Diversification – sometimes silver bullet, often poisoned chalice

 
Without doubt one of the most difficult challenges a business confronts is to diversify.

Often a company is faced with the dilemma of diminishing revenue returns and a tired business model which is either irrelevant or obsolete.

Diversification is seen as the solution to these problems.

However, the mechanism for achieving this objective can be particularly difficult. The first step is examining why the current business model is not working. This requires an honest appraisal from management in respect of their performance.

Then the areas of diversification have to be closely considered. It is a common mistake for people to plunge into businesses in which they have little knowledge or experience and the results pretty quickly show up these deficiencies.

Thirdly one should always respect geography, it may be very tempting to consider that there are opportunities just waiting to be picked up but to underestimate the advantage of local knowledge and conditions can again prove costly.

In essence diversification can provide the answer to a company’s need for increased revenue but without a clearly defined strategy it can equally provide another drain on an already embattled balance sheet.