5 simple ways for small business owners to increase profits without working more hours
When you’re already maxed out on time and energy you have to devote to your business, it can feel a bit deflating if you’re not making enough money.
If you feel like this, I’m happy to report that there are many things you can play around with that allow you to increase your profits without putting in more hours by your desk.
1 – increase your prices
I know everyone and their aunt is saying that you should “charge your worth” – but there isn’t really a price out there that could ever match *your* worth! Instead, your prices should reflect the value you provide in your offers.
If your offers give your clients more value than what you’re currently charging for them, that’s a green light to raise your prices.
If you’ve gotten more experienced, and you’ve learned how to deliver on the offer for your clients more effectively, that’s another green light to raise your prices.
If you need to charge more in order to reach the revenue you need to bring in, but you don't feel like your offers are worth more right now, you can elevate them. And then raise your prices!
2 – simplify your offers
Because of how our brains are wired, we have a tendency to think that we can’t simplify our offers. Won’t people think they should pay less, if we give them “less”?
But being able to deliver on something valuable in less time can be very attractive to someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to spare. In this world where there’s so much information and so much to do, being able to make things simple will show your clients that you know what you’re doing.
By spending less of your time on each client, while still delivering them value, you can make space for more clients.
3 – only keep your most profitable offers
If you’re someone who cares deeply about the people you serve, chances are that you’ve created several different offers for different price points, or that you keep some offers around that you don’t necessarily want to do anymore – but people are still inquiring about them.
I’d recommend that you audit your offers, so that you can make informed decisions for which ones to keep.
How long does each offer take to deliver on?
How much marketing do you spend on each?
How much revenue does it bring in per hour spent?
Are there costs associated with any of the offers?
How do you *feel* marketing, selling, and delivering on that offer?
4 – focus on your most impactful marketing tasks
When we’re starting out in business, we tend to try a bunch of different marketing and sales activities to get visible and grow our client base. And when those don’t seem to bring us enough results, it’s easy to pile on more when we still have the time.
When your business finally starts to gain traction, you might realize that marketing tasks are taking up time you’d rather spend serving your clients well. Or time you’d rather spend gardening, doing pottery, or meeting up with your bestest friends for game night.
The good news is that you can do marketing in a way that’s sustainable and feels good.
You do this by carrying out a few key activities well, instead of spreading yourself too thin between #allthethings. This way you can spend more time on work that brings you revenue, as well as any bigger updates you’d like to do behind the scenes.
The exercise in my (free) Instant Relief guide will help you evaluate the activities and tasks you already do that grow, nurture, and sell to your audience – so that you can make decluttering decisions based on facts.
5 – redesign how you operate in your business to be more efficient
Good design in your business helps you work smarter, not harder. I know it’s a cliche but it’s quite a useful approach to keep in mind!
Redesigning how you operate inside your business might look like
updating systems, practices, and workflows
streamline and simplify tasks, activities or offers that are taking up too much time and effort
identify and smooth out any parts in your business or schedule that tend to create bottlenecks
When you refine your business practices, you free up time for more clients and revenue.