12 Business Growth Tactics to Double Your Profits

12 Business Growth Tactics to Double Your Profits

(With less than 2.5% improvement in each)

What if your business numbers could tell you a different story? A story of compounding growth and accelerated profits?

I receive a lot of questions from prospective clients about how my business growth programs actually work, so here is a sneak peek behind the curtains of a recent client enquiry.

Sarah, a chiropractor in the UK, first saw one of my posts on Instagram about 3 months ago, and although curious, was a little doubtful about my claim of being able to find any business $50k to $100k or more in her business in 45 minutes.

The Practice has been growing quite well, but now with kids approaching teen age, the hours she is working are starting to get in the way of the kids school and sport events, and with continually rising business and living costs she would like to be able to increase her income.

After several emails and a quick chat, Sarah agreed that as a first step she would be happy to have a look at the practice assessment to see what was possible for her practice and how it might work for her growth.

In the initial assessment there are 12 growth tactics that we look through to evaluate opportunities for revenue and/or profit increases. In Sarah’s case we are focusing on how we can add growth without any extra overwhelm and stress, so no extra marketing, advertising or team spend at this time.

Current Annual Revenue?????$215,000

Current Annual Net Profit???$43,000

The 12 Growth Tactics

(Note: we are only looking for 2.5% improvement in each tactic)

1.????Cut Costs

Cutting costs is the quickest way to free up cash in nearly every business I consult to. Not only is this an area that most Practice Owners don’t look at regularly, but the resultant savings go straight to the bottom line. Some examples:

a.?Audit your vendors / suppliers and obtain new quotes / better payment terms (insurances, phones, internet, debts, loans, utilities, etc.,)

b.?Stop discounting (see previous blog – “Why discounting sucks…)

c.?Assess inefficiencies and reduce them.

d.?Work with your Accountant to maximise your tax savings

e. Go over all your subscriptions / automatic payments and cancel ones you don’t need or use.

f.?Assess your marketing metrics and use only marketing that produces positive measurable results.

g. Inventory Management (too much / damage / out of date / lost)

2. Market Dominating Position

You might be unique, but it won't matter to your prospective clients unless it's a hot-button issue for them. A Market Dominating Position is your distinctive advantage targeting the hot buttons of your market. A powerful Market Dominating Position has been known to increase a business's revenue by as much as 30-50%

What benefit(s) do you offer to your target market that separates you from all of your competitors?

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3. Compelling Offer

Now you have your dominating position, how could your current marketing change to make your prospects a compelling offer? One that is so irresistible that they can’t refuse it (E.g., Idea Guide, Health Report, Live Seminar or Webinar, Follow up Consultation, Money-Back Guarantee, etc.)?

How could you enhance your offers so that your prospects find it nearly impossible to buy from anyone else but you?

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4. Increase Prices

Did you know that if you were to increase your prices by just 10%, that you could effectively lose 25% of your current clients and still make the same profit margin in your practice? With the right plan you will lose only a few if any but imagine if it was the price shoppers or the time-wasters who left and freed up some of your valuable time to focus on your ideal clients?

Is there anything you could provide that would raise the perceived value of your product or service?

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5. Upsells & Cross-sell

This involves offering your client, at the point of purchase, something they need or want but did not think about purchasing at that time. This could be a higher quality or quantity of what they just purchased (up-sell) or an additional product or service that is related to what they just purchased (cross-sell). It is not hard to see average spend increase 20-40% with a great offer.

What other products or services could you offer as a way to increase the average purchase with you?

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6. Bundling

Bundling is simply the process of grouping together certain products to create 'packages' which are then sold to clients. It creates an “apples to oranges” comparison and removes price from the equation. Customers today shop value… NOT PRICE! Unfortunately, small businesses are LOUSY at conveying their “value proposition.” Therefore, price becomes the only value proposition left to consumers.

What products or services could you bundle together to create a higher value package for your prospects?

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7. Down-sell

Down selling means backing off from your prime or original offer when your prospect appears to reject it, and in turn, offering something less expensive. Then once the client relationship is established, upselling and cross-selling at a later date. The key idea is to get the buyer to enter into a relationship and then your job is to nurture it long term.

