The best time to plan your business expansion is before you are forced to.

Q: Times are going well, should I start looking to expand? If so, should I expand my region or my market?

A: Yes, the time to start planning for expansion is before you need to.

1. The best time to plan is before there is a problem
   1. If you are doing well start planning – things will change
   2. Master the core now while planning for growth
   3. Set aside a little time for master planning
2. Should you expand your region or your niche?
   1. Ultimately this varies based on your business
   2. In general, region is Okay for growth but not for long term stability
      1. If the data-center market dies it will affect all regions
   3. The best solution for a solid future is expanding your niche
3. Niche can mean several things
   1. The type of work you perform
   2. The type of client you work for
      1. Commercial clients are different from Government clients
   3. The reason niches work better is because the economic cycles may not be so closely linked
      1. Developer spending will often be on a different cycle than Government spending
      2. Hopefully one is going up as the other is going down