Conventional wisdom has it that there are only three ways to
grow your business: find new customers, increase the amount
of each sale to existing customers or get customers to buy
more frequently. But I’ve seen business owners go blank
when presented with those three options. So here is a more
useful list of ways to increase your total revenues without
in most cases having to put in more hours at the office.
1. Charge by the project rather than by the hour. Hourly
fees are a death trap for the experienced professional. You
get penalized for being able to zoom right in to the nub of
the problem and its solution. If you are good at what you
do, instead provide customized quotes for each whole
project. Most clients prefer this anyhow, so that they know
in advance what they will owe you. The exception is when
you can’t nail down the scope of the project before getting
started; in that case alone, revert to hourly fees.
2. Boost your exclusivity and perceived value. If you
emphasize that you don’t sell to just anyone who shows up at
your door, but you have certain criteria for the clients you
choose to serve, people become more eager to engage your
services. Likewise, if you drive home the value that you
provide with testimonials, case studies, client lists and
specific results you have achieved in the past, you’ll get a
greater return from all the marketing you’re already doing.
3. Create higher-end, higher-priced programs and options. A
photographer friend of mine learned that people enjoy
options to select from, and they most like to select the
next-to-most-expensive option. So to increase her income
from framed family portraits, she simply offered a larger
and more expensive frame as the biggest option. Customers
were then more likely to choose the second biggest, which
cost more than the previous second biggest frame.
4. Create a repeat-billing product or service instead of
selling one-shot products or services. Get clients to sign
on to some sort of ongoing service plan, and you get a
longer, larger return from each of your marketing efforts.
For the photographer, this could be a plan for enlargements
tailored for a number of holidays spread throughout the
year, such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas and
Valentine’s Day.
5. Revise your current products and services for a
specialized market and charge more. Whatever the industry,
people believe they have special needs and therefore they
will pay more for products and services specifically for
them. By making small and in many cases insignificant
changes in your offerings, you can increase people’s
willingness to pay more for your items or your knowledge.
6. Sell related products and services – your own or someone
else’s – to current and past customers. Hair stylists
easily sell mousse and conditioner to their clients, who
want to look as great when they’re on their own as they do
when walking out of the salon. When people buy from you,
what else do they typically need to enjoy a complete
solution to their problem? Mark up the offerings of other
service or product providers along with your own, and your
total revenues go up.
7. Make it possible for clients to prepay and “stock up” on
your services or products. I pay for the next winter’s fuel
each summer and get a lower price per gallon, and the fuel
company gets lots more money earlier. Similarly, offer a
slight discount for six months or a year’s worth of your
consulting services, and your cash flow can instantly
improve.
8. Simply raise your prices. Most entrepreneurs charge too
little and are thereby earning less than they could with
every sale. Raise the price of your book from $17.95 to
$19.95, or of your fee for cleaning teeth from $90 to $99.
Usually there’s little or no resistance from your market.
Sometimes with a significant raise in prices, you lose some
customers but revenues increase overall. That’s the goal!
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps
to Free Publicity and 10 other books. She runs a private
member site, MarketingforMore.com, which supports business
owners who are growing their businesses. Learn how to avoid
the most common pricing mistakes in her free report, “Charge
More & Get It,” available from
http://www.marketingformore.com/survey.htm .
Many home-based businesses find they have a greater sense of control over how they use time. Working from home affords them fewer interruptions and more flexible ways to work, which makes them even more productive than if they worked in a corporate environment. On the other hand, others have a hard time getting started, sticking to business, and some become workaholics.
Let’s start with a self diagnosis of what might be your time management problems.
1. Do you have a hard time getting started and sticking to business?
2. Do you have a hard time organizing your workday?
3. Do you procrastinate?
4. Are you constantly being interrupted?
5. Do you have a hard time getting away from work?
6. Do you find yourself overworking?
If you have any of the above problems you need help with managing your time.
The following will help you to deal with these issues.
Time management and organization of your office are very much tied together. An unorganized office will cost you a lot of time. Time getting started for the day, time finding phone numbers, letters or materials you need.
Some of the basics elements of Time Management are as follows:
1. Setting up a Work Schedule – Some of the ways to set up a workable schedule are to:
a) establish your schedule around the demands of your work.
b) establish your schedule around those times of the day you work best. For Chuck and I, our high energy hours are in the morning.
c) establish your work schedule around the other priorities of your life. For example, some single dads and moms with children might need to work before the kids get up, stop working, and get them off to school, work during the school day, pick up the kids, and spend some quality time with your family, and then do some additional work in the evening. Others work hard for 3-4 days a week and take long weekends.
d) Organize your schedule around a particular work task. This won’t work for everyone, but if your business allows you to break off certain aspects of jobs into different days and time periods, do so.
e) Set up an arbitrary schedule. For some of you, any kind of schedule is better than nothing in the beginning. Eventually you will find your high and low points during the day, which will allow you to eventually establish a schedule for yourself that works best for you and one you can stick to.
2. Getting Started – Chuck and I start working after we walk the dogs. This is our trigger to start our day. When we come back in from walking them we immediately head for the office. For others, it might simply be to walk into your office, or set a timer to go off, or once you drop the kids off.
