Strategy 2 of the "Buff Up Your Business Series" is:
Substantially Increase your Net Profit
Business is not financial science,
it's about trading.. buying and selling.
It's about creating a product or service so good
that people will pay for it.
Anita Roddick
1. Make profitability your focus - don't sell your skills or products too cheaply, many of us are guilty of that, remember it is not what we think it is worth, it is more about the benefits or profits the client will achieve as a result of it.
2. Develop timely and accurate financial statements - set yourself financial milestones along the way, by doing this you will quickly know when you have fallen behind on your forecasts and when it is time to put in more effort to make up the shortfall, much easier to do this as it arises rather than trying to make up for lost ground towards the end of your financial year.
3. Have a plan for what you are going to do with your profits - how exciting! Knowing know how you are going to reward yourself once you have achieved your financial forecast, really helps you to realise that all the hard work will be worth it and will keep you on track. What about putting a picture of that wonderful holiday destination or the new car you will buy, in a place where you will see it regularly, that will spur you on!
4. Watch Expenses like a Hawk - Each time you commit yourself to a financial outlay, reassure yourself that it is the 'best value for money' you can get, notice I say 'best value for money' and not 'cheapest' remember cheapest is not always best. Always try to negotiate for the best price or persuade the company to 'add something extra' if you buy from them rather than their competitors.
5. Increase employee retention and productivity - it costs about 7 times more to recruit and train a new member of staff than to keep your current staff happy and on side. Speak to your staff regularly and find out from them, what you can do to make their working life more satisfying, they may surprise you, by asking for more responsibility - great - that way you can free up more of your time by delegating more effectively, or it could be something as simple as you providing cakes on a Friday!
6. Systematise Everything - Anything you can do to make things run without your intervention is well worth the initial effort in setting it up. Things like autoresponders to enquiries on your website, website that automatically create a database of people donwloading things from your site, to a messaging company that takes all your call for (say) one afternoon a week which would allow you some quality uninterrupted time to focus on your business strategy, telemarketers who can contact your current clients/customers on a regular basis to find out what you are doing well and what can be improved to ensure they stay with you. Anything that frees up your time, is well worth systematising.
7. Be a Leader in your Field - Be proactive - keep asking your clients/customers what is it that you could provide them with that would help their business most in the future, keep an eye on the news and newspapers to see what is currently causing people problems and see if you can provide something that would help them. Keep observing trends and think about how you could 'ease the pain'.
If you would like to have somebody work alongside you as you are putting these strategies into place, then please just contact me at Nicholl Consultancy, I would love to be part of your success!
Until next time, when we will be looking at Strategy 3 of "Buffing up your Business"
Take care and have a great week.
