Skip to main content

8 Surefire Tips For Making Your Business More Profitable

There can’t be a business out there which doesn’t want to make more money. Not a sane or successful one anyway. So, given that everyone has this ambition, it’s something that everyone needs to ponder.

Here are eight tips that all businesses can look to take on board to boost their profits.

 

Cut your costs

You can make a sizable sum of money but if you need to spend a lot to achieve this then it’s counter-productive. Conduct a regular review of your outgoings. Ask yourself if there are ways you could switch supplier to slash your bills. Do you get value for money from your premises? Are you dealing with the right suppliers? Are you paying for freelancers and contractors to do tasks that you could handle in house?

 

The price is right

Could you also squeeze a bit more money from the products and services you sell? It’s important not to undervalue the work you do and this will quickly eat away at your profit potential. Most businesses, as Inc notes, set a price when they first start out and then are too nervous to change this. Review your rivals regularly and make sure that you continue to charge a fair price for what you’re offering.

 

Chase payments

Delivering your work isn’t, in its own right, enough. Until you’ve had your invoice paid, the work counts for nothing. Review your processes and see if you can find ways to get your bills paid in full and on time. Simply getting all of the money you are owed will boost your profits.

 

Streamline your operation

When thinking about how to chase your payments, you might well find there are ways to streamline this process to improve cash flow and, in turn, profits. Consider ways you can streamline other parts of your business too.

Getting better at delivering what your customers want and at keeping your existing customers should increase sales and, as a result, bear fruit in terms of healthier profits.

Marketing techniques

If you can reach more customers – or reach your existing customers in more effective ways – you’ll open up revenue-earning opportunities. Try new marketing techniques, maybe social media platforms you’ve never used before, or look at ways to improve the techniques you already use. Better marketing means better profits.

 

Customer research

If marketing is about talking to your customers, research is about listening to them. Regularly ask them what they want, what they like about your service and what they don’t. Try to get a deeper understanding of their behaviour too – which other brands do they shop with and why? Build personas of your key customers and keep them in mind in everything you do to stay focused. The more you understand your customers – and target customers – the more likely you are to deliver products and services that they will appreciate. Not only that, but listening to feedback allows you to fix issues and address concerns, helping you to retain customers. 

 

Investment and spending

Sometimes, as the saying goes, you need to ‘speculate to accumulate’. That might well mean spending money on new equipment, staff, training or premises that you need to be able to expand. But doing this in a way which doesn’t harm profits is important. That might well mean learning to invest your cash reserves smartly and build up an investment fund that doesn’t take away from profits. Don’t do this half-heartedly. You need to do your homework and know a trailing stop order from a contract for difference so that you don’t lose money through investment, something which would have the opposite of the desired effect.

 

Offer something new

Finally, think about what else you can do. Whether it’s an enhanced or premium service that you could charge a little more for or an entirely new product range, new ideas can give you a fresh impetus and introduce new sources of profit for your business.

 

This article was produced by Chelsea Ellsworth, an experienced and enthusiastic freelance writer who has written for a variety of online publications and magazines.

Share this content

Leave a Reply

Register with Informi today:

  • Join over 30,000 like-minded business professionals.
  • Create your own personalised account with curated reading lists and checklists.
  • Access exclusive resources including business plans, templates, and tax calculators.
  • Receive the latest business advice and insights from Informi.
  • Join in the discussion through the comments section.

or