Small businesses can expand their operations by pursuing any number of avenues. The most commonplace methods by which small companies increase their business are incremental in character, i.e., increasing product inventory or services rendered without making wholesale changes to facilities or other operational components. But usually, after some period of time, businesses that have the capacity and desire to grow will find that other options should be studied. Common routes of small business expansion include:

1.Growth through acquisition of another existing business (almost always smaller in size)
2.Offering franchise ownership to other entrepreneurs
3.Establishment of business agreements