As a small business owner, you have worked hard, never taken the shortcuts, and created a successful business that only seems to get bigger and better with time. However, as with any business, you may find yourself hitting occasional “profit plateaus” and wondering how you can push even further and do even more to keep your upwards momentum.
Although these moments are frustrating and may make you question whether or not you are doing everything right to keep your business profits flowing, there is no need to despair. Instead, by taking certain measures as each plateau crosses your business’ path, you can not only keep your business profitable, but actually grow in the process.
1. Invest With Your Own Money if Possible
As a business owner, you may have started your business on your own and built it up from scratch, or you may have presented a business idea to an investor or loan company to gain traction. No matter how you began this company, it is time for you to invest in it even further with your own capital.
By doing this, you provide your company with an extended budget that allows for more marketing and expenses which will help you to effectively gain new clients, new contracts, and more profits.
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2. Hire the Right People & Independent Contractors
Imagine calling your business as a potential client. What would you want to hear? Who would you want to meet with? What are the qualifications you as a client would look for in an ideal world in your employees? By asking yourself these questions, you can hire a team that is likely to help you progress rather than face the stagnancy of these profit plateaus.
You will also create a team that is trustworthy, productive, reliable, and creative. Hiring people with these qualities will create a successful team and will help you to regain your profitability in no time.
3. Stay Up-to-Date on Blogs & Social Media
One of the skills every entrepreneur needs to perfect is the ability to create quality written content. However, this content is not always in the form of business proposals or keynote speeches. Instead, a large portion of your company’s upwards growth and continued profits comes in the form of leads from premium gated content, blog posts, and social media posts that are strategically written to target your ideal audience.
Although your current and recurring clients are a great source of profits for your company, the only way to keep your business profitable and continue to grow is to find new clients through various different approaches. While ads are one way of doing this, blog posts and social media provide companies with an opportunity to share their opinions, their ideals, and their creativity with their demographic in a way that attracts new clients without bombarding them with offers and deals.
Related: 6 Traits that Drive Success in Entrepreneurs
4. Learn to Delegate Tasks Effectively
According to Forbes, “Almost everyone who has grown their startup from a one-person entity to a going concern with many employees has struggled with letting go of any task… every entrepreneur needs to set aside their fear of delegating. If you do it right, every task will likely be done better than you could do it.”
This fear of letting go is understandable. You birthed this business and nurtured it from adolescence to where it is now. This business is your baby, and giving parts of it away to others can be scary. However, a good business owner is one that recognizes they are not a superhero, and they must delegate to their team in order to continue to provide the same quality as when the business began. When it comes to profits, continuing to provide a high-quality product or service is the best way to avoid business stagnancy and grow.
5. Always Be Prospecting for New Opportunities
As stated above, your current clients are a great way to keep a stable foundation of income flowing through your business. However, the best way to keep your small business profitable and ever-growing is to always be looking for new opportunities.
According to Sales Tactics, a mature business of two years or more should still be investing up to 35 percent of their time prospecting for new collaborations, clients, and opportunities. For new companies anywhere between infancy and one year, that number should more than double and rest at 75 percent.
Related: 12 Habits That Reduce Productivity for the Solo Entrepreneur
6. Invest in Smart Marketing Tactics
Due to the fact that marketing tactics are always changing, a good way to keep your small business profitable is to redefine your current marketing strategy and take new approaches that are tailored towards this year’s trends in particular. By analyzing 2019 marketing trends, you can know what is working for other businesses and make strides in these new marketing trends for your own business. Through this, you will be able to access a wider spread demographic and showcase that your business is fresh, modern, and “with the times,” thus increasing your brand image and clientele.