Why Isn’t My Business Making Any Money?
If Plan A is not working, do you have a Plan B or are you looking at a blank page and hoping for inspiration?
Your business should be actively managed every single day, of every single week, every month to survive. The problem is when you are doing well you want to take a break. You reach your goal for the week, and you let yourself relax. As soon as you realize that you’re not making money anymore, you rush to pick up the slack but it’s too late- you’re only improving your business minimally, and these results never improve. Therein lies the heart of your problem and the only way to improve is to find a solution.
Start by making a plan. Track the hours that you’re working and the income that you make. Plot your expenses daily, and then weekly, and eventually monthly. Define what your work goals are, and work to track your progress for the entire year.
How to Make Your Business Plan
Track your aspirations, deadlines, and sales projections and stick to it.
Set up goals, and consequences for yourself if you don’t reach those goals. Incentivize yourself and your employees with recognition, appreciation, and more money as well.
Avoid allowing yourself to become unmotivated. If your team gets distracted or thinks that their jobs are in trouble, they aren’t going to work well. Set clear expectations and goals, and be clear with job descriptions.
Track Your Work and Your Income and Expenses Per Day and Per Week
It might seem superfluous, but either put the data in a spreadsheet now or hire someone who will. Too many business owners hold all of their receipts and invoices in shoe boxes and wonder why they get audited by the IRS.
Define Your Work Plan, and Cut Excess
Figure out who’s benefiting your bottom dollar and who isn’t. Every company needs ways to improve business; using marketing, accountants (to manage tax and revenue), and security (either online or in person).
Track The Progress You Make in a Month and Write it Down
Write down how much you’ve spent, how much you’ve made, and how you can make it better next month. Having these standards helps you earn more and spend less over the long run. You’ll continue finding ways to grow and improve, helping keep you on track to succeed.
5 Ways for Your Business to Make More Money
- Rent out Part of Your Business Space to Other Businesses
When you own or lease your business premises, if you’re not using all of the physical space, it only makes sense to rent it out and sell your space to another business. All you have to do is organize your business assets, and set them up in a central location that makes better use of the available space.
Then, you can put your business in a booth or corner of the office, and rent the rest to other local businesses, throwing in add-ins to up the rent capabilities, including potential workstations and secretarial services.
- Package Your Services Together
If your service is multifaceted, your business can make money by selling services as products rather than doing it per hour. You can increase your revenue, and people feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal, helping overcome their resistance to sign-up for your service. Work is far more tangible when people can plan out how they’re spending their money, especially in regards to a set budget. This can greatly increase your profit margin. Find out about the conversion process here .
- Add Value to Your Services or Products
One of the best ways that people make money for their business is by adding value to the things that they sell. Little add-ons and freebies are the basis of many advertising strategies because the facts show that people love them. These services are all over the place:
You buy a phone and you get a free headset or phone case
You buy a large popcorn and a box candy at the movies, and they throw in a « free » soda
Discount coupons if you buy a specific amount
Bargain sales that offer « rock-bottom prices »
I’ve found that unless you find at least some good reasons for your customers to buy something, your customer already has reasons why not to unless it’s such a great deal that they can’t help themselves. Understanding why people buy things and figuring out what little conveniences that you can offer helps you maximize your business profits, and keep your business afloat.
- Focus on Selling to Both New And Old Customers
It’s always easiest to sell something to your old customers, especially if you have a good reputation and customer service. The best part is that they already understand your business concept so you don’t have to pay for advertising to convince them to buy your products. All you have to do is tell them what you’ve done: you’re providing a discount, you’ve acquired new, awesome products, or you’ve developed a member reward program. Whatever you choose, these kinds of incentives help convince people to keep coming back to you.
- Factoring Through A/R Funding
Factoring can be one of the fastest and easiest ways for your company to make money. In fact, successful businesses have used factoring for hundreds of years (since the industrial revolution) to help them maximize their sales and continue growing. Factoring involves a company selling their accounts receivable at 75-80% of their current value. Factors collect on these accounts, holding onto the remaining portion of the account until the remaining balance is paid off. Then, companies get this money back, minus a small fee.
If your business is cash strapped, factoring can be one of the only options to help find business success. Factoring opens up working capital, pushes your investments, and helps you take steps forward. It provides a continuous option for your business to access capital that you might not get on a regular schedule from your customers. It can help you make employee payments, pay off bills, and re-supply. Factoring helps many small businesses take advantage of otherwise unavailable business opportunities.
