When you’re the owner of a small business, you certainly don’t like to lose money. A business is meant to grow and not go downhill because of business lapses you could have prevented.
Here are 5 top ways to stop your business from losing money and improve productivity:
1. Get And Stay Organised
You already know that time is money and time wasted is money lost. So, if you are not organised well enough, this will almost certainly take a toll on the available time you have to run your business. Overall, its better to invest some time upfront to put some systems and processes in place that will have you running your business effectively and possibly prevent you from losing money in the long run. Some ideas to get you started with setting up systems and processes include establishing specific guidelines for contractors to follow, document templates for recurring paperwork, systems to capture receipts, and spreadsheets to track expenses.
2. Outstanding Customer Service
Your customers are the reason you’re in business and without them, your business will cease to exist. It is always important for you to always offer amazing customer service to avoid losing customers to other businesses. We recommend that you pay close attention to the quality of customer service offered by your employees that are directly or indirectly customer-facing. You can do this through various ways such as clearly outlining service expectations, recording customer calls, as well as having discussions with your staff from time to time on how to improve their skills. Any of these could greatly increase your customer retention ratio, which will lead to improve sales too.
3. Effective Marketing
Your ability to always attract new customers to your business will depend on the effectiveness of your marketing. Word of mouth from previous customers works very well, but solely relying on this isn’t wise. Successful marketing plays a major role. A ‘not so good looking’ website that’s not compatible with mobile devices or a poorly managed social media presence for your business can easily send your customers looking for other alternatives to your products and/or services. If you don’t know how marketing really works, then you should seek professional assistance. In addition, you can spruce up your marketing skills by using resources like this blog or books to learn the ropes of marketing that can help transform your business.
4. Invest In Your staff
It may seem odd to you to spend more when your business is losing money, but the benefits in the long run can outweigh your present costs. Try investing in employee training, paying more to hire better qualified staff and using professional resources, as this can greatly the productivity of your workforce.
5. Set The Right Price
Always set competitive prices for your products and/or services because you can easily lose your customers to your competitors if you begin overcharging for your products. Also, undercharging can drain your business of profits. The best way to go about this is to set prices that’s on par with the quality of your products and/or services.
In conclusion, making money is key to the survival of any business, regardless of its size. Therefore, by making the effort to get the basics right, you can see to it that your business survives and keeps thriving.
If you’re looking to get some extra help to better understand managing your money and its impact on your business, chat to the team today. Further, we have a large number of business finance options available, including unsecured business loans which can prove a great way to secure some short term cash flow when you need it fast.
