Most business owners want to grow a business. The question is – how to grow it? After all, there are a lot of ways to grow a business in the wrong way. You can expand your business to the point that you’re spending more on the infrastructure or inventory than you’re receiving in revenue. You can spread yourself too thin, where your business is doing too many different things and none of them very well. There’s a reason the term growing pains is often thrown around. Growing can involve a fair amount of agony.

That’s why we’re big fans of co-branding, the concept of having a business that has two or three or more brands under one roof. In other words, if you run a Milex Complete Auto Care, a full-service auto repair shop, you might also be the owner of a Mr. Transmission, which does transmission and clutch repair. It’s a way of growing and avoiding growing pains.

There are many solid reasons why co-branding is something you should consider enhancing your business operations.

You can expand without having to expand your building. By co-branding your franchise, you can own two businesses in one singular location.  You can offer multiple services to customers while being more operationally efficient in one building.  Owners can bring in another brand into their location without the added expense of additional real estate.

You can offer more services without stretching yourself too thin. We’ve all shopped somewhere, where we’ve thought, “Boy, you do everything. But do you do it well?” There’s nothing wrong with a business that offers a little of everything – some gas stations, for instance, will not only have a convenience store but also have a fast food outlet and maybe will rent small moving trucks as well. It can work. But, still, the best businesses offer different things that they have the space and skill set for.

That’s why Moran Family of Brands are all related to automotive products and services.

Your employees can work for Milex and Mr. Transmission without missing a beat. You could do tri-branding and own three businesses, like a Milex, Mr. Transmission and Alta Mere, the Automotive Outfitters, which specializes in automotive accessories like driver safety products and custom window tinting.

You can create multiple revenue streams in one location. This is probably the most obvious and most important reason to consider co-branding.  It follows the concept that if one pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is good, two pots of gold is even better. Not only does your business make more money when it has additional revenue streams, you protect yourself during economic slowdowns. People may be spending less in a down economy, but it won’t matter as much when you have multiple ways to bring in revenue.

You’ll get automatic referrals. Another significant benefit is that your loyal customers will become loyal to both or all of your brands when you co-brand. If you have customers who love what your employees do at Milex, and you own an Alta Mere, they’re going to remember you when they need paint protection film or a GPS tracking device. If you own an Alta Mere store and install custom window tinting on a car, your satisfied customer will remember your SmartView Window Solutions brand if they are considering window tinting for their home or business.

There are a lot of ways to grow a business in the wrong way. If you spend too much and too quickly, and if you make bad decisions along the way, you can grow yourself out of business. Co-branding offers the growth, without the pains.