired a deep understanding of the market and chosen opportunities in the energy market. So it’s time to make decisions. It can happen that you assumed good opportunities to expand in the energy market, but after research, you realize is not what you envisioned.
Step 04: Strategize to Expand your business in the energy market.
Now it’s time to plan your strategy. What steps will you take to make your idea of growth a reality? Where you will purchase equipment and supplies. How will you find customers? How will you differentiate your business from the competitors? How will you handle logistics and transportation issues?