3. Staying With Business Matters – Once you do get started, don’t let yourself be distracted by household items or anything else. Don’t procrastinate. You want to be efficient. To do so, plan your day, set reasonable goals, praise yourself for the work your doing. You no longer have the water cooler or coffee klatch around to give you that praise, so you must give it to yourself. In fact, reward yourself for a job well done with something you enjoy doing.
The following are some everyday time-savers to build into your daily routine to help you work more efficiently.
a) Be sure you have organized your contacts, and files.
b) Use time saving technology – a touch tone phone, with re-dial button, your computer, printer, copy machine, e-mail. Prioritize your To do List. Use your mail folders.
c) Learn to say no.
d) Make use of down time. File while your printing something or back up your data during lunch.
e) Build a time cushion into your day. It is much better to overestimate the time it takes to do something than to underestimate.
f) Don’t make a big deal over little decisions. For example, supplies.
g) Plan to do two things at once. Read after business hours; or get audiocassettes and listen while doing household chores; proof items while printing or backing up.
h) If you prioritize your To Do list, you will have a bunch of little items that will take you 3-5 minutes to complete; filing, update tickle, proofreading are some of these short tasks.
Some of the best ways to maximize your efficiency are to: plan your workday; safeguard your work from unwanted distraction and interruptions; recognize and sidetrack procrastination; set reasonable work goals, praise yourself for your work and reward yourself for a job well done; take frequent regular breaks; schedule your work so it won’t conflict with you favorite activities; and arrange for a change of scenery. By doing all this you keep yourself fresh and able to work at your best.
Some of your most time consuming tasks will be: keeping up to date in your area of expertise by reading. Read only pertinent material. For many items you receive just highlighting or skimming the article will suffice.
Meetings are another area that take up a lot of time. Be sure before you schedule the meeting to ask yourself, is it necessary? Can I do this by telephone, mail or teleconference? If you do have to schedule a meeting, be sure you are organized with an outline of what you need to cover, and a specific time limit. If the meeting does run over, see if you can finish it by phone or mail, if possible, rather than rescheduling.
For those of you in lease purchasing, remember your telephone script. You don’t leave the office until you get all the information on the script, check out that information, finalize your numbers, then call the seller to schedule a meeting. When you go to your meeting with the seller, be sure to take your flyers and signs to place after you and the seller sign the contract. Don’t waste time having to make a second trip.
Correspondence, projects, phone calls and errands are other areas that take up a lot of time. For your correspondence, set up an efficient routine for processing your mail (See the Articles: Organizing Your Office For The Year 2000, Part 1 & 2).
Keep your errands to a minimum, or schedule a specific day when you do them in a morning or afternoon. To expedite your phone calls, have names and numbers handy, use your egg timer to set a time limit for each call. Ask them to send written material to review, or if they need information from you, you do the same.
For your large projects, break them down into smaller manageable tasks. Give each of these tasks a deadline, and be sure to place all of the information in your project file on a sheet stapled to the inside of the file.
Stress is a part of our lives. When you become overwhelmed or something upsets your day, don’t let it ruin the remainder of the day or carry over to the next. Take a deep breath; count to 10, take a break; sing a song that comforts you; take a walk around the block; play with the dogs. When you do get back to your desk – remember – nothing lasts forever, and tomorrow is a new day.
4. Interruptions, Distractions and Procrastinating – To safeguard yourself from the interruptions and distractions of household responsibilities: interruptions from family, friends or neighbors; remind yourself and them that even though you are at home YOU ARE AT WORK. If you were at an office outside the home you wouldn’t be able to solve their problems or take a break to spend time with them.
Work out a plan with your family of what your hours are, when you can and can’t be disturbed. You need to keep focused on your work. The ability to maintain a deep concentration can prevent you from being distracted.
Procrastination is one the of the biggest problems with many home-based businesses. It is very easy to put off or never get to something you want to avoid. One way to avoid this is to think performance not perfection. If you set small manageable goals to be accomplished you won’t fear not being able to accomplish them. You need to recognize and side step procrastination.
Procrastination is one of the hardest things to overcome for so many people. However, if you start by doing the one thing you like to do, this could help you to move on to do the other things you don’t like. For those of you that have a extremely difficult time with procrastination, start with your favorite thing to do, and then the next and so on down the line. At least this is a start. Eventually you will be able to put all of these items in priority order, not procrastinate and move on to a normal work day..
5. How Not To Become A Workaholic
a) Close the door on work.
b) Set up a end of day ritual. Some people take an exercise class, others will walk around the block. Chuck and I feed the dogs.
c) Set A Firm Schedule – Set firm beginning and ending times. Yes, these will fluctuate on some days if you have early morning meetings or evening meetings. However, for the most part your day begins at a certain time and ends around the same time each day. Take a day off a week, or two if that is what you need. Be sure to put your off time on your calendar.
d) Take time to get out of the house- You want to schedule time away from home. Whether it is a shopping trip with a friend, lunch with a friend, a weekend away with your family.
Make the above mentioned ideas and tips a part of your business and life. They will keep you on track and help you manage your time so you can run a successful home-based business, without sacrificing your personal life.
Copyright 2002 DeFiore Enterprises
Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our “how to” Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com