Paul Marsden was right “business is all about solving people’s problems – at a profit.” Regardless of its vision, a business is as good as dead if there is no profit at the end of the day. The best way to keep staff, investors, and partners smiling is to make sure your bottom line always looks good. Read on to find five simple strategies to make your business profitable in no time.
Cut Costs
What’s the first step to making a business more profitable? Increasing prices, right? Well, nothing could be further from the truth. To make a business more profitable, find out where the finance and resource leaks are and plug them.
Go through your financial records and identify any unnecessary recurring expenses. Perhaps, some luxuries can be done away with. Something as simple as switching to fluorescent bulbs can help you cut costs and increase your profits. Audit the following areas of expenditure and see if there is any way to cut cost:
- Rent
- Utilities
- Payroll
- Inventory
- Insurance
- Credit card
- Debt payments
One way to drastically reduce your business costs is to reduce the number of employees you have. First of all, only hire people when they are qualified, and there is a role to fill. You should start an internship program to attract some of the best students and graduates. Also, instead of hiring a permanent employee for every task, you can hire freelancers instead. Jobs like graphic design, writing, software development can easily be outsourced.
Choose a Good Wholesaler
Buy low and sell high; that’s what excellent retail businesses have a knack for. If you want your business to be consistently profitable, you have to ensure your production cost is way lower than your selling price. The way to do that is to work with a trusted wholesaler.
Wholesalers are the intermediaries or middlemen between manufacturers and retailers. Wholesale purchase is almost always in bulk and typically comes with some discounts. And they can offer a wide range of products once you place an order. For instance, if you want to start a jewelry business, you’d have to find a company that can offer wholesale silver jewelry.
Modernize Your Marketing Efforts
The attention span of the average person has been decreasing since the turn of the century. In the year 2,000, the attention span of the average person was 12 seconds. Now it stands at a measly eight seconds. This statistic means that it is now harder to capture audiences’ attention, and marketing teams must be more innovative, creative, and consistent with generating leads and increasing conversions. Here are a few ideas you can implement:
- Run promotions offering discounts
- Upsell and cross-sell as often as possible
- Take advantage of social media to drive leads
- Build and email marketing funnel
- Invest in content marketing
Your business profit does not have to dwindle or plateau. You should be intentional about finding strategies to increase sales and drive profit. Start by cutting costs and reducing your production costs. Also, make sure you modernize your marketing efforts.