Four months into 2016, how is your business going? Have you been following your business plan and its strategies that you so meticulously wrote down at the beginning of the year? Have you been able to assess, consolidate, change course if needed and plan the next move, every quarter? If you’re not happy with your progress, here are some great ideas for getting your profits moving fast.
- Spend Three Hours A Day Calling Potential Buyers
In my experience, 80% of businesses suffer from the owner not spending enough time connecting with people who can write a cheque. It’s great if your marketing team is already doing it. But there is nothing like making that personal call and saying hi. If your business isn’t growing then get on the phone and reach out to potential clients. It’s not fancy, and for many it’s scary, but generally it will get the cash registers ringing faster than any other method.
- Do Low Cost Google adword experiments
One of the best aspects of Google’s Adwords program is that it’s so damn cheap to try it out. You don’t need thousands of rupees, you can run a decent test with just a few hundred. That means there’s no excuse for not at least giving it a go. It’s easy to find some good instructional videos about Adwords online – watch a couple of them and give it a go. For many entrepreneurs the switch to Adwords has revolutionized their business.
- Work Only On New Business Until 11 A.M
The trouble with most businesses is that they have become havens for paperwork, meetings and bureaucracy. Too often entrepreneurs get caught up in all this non sales related activity then suddenly realize the day has ended and the company once again has not increased its revenue. Focus on your income generating activity first thing in the morning when you are at your optimum levels of energy. Unless you do this important stuff first each day you will usually find it doesn’t get done at all.
- Introduce the Closed Door Policy
Managers everywhere are always talking that they have an open door policy – staff can come by and visit them anytime. Forget it. Being that available will fragment your thinking and fill the day up with the non vital. Close your door and get to work in silence for at least three 90 minute blocks of time. Yes, it’s hard to discipline yourself to do this, but the future growth of your enterprise depends on it.
- Constantly See Yourself as A Top Level Entrepreneur
You will only be as successful as yourself identity allows. Nobody can consistently perform at a higher level than they deep down believe they should be at. So be careful what you think about yourself. As high performance expert Brendon Burchard puts it, “Don’t let your small business make you small minded”. Work on your self-image, treat yourself as a top level business person and then behave in accordance with that vision. In the end, business success is a mental game – you need to take the time to work on your positive mindset daily.
Give these tips the 30-day test. Live them for the next month and see how quickly they can improve your business. If there are other interesting things you have been doing to improve your business do drop us a line, we’re listening.