What other product(s) or service(s) could you offer at a lower cost if the customer doesn't buy your primary product or service?

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8. Additional Products & Services

The Front End is the package of services you offer first. The Back End is the array of products or services you can offer after the buying relationship has started. Developing the back-end requires a new attitude - that is, realizing that your job is to bring as much value to your clients as you can and not just selling them your service. When you understand their needs and deliver improvements in the quality and prosperity of their lives through whatever means you’re able to create, now you are creating impact.

What additional products and/or services does your ideal client want / need / find valuable?

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9. The Drip Campaign

Do you currently follow up with your prospects as they move along the buyer’s decision-making process, or did you just ask “buyers what?

80% + of ALL sales occur between the 5th and the 12th point of contact between your business and the prospect. Most small businesses NEVER follow up! This creates a HUGE opportunity for any business that does follow up. It’s vital that all small business owners create a strategic “drip campaign” that automatically delivers a form of communication to customers or prospects on a predetermined and scheduled basis.

Do you have a scheduled and consistent drip campaign that can produce dramatic conversion results?

10. Alliances & Joint Ventures

A business can form alliances or joint ventures with a number of different entities besides other non-competing businesses. Customers, vendors, and sales professionals could be harnessed in order to make your business more money in a shorter timeframe.

What products or services do people normally buy before, during and after they do business with you?

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11. Digital Marketing

Digital marketing typically refers to advertising and marketing efforts that use the web and email to drive direct sales via electronic commerce, in addition to generating leads from websites or emails. But if in this early stage you just focused on previous clients or contacts who haven’t dealt with for a while? Many businesses attempt to market online, but those that do often use marketing that:

? Provides no compelling reason for a customer to buy

? Provides no contact information

? Includes no effective invitation or reason to seek you out.

? Often is full of “Well I would hope so” statements that mean nothing.

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12. More Leads

There are always more effective ways to get a higher quality / quantity of leads. Sadly, many businesses see lead generation as the key way to grow a business but if the leads are of poor quality, or you do not have an efficient way of dealing with them then they just become a large expense and waste of your money and time.

Do you follow the Conversion Equation to format your marketing and advertising messages?

Key Points to Note

-???????Did you notice that “Increasing Prices” is separate and different from “Upselling” or “Additional Products & Services”? Because they are very different strategies. Raising prices results in massive profit increases whereas increasing the customer’s average spend doesn’t as much (Only get the profit percentage increase)

-???????Did you also notice how “Digital Marketing” & “More Leads” are number 11 and 12 on my list of actions? – because until you have all your other ducks in a row then you are just wasting time and money.

-???????How many of these 12 tactics have you used to grow your business in the past year? - A lot of business owners focus on growing their business with just one type of strategy and that is increasing leads.

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The OUTCOMES

Remember that Sarah’s revenue for the previous year was $215,000 and her net profit (20%) was $43,000

So, by just increasing each of the 12 areas in the business by just 2.5% each we see the following

New Annual Revenue ??????????$ 282,000??(+$67,000)

New Annual Profit????????????????$ ??83,673??(+ $40,673) which is almost double!!

And the really cool thing is we were able to easily identify ideas in each and every one of the 12 areas where we could find 2.5% impacts, in fact in many of the areas we were able to identify increases many times higher than the 2.5% target we set at the beginning of our session.

This is the real magic in creating small changes across a range of areas in the business to compound results.

= Small changes

= achievable results

= no extra spend on marketing or advertising

= no extra team members needed (but watch this space)

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The next step for Sarah is to now have a 90-minute Business Accelerator session where we will create specific actions and steps to take her practice to the next level with a customised roadmap to know exactly what to do and when.

What could you do with an extra $40,000 of profit added to your business this year?

If you would like to know what is possible for your practice, DM me in the comments below and I’ll send you a link to book your own Business Assessment session – just 45 minutes to uncover the hidden potential in your practice.

Now go make a difference

Ian

E: [email protected]

W: Nimble Coaching Solutions

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