There are a number of ways in which you can improve the profitability of your small business; here are 7 tips that you may be of help to you.
1. Evaluate your most profitable and least profitable business activities
- You may have some product lines that are extremely profitable for you whilst other product lines are giving you a minimal profit or perhaps even a loss. Unless you identify this you'll be carrying on with low profitability business activities whereas you could be focussing your efforts on the more profitable products or even consider bringing in new products to replace the least profitable ones.
2. Analyse your competition
- You should make yourself aware of what your competitors are doing. Are they doing things better than you? Are there areas that they are focussing on that you are not? Are they operating in markets that you are not? How does their service or offering compare with yours? How are you priced compared to them? Are they advertising in places that you are not? You may well be doing a lot of things better than your competition but there are usually things you can learn or improve upon by taking a look at what they are doing.
3. Set some realistic targets and goals
- You may of course simply want to make as much money as possible, by selling as much as possible but even so, you should have some more specific targets and goals in mind so you can gauge the progress that you are making. Perhaps you could set monthly or annual targets for sales figures, or numbers of new clients that you can win, or volumes of products sold, or annual profit figures.
4. Offer incentives for repeat business
- To encourage your customers to do repeat business with you, depending on your particular business sector, it may be an idea to offer incentives or discounts to encourage more business from them whether it be for the same product or service or additional products or services that you may offer.
5. Consider expanding your online marketing efforts
- Some businesses miss out on lots of potential business by not having an effective online presence. Online marketing is something that is very measurable so you can easily see the cost effectiveness of your efforts. You can promote your business on Facebook or Twitter for free or using Google Adwords for a very measurable cost.
6. Optimize your website
- If your website is well optimised for the right keywords for your specific business sector then you can win a lot of new business from customers online searching for the products or services that you offer. You can learn about SEO yourself if you have the time and inclination or you can engage a reputable SEO company.
7. Implement an effective bookkeeping system
- You need to have your finances organised and your records in order if you're going to stay on top of things. Cashflow is important and so is your time. If you're currently struggling to be organised and are trying to do all the bookkeeping yourself then perhaps it's time to consider getting an experienced bookkeeper to implement an effective bookkeeping system for you and to regularly do the bookkeeping work for you. This would not only get your business finances more organised but would also free up more of your time to focus on your key profit-making business activities.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_D_Jameson
1. Evaluate your most profitable and least profitable business activities
- You may have some product lines that are extremely profitable for you whilst other product lines are giving you a minimal profit or perhaps even a loss. Unless you identify this you'll be carrying on with low profitability business activities whereas you could be focussing your efforts on the more profitable products or even consider bringing in new products to replace the least profitable ones.
2. Analyse your competition
- You should make yourself aware of what your competitors are doing. Are they doing things better than you? Are there areas that they are focussing on that you are not? Are they operating in markets that you are not? How does their service or offering compare with yours? How are you priced compared to them? Are they advertising in places that you are not? You may well be doing a lot of things better than your competition but there are usually things you can learn or improve upon by taking a look at what they are doing.
3. Set some realistic targets and goals
- You may of course simply want to make as much money as possible, by selling as much as possible but even so, you should have some more specific targets and goals in mind so you can gauge the progress that you are making. Perhaps you could set monthly or annual targets for sales figures, or numbers of new clients that you can win, or volumes of products sold, or annual profit figures.
4. Offer incentives for repeat business
- To encourage your customers to do repeat business with you, depending on your particular business sector, it may be an idea to offer incentives or discounts to encourage more business from them whether it be for the same product or service or additional products or services that you may offer.
5. Consider expanding your online marketing efforts
- Some businesses miss out on lots of potential business by not having an effective online presence. Online marketing is something that is very measurable so you can easily see the cost effectiveness of your efforts. You can promote your business on Facebook or Twitter for free or using Google Adwords for a very measurable cost.
6. Optimize your website
- If your website is well optimised for the right keywords for your specific business sector then you can win a lot of new business from customers online searching for the products or services that you offer. You can learn about SEO yourself if you have the time and inclination or you can engage a reputable SEO company.
7. Implement an effective bookkeeping system
- You need to have your finances organised and your records in order if you're going to stay on top of things. Cashflow is important and so is your time. If you're currently struggling to be organised and are trying to do all the bookkeeping yourself then perhaps it's time to consider getting an experienced bookkeeper to implement an effective bookkeeping system for you and to regularly do the bookkeeping work for you. This would not only get your business finances more organised but would also free up more of your time to focus on your key profit-making business activities.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_D_Jameson
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