5 ways to make more profit without booking new clients
Want to listen rather than read? Below is the link to the
Focused Podcast episode that goes with this blog post!
Profit.
One of those words in small business ownership (especially in the creative world) that just doesn’t get enough attention.
It’s so easy to focus on how much money we are bringing IN to gauge our success (YAY I booked 8 sessions this month!!!!) but we often completely forget to think about how much money is going OUT. (yikes I spent $5,000 this month on business things!!!)
And that my friends, is profit.
What you bring in (minus) what goes out = profit.
I didn’t even attempt to think about profit in my business until around the three or four year mark. I was way too focused on how to actually do the things IN my business to worry about if all these things I was doing was actually accomplishing anything.
I also thought that new businesses just couldn’t really be profitable. There was no way right?!! There are just too many expenses at the beginning and not enough money coming in so of course I was going to run at a loss for the first few years right?
Wrong!
If I knew then what I know now, I would have been able to be profitable from the very beginning. That is why I like to share this info with others…..to help them actually see profit in their business literally from today forward.
But doesn’t this mean I just need to HUSTLE more and bring in more clients? That’s how you become more profitable right?
Well, not necessarily.
Sure bringing in more clients might bring in more money, but it’s not always the BEST way to increase your profit margins. I’ve learned throughout the years that there are lots of ways to bring more PROFIT into your business without necessarily doing all the hard work and marketing to get new clients in the door. Today, I’m going to share FIVE of those ways with you! Let’s get started!!
Make more profit in your business
So what are these magic ways to make more PROFIT (not just money, there’s a difference) in your business?
I’m so glad you asked!
1 ) Take it off the top
This is the whole strategy behind the book Profit First which I discuss in more detail in this blog post.
Instead of:
Income - Expenses = Profit
you flip that equation on its head.
Income - Profit = Expenses
Boom. You will instantly be profitable the day you start incorporating this strategy into your business.
Remember the word profit doesn’t equal THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of dollars.
Even if your business only makes a profit of $100 your first year in business, you are still profitable. And that is a powerful motivator for bigger and better things my friends.
2) Cut your expenses
We don’t talk about this enough.
Expenses are a huge part of the equation when it comes to making a profit in our business. Often we think we need to spend way more money in our business than we actually need too.
And we are inundated with ads and offers for subscriptions, courses, memberships and the like for #allthethings that will help us run our business. I’m not alone in that right? Right!
But before we know it, those expenses add up, cutting our profit margins BIG TIME. We have to be crazy tuned in to the money that is going OUT in our business to ensure that we are staying profitable.
When you start to take your profit off the top, you’ll find that you have less money for expenses. This is a good thing because it forces you to be scrappy. We often spend what we have, so if we have less we spend less.
Seems simple (and it is!) but simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy.
Being hyper aware of your expenses and making cuts on things that aren’t necessary or aren’t helping you bring in more money is one of the quickest ways to be more profitable in your business.
3) Raise your prices
The price for your services or products need to be in alignment with the goals you have regarding profit and income.
People often say, “charge what you are worth!”
But that is an overly simplified way to look at it. What does that even mean? If I am “charging what I am worth” does that mean if I charge $1,000 that I’m not “worth” $1,001? It doesn’t make sense when you look at it that way.
Of course, many creative business owners don’t charge “enough” because they are nervous that no one will pay the higher price. But this is where the work comes into play. If you are going to run a business you have to put the work in to determine what your income goals are and how much you need to charge based on those goals.
This is the only objective measure that you can rely on to determine your price.
You have to reverse engineer this to determine what your price should be and then once that is determined you have to make sure that the value you provide aligns.
Again, simple…but not easy.
Often times, we are not profitable because we don’t really know and understand how our price aligns with our goals. Figuring that out is an easy way to begin to make more profit in your business.
4) Affiliate income
Often companies have affiliate programs where if you share and someone buys, you get some money! Some people make a lot doing this but in order to make big bank you often have to spend a lot of time OR have a really big audience.
However, if there are some companies or products that you use and love and are talking about anyway, asking if they have an affiliate link that you can share is an easy way to bring in a little bit money into your business without also raising expenses.
5) Sell upgraded or additional services to your current/past clients
Current or past clients already love you and have already invested in you or your business. The level of know, like and trust that needs to be built in order for someone to become your client has already been established. This is a prime opportunity for more profit in your business.
So often we are so focused on marketing efforts to bring in new clients (which is much more difficult and takes a lot more time) than focusing on the needs of current or past clients and finding out their needs and how we can solve their problems!
Keep in touch with your past clients. Ask how they are doing. Survey them to see where they are at and if they need anything additional. You don’t necessarily have to customize what you do or what you offer but sometimes clients may not even know about additional services you offer! Spend a little time educating them and you might find you are selling more services or products easily to people who already love you!
I hope you found these idea helpful when it comes to bringing in more PROFIT in your business. Most of us want to actually make money that we can use for our lives and not just run a business for the “fun” of it. So let’s actually take some steps to stop running at a loss and achieve the goals we had when we first started this thing!
