At the end of every year, it’s important to take stock of your business and assess what is and isn’t working. You also need to think about ways to develop your business next year. While growth looks different for every company, you should prioritize some development every year or else risk stagnation. Most business owners set a goal and then increase their staff, take on clients, open a branch, or offer new products to meet this goal. In addition to these organic methods of growing your business, consider a strategy based around mergers and acquisitions.

What Are Strategic Acquisitions?

Acquisitions take place when you purchase another business and consolidate it into your current structure. Using stocks or cash, you gain control of the other company’s resources, clients, employees, and brand. While you do have to adjust each company so that they form one united brand, you’re able to use the best parts of both businesses to create an even higher-value corporation.

What Are the Benefits?

After you go through a strategic acquisition, your company has automatically grown larger. You have a much bigger professional network, making it easier to reach out to new vendors and clients. Because you have a bigger financial portfolio, your credit history improves as long as you stay on top of your loan and credit card payments. Finally, you have access to new branches and stores without the hassle of finding premises, hiring new employees, and transporting your products there. All you have to do is tweak the operations so they match your business model.

What Are the Requirements?

If you’re interested in mergers and acquisitions, you do need to meet a few requirements. Your long-term business plan must be well-designed, or else adding another company only causes chaos. Similarly, you need a top-notch management team to help you handle the transition. Finally, you must have plenty of capital and a good credit history to afford the acquisition. While you can borrow money when you purchase another company, ensure that you don’t take out more loans than you can easily repay. Otherwise, you risk delaying your growth with never-ending interest payments and fees.

Taking your business from one location to a national chain doesn’t happen overnight. Even if cross-country expansion isn’t your long-term goal, you must prioritize growth every year. One great way to achieve this purpose is to purchase other companies through strategic mergers and acquisitions.