My brother is in the midst of selling booths for an annual tradeshow and he showed me the list of almost 700 businesses he works from. “See here” he said, pointing to the multi-colored spreadsheet on his screen. “The ones in red have gone out of business since last year’s show.”
Yikes! There were a LOT of them! Whether it’s the economy, the increased tax burden or they just ran out of oomph to fight the good fight, about 30% of his list is now out of business. Since – last – year!
I wouldn’t want that to happen to you! So, whether you need just a little bit of extra cash or a humongous amount more each month, here are a ton of ways businesses can make more money:
1. Sub-lease some space. Got some extra space you’re not using? Perhaps it’s a small office, an alcove or a closet. (Just kidding with that last one!) Maybe there’s space in your parking lot or out in the “back 40″.
2. Create a coupon booklet. You’ve seen those “Entertainment” booklets, right? Same concept. Find a whole group of friends who have businesses and agree with one another to extend a discount when customers mention your business name or bring in a coupon.
3. Cross-market with a related business. This doesn’t mean you need to sell, rent or even loan your customer list. You can each include coupons in mailings, set up displays in storefront locations, add links to websites, “interview” your marketing buddy for your next newsletter or blog, co-host a customer appreciation event (free food is a must!) or co-sponsor a youth sporting event or community fundraiser. You double your reach this way.
4. Teach what you know. Set up a teleclass or webinar account and hold monthly online classes. You’ll need a list of loyal fans, prospect or clients to invite to your classes, good word of mouth and a distribution method to promote your classes. Set your pricing based on the technical level of the topic.
5. Invite a vendor to hold classes at your place of business. It doesn’t have to be a perfect match with your business specialty; just make it related enough so it makes sense. For example: a car parts business could hold a “Tailgate Cook-off” during football season and a beauty shop could host a lingerie fashion show.
6. Set up an Amazon.com associates account. If you’re going to do book reviews on your blogs and websites, why not make it easy for your readers to purchase the books you recommend AND get a small check in return? Sure, you might prefer to promote your own books or products on your site, but readers get tired of people always hawking their own stuff. Offer some variety.
7. Create a fulfillment center. If you’ve got the space, an order management or shopping cart system and some spare time, you may be able to ship products for another small business. I spoke with a business owner the other day and they have just enough product sales each month to justify outsourcing it, but not enough to require a big fulfillment house. If only they could find someone they trust to do this for them!
8. Fire a client. Yup, you heard me! You know you’ve got one, maybe two, who drain your time and patience. Let them go and free yourself up to generate a more profitable use of your time. What, you don’t think you’ll be able to find a new client? I challenge you to do the math and figure out the hourly rate you’re making with that individual or organization. I’m sure you’ll be able to backfill and after a month or two will be much happier you did the deed! If you need additional help with this, stay tuned for next week’s post on “How to Fire a Client”.
9. Bundle a product or service. Combine related items into one package. Even if you don’t increase the price, you may find you clear slow-moving inventory more quickly. If you’re a service provider, add another service offering or bonus products (books, CD’s, a lint brush) to justify a higher price.
10. Ask for payment in full in advance. Cashflow is king, right? You’ll never know until your ask and if you give a small discount for cash payments or payment in full, in advance, many will jump at it. You don’t have to make it your only option – just make it an option, then make the offer.
11. Offer Cadillac and Chevy options. People like to have choices – not so many that it makes them crazy, but just enough wiggle room to get what they want and still feel like they’re in control. Always give people options and you may be surprised to learn they take the higher priced option as often as not!
12. Look for the waste. One of the first things most companies do when they face a cash crunch is cut a job, or two, or three. How about put those folks to work looking for ways to save money in other areas? Ask if they can come up with other ways to bring in added revenue. (Note: avoid the “or else” tone in your voice or you’ll scare ‘em silly and they’ll be no good to anyone)
13. Stop spending. (Hmmm, have we heard that somewhere else before recently?) I know the economy is in the tank and we’d like people to spend, spend, spend, but let’s face it, this is “pedal to the metal” time. If you’re going to stay in business, you might be able to give yourself some breathing space by doing a “line by line veto”. Set some parameters about what is a need vs a nice-to-have and bump it up against the monthly shopping list.
14. Follow up on leads. I know this sounds really, really dumb. I mean, doesn’t everybody? No – actually very few people follow up on leads. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve called a business establishment with the intention to buy and no one called me back. Most salespeople who come back from Tradeshows don’t follow up on leads.
15. Build products into your service business or services into your retail business. When I bought a Mac earlier this fall, I was upsold a series of training classes to help me become more efficient with my new Mac. “Of course you can pick it up on your own,” the salesman told me. “But chances are, it’s going to take you much longer to learn all the features and your time is valuable. We can help you get up that learning curve much faster and save you money in the long run.” And I fell for it. And do you think I’ve taken the time to go down there and sit through a class yet? Nope. (Although now that I’ve written about it, I’d better get on down there, eh?)
16. Shrink your mailing list. I just switched my email distribution system over to a new provider and had to ask subscribers to opt back in. The list management company is picky, picky, picky about taking on a clean list. I gnashed my teeth and growled when I realized I’d lose a good number of people who would not opt back in. But then it occurred to me – why would I want to keep mailing to a group of folks who aren’t interested? Why not focus my time on a small group of “fans”, spend less for list management (I pay them by the number of subscribers) and avoid “carrying” people who are basically just taking up space? When you cull your list, you can do it via phone to test someone’s interest and you just never know, the personal contact might generate some new interest!
17. Stop responding to bid requests. How much time do YOU spend submitting bids on projects where you know (admit it – you KNOW!) you are the third bid required to fulfill a purchasing policy? Can’t you tell in their voice when they call? Haven’t you been around the block long enough to know that rarely do those inquiries come through with paying business? So, let’s either draft up a template for “those calls” and ship it back with the click of a keystroke OR make a business decision to opt out. Yup, you may miss out on the occasional serious buyer who just sounds like a tire kicker. (Usually the “Ummm, what is your fee?” question in the first 5 seconds is a dead giveaway) Go through your folder of “Inquiries” and see how many of them turned into actual business. I can tell you what I’ve found after going through that folder!
18. Sell it. Is it time to go back to a “real” job? Are you ready to let your spouse do their thing for a while? How about closing it down, taking a break and starting something new? There are lots of options out there – lots of new opportunities. Avoid getting yourself stuck in a rut and waking up one day wondering why you didn’t chuck it five years earlier. I know most of us just don’t want to give up, but there’s no shame in making a different choice. Perhaps you have more information now than you did before. Perhaps you’re not so optimistic that taxes will actually go down and would rather not run the risk of watching it dwindle away.
This is where my lawyer tells me I’m supposed to insert the “…consult your legal adviser before making any decisions with tax implications” message!
19. Get hundreds more tips in this book by Janet Switzer.
While I did succumb to one of those well choreographed book selling campaigns on the Internet, I have found her book very useful. And in the interest of full disclosure, this link is hooked to my Amazon Associates account, so thank you in advance if you decide to purchase Instant Income: Strategies That Bring in the Cash
20. Your ideas go here: please share your suggestions with the rest of us. Got any scathingly brilliant ideas that have worked for you or someone you know? Please tell us about them in the comments section.
And thanks again for participating! The more we all stick together, the better off we’ll all be!
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