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A Cushy Business Idea
---------------------------------------------------------- Permission is granted for the article below to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are...
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14 Ways to Double Your Profits NOW
In our business experience, we have discovered three (3)
principles that can help you channel your efforts to boost your
profits:
1. It can be Very tough to find new customers; 2. Your Existing
customers are your Best prospects for new/more business; and 3.
There are only so many hours in a day, so you have to organize
your time and focus your energy to be most productive and
capture the best/highest potential opportunities.
Implement these 14 Action Steps in Your Business to Boost your
Profits:
1. Raise Your Rates/Prices Price often implies a certain image
and quality level. Don't you offer quality? Excellent value for
the dollar? As the price of necessities such as food and
clothing are rising, when was the last time you raised your
prices? Presumably the value of your products and services has
increased over the time period, so...
When you raise your rates, you will earn more for your
efforts--more money, same time, same effort and same investment.
Some of your customers will complain. Be sure you present the
value you provide. And, those customers who leave, well good
luck to them.
2. Dismiss Your Worst--Least Productive--Employees As corny as
this may sound, happy people are more productive. And those
employees who don't mesh well with your culture, your mission or
your team are probably reducing the overall effectiveness of
your organization.
Give them a severance package, or write them up and give them
three (3) or six (6) months notice to turn around or find a new
[more suitable] position. Be alert for negative reaction and a
lame duck situation (for example, people who you put on
probation and who wait for their termination notice and
negatively impact productivity and employee morale).
Offer the empty seat to a go-getter Immediately. You are likely
to find several volunteers within your organization. We have
found that when non-performers, dissenters, and complainers
exit, the remaining team members will feel much better and
become much more productive.
3. Terminate Your Worst Customers, Clients, etc. Analyze all of
your accounts for profitability. 'Worst' could mean least
profitable or those who complain the most, demand the most and
delay payment. Contact those who you want to increase their
business with you. Give them a timeframe and an opportunity to
increase their business volume with you, and follow up. If they
give you more business, great; if not, Exit.
We recently helped one of our clients do this. Our team analyzed
all their accounts and their business (cost structure). We
determined that the company spends approximately $45,000 per
client every year to administer, maintain, and service each
account. We set the minimum annual revenue for each account at a
dollar value that's approximately two times (2x) cost.
Then we organized the sales force to call on 48 low volume and
dormant accounts. They grew some accounts, decided to reassess
some accounts six (6) months later and terminated nine accounts.
These steps increased their profitability and productivity,
immediately.
4. Charge and Collect Work Fees and Retainers Work fees and
retainers are up-front (advances) deposits for work to be
performed. These fees are useful to cover your overhead. Equally
important an advance gains a buy-in and a commitment from the
client. In some industries these fees are customary. Retainer
agreements should be in writing signed by the customer or client
to avoid confusion and a possible attempt to get a refund. Make
your Work Fees and Retainers non-refundable.
>> The key is when a customer pays the work fee, he/she signals
a serious commitment to undertake and complete the project. In
our experience, those customers who refuse to pay work fees are
often the people who are cost likely to walk away from a deal or
project in the middle and leave you holding the bag...
5. Charge Work Fees for Customization By the way, we now collect
deposits for customization work. For example, when we customize
our best selling premium '157 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill.'
Unfortunately, some years back, we customized the publication
for a new customer, obtained customer sign off on the proof, and
printed the copies. They changed their mind or had financial
difficulties, and we got stuck paying the balance of the print
bill. No More. As a caveat, it is better to reject a job and
than take the job, not get paid, waste your time and lose money.
6. Request Referrals Ask your most satisfied (best) customers to
recommend you to their colleagues, vendors, suppliers,
customers, etc. Request
names and contact points. Follow up.
>> For example, "Joe at XYZ Services encouraged me to call you
because he thought you might benefit from our services. He has
been working with us for over five years."
7. Run a Special Promotion or Two If you are a Small Business
Advisor [newsletter] subscriber or a Publishing Gold e-zine
member, you know that we make offers and run promotions on our
products and services in the news-letter. Every time we do this,
we generate new business. Why not give these techniques a try in
your business?
--Study the publications [trade mags, newsletters, etc.] in your
field over several months. Which advertisers run ads and promos
again and again? This means their ads must be working (unless
the publication requires advertisers to purchase a series of
insertions). If your product meshes with the readership, craft a
promotion and test it.
8. Liquidate Your Old Inventory Now Hey, we all make mistakes.
Last year's hot red dress may be this year's iced-cold rag. So
it goes. Your old inventory is not getting any better or more
attractive. What's more, inventory takes up warehouse space,
requires insurance, administrative time, and mind space. --Cut
your losses, and Liquidate the stuff [aging inventory] ASAP.
--Offer the old stuff at a reduced price to your customers who
make another purchase. --Sell the dead weight at auction or to a
liquidator or wholesaler. --Donate the unwanted items to a
worthy charity.
9. Charge for Out-of-Pocket Costs and Expenses Many service
businesses charge for photocopies, long distance telephone
charges, Overnight deliveries, fax charges, postage, meals for
late work, travel and lodging costs and expenses, etc. --You may
be able to add these charges to your roster of fees and
expenses. Some companies even add a 10% surcharge to the
out-of-pocket costs and expenses. Collecting this money can
significantly increase your bottom line.
10. Collect Your Accounts Receivable Many customers will gladly
sit tight and stretch out the time it takes to pay you, when you
let them. While collection is an art and you don't want to lose
customers, every day you don't collect money costs you money in
terms of working capital. Keep track of your accounts receivable
and push your customers to pay their bills on time.
11. Organize - Analyze What's Working / What's Not We all get
tunnel vision from time to time and often keep doing what we've
been doing. Maybe it's habit, maybe life becomes comfortable.
Step back. Take a look at what's working, what's profitable,
what's not working, what's costing you money, and how you can
improve. Get buy-in and develop an implementation plan.
12. Hold a 'Focus Group' and/or Conduct a Survey Organize a
focus group, or maybe two sessions; include your best customers
and your least satisfied customers. Offer a prize or bonus to
encourage participation. Ask them why they like doing business
with you and why they don't. Ask what you can do to improve...
13. Read Your Customer Feedback / Letters / Complaint Forms This
material is a veritable goldmine for you and your organization.
What better way to improve than to learn what your customers
dislike about your products, service, etc.? Answer every last
piece of correspondence, and re-tool your programs. You'll be
amazed at the positive results.
While it can be Very difficult to land new customers, your
existing customer base provides a goldmine of new opportunities
and profits. Wield the pick axe today!
14. Upsell Vigorously --Upsell means to increase the order size
or the purchase frequency. --To discover more unbeatable
upselling techniques and strategies, obtain Publishing Gold's
special report: 'Unbeatable Upselling Techniques.' [Send US
$10.00, per copy, postpaid, to PublishingGold.com, Inc., PO Box
758, Armonk, NY 10504-0758 USA. International members please add
additional $4.00 for extra postage.]
To unlock the profit-making opportunities that are hidden in
your business and implement the strategies and ideas featured in
this special report, e-mail Joseph Gelb at
Joe@SmallBusinessAdvice.com
About the author:
Joseph Gelb is a CPA and Attorney at Law. He specializes in
small business growth and development. Author of, "How to Start
a Million Dollar Service Business" and "Tax Accounting for Small
Business," Mr. Gelb can be reached at T: 1-516-374-1387; F:
516-374-1175. Ordering info: PO Box 436, Woodmere, NY 11598-0436
USA.
http://www.SmallBusinessAdvice.com
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