4 Weeks to More Profitability in Your Small Business
What we do we want?
More money!
When do we want it?
NOW!
But do we really?
Do we just want more money coming in OR do we want our businesses to be profitable?
These are two different things if you stop to think about it. Shifting your perspective from just making more money to keeping more money could be a game-changer for you.
That’s why beginning today, I’d like to welcome you to our new month-long series - “4 Steps to a More Profitable Business.”
If you follow along with me for the next four weeks, I’ll break down some of my biggest secrets to running a profitable, growing small business like -
Common profit misconceptions and the power of profitability (today)
Your time and profitability
Your systems and profitability
Your investments and profitability
Ready to get started on both making more and keeping more of your money in your pocket from the work you do? Let’s get going.
In today's story, we'll look at:
MISCONCEPTIONS AROUND PROFITS IN YOUR BUSINESS
Throughout the past four years of Greatest Story, I’ve gradually moved from a generate revenue mindset to one of profitability. This mindset shift led my business to steadily grow an average of 45% each year since getting started in 2013.
Through this growth, I’ve also been able to work more efficiently, attract more ideal clients, focus on what matters, improve work/life balance and substantially increase the return on time and money I invest into the business.
Interested in how you can get in position to see that kind of growth too? That's exactly what we're exploring.
For today - here are 3 myths you may have or have heard about profit in business, and why shifting from "making money" to a focus on profitability will grow your business too.
“He has 100,000 followers online - he must be RICH from this!”
Are you watching people you admire online, scrolling by their enormous followings and their hundreds or thousands of likes and thinking… man, if only!
Let me tell you a few behind-the-scenes secrets on this that are generally true (exception and leaders to each of these):
Number of followers does not equate to revenue directly - you can’t assume that followers translate in any way to dollars cause very often they don't (even though that's not your impression)
It can cost a lot of money to attract those followers (ads, marketing, creating products, giveaways, etc.) so even if someone is generating revenue, they may be spending it all getting there through marketing
Follower numbers do not convey how engaged those followers are - though the amount may be impressive, you have no way to know how many of those are actually engaged in a brand or purchase from them
In this world of “how many followers do you have?” you’d likely be very surprised to meet extremely fulfilled and profitable entrepreneurs who have no social media presences, low follower counts and dare I say it - no website! I know them, I’ve met them, and I’m certainly not somebody with thousands of followers myself.
Bottom line here: don’t let the follower numbers overwhelm you or make you think that’s the only way to profitability. Social media marketing is valuable but it can be a tricky, confusing world and not in any way a fool-proof path to profits in your business.
Let that be freeing to you- cause it should be!
In this series, we'll be looking at things that do directly correlate to profits and they may surprise you.
“When I make enough money, I’ll be happy!”
When I make enough money...
When I get that great job promotion...
When we finally can take that dream vacation...
This sort of thinking is what happiness expert Shawn Anchor calls “pushing happiness over the cognitive horizon.” (Check out his amazing TED talk on this here). If you constantly reset your goal and define your happiness by something on the other side of your efforts - you’ll never meet up with it.
I see this when it comes to pursuing more money - more clients - more sales. But is more what you really need?
Maybe it’s working smarter, not harder. What if you had a better handle on your time so it was more profitable when you worked on a client project? That’d keep more money in your pocket and give you more sanity and happiness, for one example.
Shifting your focus from just “more” to more profitable can be helpful because being profitable is about being strategic.
Maybe you “make” the same amount of revenue, but you’re more savvy with your time, pricing and automated processes so you can get more done more efficiently? That helps you keep more of what you earned so you do indeed make more money (and enjoy doing it more).
I’ll be exploring my own strategies for using time and systems to increase profitability in the next two articles in this series.
“I’ve got to do it all myself to be profitable.”
This is one that I really used to believe. I was the scrappy DIY millennial who didn’t want to spend on tools, professionals, or coaching to grow my business. I felt to keep the money I was making, I had to do it all myself.
Do you feel that way too?
It took me 2 and a half years and a business crisis for me to learn that this is a big myth. Spending on tools, pros, coaches, and other resources has powered my profitability dramatically in the past 18 months and made me a believer.
What I’ve found is that the key is to be very intentional and strategic about what you invest in and why. I’ll be breaking down how to do this in the last article in this series later this month. So be on the lookout for that.
Next steps for next week
I loved your responses to last month’s “How to Talk About What You Do” series and would welcome you to keep them coming. I reply to each note I get.
Here's this week’s challenge question to consider and REPLY to me about:
“Is your business currently profitable? If not, what do you think is your biggest challenge to keeping more of what you earn?”
See you again next week when we look at ways to turn time into profit.
Further reading on this topic:
10 Tips to Increase Profits in Your Business (Brian Tracy)
10 Simple Ways to Increase Your Small Business' Profits (Quickbooks)
5 Ways to Grow Your Profits (Entrepreneur)
