If you want to start your own company then this is great, but you do need to make sure that you are doing everything you can to make it as profitable as you can. If you don’t invest the right amount of effort in the right places, then this will eventually work against you and you may find that you struggle to stay afloat. One way for you to get around this would be for you to do your research and for you to also make sure that you are taking into account every stage of your business process.
Speed up the Design Cycle
If you want to really benefit your company, then you need to try and speed up your design cycle in general. It’s more than possible for you to speed up your processes by simply outsourcing. When you do, you can then develop more products on a day to day basis and in some instances, you may actually end up outputting a much higher level of quality as well. Companies have been known to boost their overall production by up to 30% in most cases, so it is important that you focus on this as much as possible.
Eliminate Tasks
Another thing that you need to do is eliminate any tasks that don’t actually add value to your company or customer. Believe it or not, every task that you eliminate will drop down to your bottom line. This is a fantastic way for you to really rocket the potential of your company. If you know that you have some company tasks that cannot be eliminated entirely but take up too many resources to be worth your while, then outsourcing could be the way to go. When you do outsource your non-core tasks, you will soon find that you have more time and energy to focus on other parts of your company and that you can really reap the benefits overall.
Increase Pricing
If you bill hourly, then why not review the billing rates you have right now to see if it is possible to push them higher? If you charge per product, then find ways to command a higher price. It may be that you can bundle way more value into the package. A lot of businesses are so hungry for customers that they put their prices at rock bottom and see instant results. This is all very well if you want to get an influx of sales, but it is not sustainable. When you increase your prices, your customers may feel cheated, or they may not feel as though you are worth their money anymore. If you want to get around this then you need to set your prices fairly, and then add on some optional extras. If you sell phone cases for example, you may want to try and sell them in different colours, or for newer models of phone, charge a slightly higher price but add some neat features at the same time. This could include making the case so that the phone can be charged wirelessly, or even trying to add some new and colourful designs. When you look into all of these options, you will soon find that it is easier than ever for you to come out on top and that you can also get way more for every product you sell. If you sell internationally, or online then it’s always worth having a multi currency account.
Loyalty Programs
If you talk to any business owner, then they will tell you how hard it is to keep customers. You may find that the only thing that your opposition has to do is lower their prices for you to lose them. This can really devastate your business, but if you want to get around that then the answer is very simple. You just need to have your own loyalty program. When you set up something like this, you will find that it is more than possible for you to keep your customers coming back for more even if your competition do have some better deals on. If you don’t know how to start your own loyalty program, then there are various ways that you can do this. For example, you could make it so that your customers earn points when they buy from you, or that after a certain amount of purchases, they get a free product. It’s important to understand that the loyalty program you choose will largely depend on the type of business you run.
Find Winning Salespeople
Another thing that you need to do is try and find salespeople who reflect your business ethics. If you want to make sure that you are making the most out of every sale, then you need to audit the dollar value for every lead you generate. If you want an example, then you may find that every lead that you give to Jim is worth $2,100, but every lead you give to James is worth $3,200. If this is the case, then it will cost your company $1,100 extra in lost sales every time you send a lead to Jim. You need to be utterly transparent here because if you aren’t then you won’t be able to boost your company overall. Of course, if you adopt this practice then you won’t need to fire Jim, but it does mean that you need to help Jim to achieve his true potential within the company by providing him with the support he needs to really make the most out of every sale.
Map out your Systems
If you want to make even more profit, then it’s helpful to map out your systems so you can help your customers to consume your product faster. If you sell some kind of software then instead of giving a 3-month free trial, make it two weeks. When you do, you speed up the amount of time you have to wait in order to get the sale and you may even find that you end up making way more profit as a result.
Variable to Fixed Pricing
Depending on the business model you have, it is more than possible for you to shift the cost from variable to fixed. You need to do this when the value is proven. Make this shift only when you know that you can negotiate a huge level of price-saving.
Lowering your Overheads
Consistently look for different ways to lower your fixed overheads. It’s helpful to scrutinize your base expenses so that you can eliminate anything that is not strategic to your company, or that doesn’t add value. For example, you may find that your office rental right now has a lot of space and that it is ideal for expansion, but if you are not planning on expanding any time soon then you may end up throwing money down the drain. If you are in this situation then you may be able to negotiate with your landlord to see if they can rent the space to another company, or to find out if you can lower the price by changing offices. Little things like this can really work in your favour and you would be surprised at how much it could benefit your company overall.
Optimal inventory
It’s possible that you will have way too much inventory right now. This can be a problem because it costs money to hold onto stock. Sure, you may think that the space you have costs the same every month whether it’s full or empty, but if your space is full of products that aren’t selling then this will still be setting you back because you won’t be able to stock up on what is selling.