This post is contributed by Jason Dirkham.
With so many of your contemporaries looking for loans to maximize their business output the concept of finances in any organization is a thorny one at best. It becomes something that hangs over our heads in so many different ways. As small businesses can struggle with their finances it becomes essential to maximize earning potential wherever possible. But what does it take to ensure that you can get the results you need? There are some vital steps to help you achieve this goal including the following:
A Bootstrapping Mindset
The biggest problem many entrepreneurs have is thinking that they need to flaunt their earnings. Many entrepreneurs invest in modern luxury estates and everything that goes along with it thinking that this is the best way to show their customers that they are literally “the biz.” But it is vital to remember that we all can benefit from a thriftier mindset, especially at the outset.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with investing in the things that make life more luxurious for yourself but when you are prioritizing this over the needs of your business you will need to drastically re-evaluate your approach to money. This is why having a bootstrapping mindset is not just critical for the sake of your business but also for your personal finances. There are so many budding entrepreneurs in life that think that they can spend a thousand dollars at dinner and get a new car every year but those people have never settled on one business idea and seen it through to completion through the ups and downs. There is absolutely no logic in setting up a business for short-term success and then moving on to something else. We can all maximize our earning potential by embodying a more bootstrapped approach.
Sticking to the Basics
While there is a lot to be said for continually chasing innovation we have to remember that the success of any business will depend on the core fundamentals:
- Understanding your market.
- Having a great service or product.
- A clearly defined value proposition.
The latter is the most important thing because it will define what sets your business apart from your competitors. When you focus on developing a unique value proposition that highlights how customers will benefit from your services and you stick to this alongside a selection of your core values this becomes infinite inspiration because you will then be able to refer back to this.
The toughest thing for most modern businesses is actually knowing how to stick to these basics without feeling the temptations to go above and beyond or chase a new idea. This goes back to the idea of the entrepreneur that can’t sit still and thinks that they can just move from idea to idea like a tornado from town to town. There is no real quality in these solutions, but instead, you merely caused havoc without stopping to truly determine if the business will be successful or not. When we stick to the basics this will ensure that we are keeping to our principles.
A Strong Identity
Small businesses think they are going to struggle in comparison to others that have more money but this is where the quality versus quantity debate can rage on. If you have a business that sells a great product but you think you need more budget to invest in your marketing it’s far better for you to have an understanding of how you can create a far better identity. This means looking at how your branding can maintain consistency. For example, ensuring your logo and your tone of voice are consistent throughout your website, logo, and marketing materials.
If you are able to have a stronger brand identity this will make for a far more self-assured business that gives you the ability to connect with your audience and not think that budget is a problem. We have to remember that there are so many cheap marketing methods like search engine optimization. While those big businesses think that they need to pay for ads the real organic solutions will always come from having a strong brand.
A Competitive Pricing Strategy
We want to maximize our earning potential and therefore we need to not sell ourselves short literally. We must consider factors such as market trends and the perceived value of the product. Likewise, we need to understand how much it costs to make an item and how our target market is sensitive to price rises or general costs of the product. We have to be comparative, but we also need to be profitable. Ensuring that you price your product appropriately is a critical aspect of delivering a great service without putting yourself at risk of bankruptcy or losing out to another person.
We have to remember that while there is a world full of free stuff we don’t attach any sense of importance to the things that are free unless they deliver real solid value. When somebody has paid for something and they believe that it is worth paying for, they will invariably have more vested interest in getting everything they need out of the product. We can always entice people with a free sample so we can show them what we can do and, of course, if they deem it worthy enough they will then pay for that product. But we have to remember that as businesses we must attach value to ourselves. If you perceive yourself as a cheap company selling cheap products it’s hardly a surprise that everybody else will think the same thing.
To maximize your earning potential you have to embody a combination of tactics. You need to focus on customer satisfaction and be dedicated to continuous improvement, but you need all of those smart business strategies that will give you the tools to thrive and adapt to whatever comes your way. Small businesses can feel that they’re not able to achieve their potential because they believe money is an obstacle. In fact, with the right mindset and approach to the bare basics, small businesses can achieve as much as the big ones, an
