How to Increase Profits for Small Business

Your business’s ability to sustain itself and grow depends on its profitability. Fortunately, you can increase profitability in several ways, most notably:

1. Cutting expenses
2. Boosting efficiency
3. Boosting productivity
4. Boosting turnover
   

Here are some specific ways to do just that.

Eliminate unnecessary costs

For profitability, every cent counts. So, pay close attention to how you invest your capital. Get rid of any expenses you can’t justify that don’t help your business grow or add value to it. For starters, slash overhead costs like utilities or your use of space, equipment, or subscription services.

By the same token, discontinue products and services that aren’t profitable.

Raise your prices

Maybe it may not be the most popular solution with your customers, but this must still be mentioned as a viable option for increasing profits for small business, especially if the survival of your business depends on it. Of course, demand for your products or services must be able to support the price increases.

Build a website

More people are shopping online than ever before, and more people are researching the products and services they're considering buying. For customers to find you, you need to place yourself in front of their eyes where they are looking, which is online. That means if you don’t have a website yet, build one, and if you do have one, see how you can optimize and improve it. Use your website to inform people of what you offer and encourage and facilitate interactions between you and them.

And, unless you’re a website developer, don’t try to do this yourself. An amateur-looking or poorly functioning website can be even worse for your brand and profitability than no website. Instead, hire a professional website developer to build you one that’s professional (meaning it looks great,) intuitive (meaning it’s easy to navigate), and responsive (meaning you can view it on multiple devices.)

Once your website is built, you’re not done with it either. You need to constantly analyze how well (or poorly) it’s meeting your objectives and optimizing them to meet them faster, better, or simply more.

In addition to your website, consider making use (or better use) of other elements of your potential online presence, including:

1. Email marketing/email newsletter
2. Social media
3. Blog
   

Develop a content marketing strategy for all the elements of your online presence. Consider how you can best use written/textual content, photos, videos, podcasts, infographics, and ebooks. Don’t only use these to promote your products or services, but educate your consumers about your field, present yourself as an expert in those areas and create a sense of community around your business and products or services.

And, if you don’t feel you have the time, energy, or expertise to do all this in-house, consider outsourcing your marketing or even just your online marketing. Free yourself to focus on the tasks that require your unique skill set, leadership, and expertise.

Use eCommerce

There’s one other way the internet can help increase profits for small business, and it’s a big one. If you’re not selling your products and services online, you could be losing business to those of your competitors who are. Your online presence can be far more than your information portal for your customers; you could actually monetize it, and with so many people shifting their shopping behaviors to eCommerce, its potential for hidden profitability is immense.

Offer Discounts

Everyone loves a bargain. Offering ways for people to get more for less is a way to boost sales, even if you’re making a slimmer profit on each of those sales. Consider offering discounts to:

1. Students
2. Seniors
3. Military (active duty and/or veterans)
4. People on their birthday
   

People who get a regular discount from a business are more inclined to become loyal, repeat customers.

Periodic, limited-time discounts, coupons, and promotions are another way to boost sales.

Offer Gift Certificates

Even when people aren’t keen to spend money on themselves, most people love spending it on others. Allowing your customers to share what they love about your company by enabling others to experience what you offer increases your potential customer base by untold multiples.

People can purchase gift cards from your website or your physical establishment. They make payments simple, are easy to use, safe, and can boost your income during slower seasons.

Improve Employee Satisfaction

Happy employees are more motivated to serve as brand ambassadors for your company. And you don’t have to give everyone a raise to make it happen, either. You could, for example, improve the office environment with some simple creative office break room ideas. Encourage your employees to look after their mental wellness, and help your team to avoid burnout.

Improve your relationships with vendors and suppliers

By developing deeper relationships with the people who provide you with the products and services you sell or the tools, parts, and resources for producing them, you can negotiate more favorable agreements that help you cut costs. See if you can arrange free shipping, products, or bulk discounts.

Expand Your Market

Without adding new products or services, you could potentially help increase profits for small businesses by offering your existing products or services to a new customer base. Who else might be interested in what you have to offer? To what other demographic groups can you promote your offerings? Can you expand into other geographic regions? Can you get other stores or resellers to promote your products or services in their venues? Research the markets that may demand what you have to offer. You could offset the costs of expansion with a whole new revenue stream.

Start putting these ideas into effect and give your profitability the boost it needs. Contact us to consult with a person who designs websites today.