Michael Griffiths

Now that you have already set up your business and have managed to get it running, surely you are now thinking of how to notably increase profits. This must be thoroughly planned, because it is not just a matter of increasing prices - especially when there are no justifiable reasons to raise prices. It is no joke, now that your loyal clients are so used to your way of running your business.

So what are some ways you can use to meet your higher expectations from your own company? Here are some suggestions:

Try to increase the average sale. Customers are most probably accustomed to buying one or two of a particular item they want and just come back when they need to. Have you tried increasing your average sale by offering that they try something more than what they normally buy? For example - Mr. Smith always drops by your restaurant to buy 5 sandwiches. He always does this every other day. Why not try and ask Mr. Smith, then, if he wants 5 drinks and 5 chips to go with his regular 5 sandwiches? And when you are trying to convince him, try to sound as enthusiastic as you can. Make the drinks and chips seem more delicious than they really are by telling him that almost all your other customers come back because of your piping-hot and crispy chips and your ice-cold drinks.

By doing this, you increase your sales, instead of settling for a customer’s steady and consistent usual order. With an already established set of loyal clients, you just need to utilize this strategy instead of whacking your brains out trying to find new clients. You save on time and effort, plus you get another set of consistent additional sales.

Try new low-cost and low-risk strategies. Try to think of ways you can push your products at the lowest possible additional cost. This means laying off the costly additional advertising, and shifting to other, more practical ideas. If you have a restaurant, why not go and watch the neighbourhood football games and invite them over to your restaurant for an after-game meal?

Or you could invite the church leader, basketball coach, school principal and bank manager in your locality for a supposed “getting-to-know-the-people-in-the-neighbourhood” meal and then encourage them to hold their important celebrations or meetings in your restaurant from thereon after? Of course, there’s a slight cost to you, but the returns will be far greater in the long run.

Think of all the additional potential sales this move will have on your business. Each of the invited diners can troop back into your restaurant with their own families or set of friends, now that they’ve tried your great food. Nice idea, isn’t it?

Sell new and additional items. If you used to sell purely clothes for plus-sized women, why not try to sell shoes and bags fitted for the plus-sized woman also? Plus sized women do not normally find well-fitting shoes in average shoe stores, mainly because average shoes are tight on their feet. So look for a good supplier of wider shoes for the steady set of loyal clients you now have. This way, they no longer need to visit another store to buy matching shoes for your beautiful clothes – everything is conveniently in your store!

The choice of handbags of plus-sized women is also different from that of the normal waif-like-figured woman, so seek the help of a stylist and determine which types of purses look good for women of size. You not only make shopping easier for your customers, you are also increasing your chances of profiting from additional sales. Hitting 3 birds with one stone is always a good idea.

There are dozens of other ways to increase profit, it just needs thorough planning. Nowadays, there’s no justification for having a steady level of income. There are so many ways to earn much more… so act now!