Where is your next sale coming from?

The goal of any business is to have as much revenue as possible, right? Most people are used to their accountants helping them find ways to lower their expenses (and yes, I can do that, too). But another obvious way to grow your profit is to sell more. 

Growing your revenue can be done in several different ways and figuring out which method or methods work best for you may take time. In today’s blog, I want to review three ways to grow your revenue. 

Know exactly what you’re selling (and why)

Your first thought might be “Wendy, this is too basic! I know what my product or service is.” The thing is, your product or service is not what you are selling. You are selling the results that your product or service brings your client. For example, a mattress store owner doesn’t sell mattresses. He sells a good night’s sleep. A clothing store owner doesn’t sell dresses. She sells items that make you feel beautiful. 

To figure out what you actually sell, I encourage you to go back to your why. Why are you in business and why are you selling the products or services you sell? 

For example, let’s look at my “why” of providing bookkeeping services to independent contractors and small businesses. I give my clients the peace of mind that their books are done, and done accurately, and freedom from having to do those tasks themselves. I accomplish this by offering bookkeeping and payroll services. 

If you can show your audience the value of the things you sell, you will be able to meet their needs and make more sales. 

Know your target market

Once you know the value of what you’re selling, you need to make sure you know your target audience. Have you heard the wise words “If you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one?” That’s true. If you cast too broad a net with your messaging, you will not get the target market you need. It isn’t enough to know that you sell to women age 35-55. What are their other common characteristics? What are their common pain points and how do you fix that pain? 

I prefer to think of selling as meeting your client’s needs. Find out what their needs are and present your unique offerings to help meet those needs. 

Price it right

Deciding how to price your services and products is one of the most difficult decisions to make! There are entire books on the subject for both product-based and service-based businesses. 

For products, the simple formula is Cost + Profit = Price. Add up the cost of all items that make up your product, add how much profit you want to make, and that will tell you what your price should be.

This is a lot easier to determine for products. For product-based businesses, you must balance costs with the quality of the product as well as what the target audience is willing to pay. You may find that you need to either change your rates or change your target audience based on these factors. 

For service-based businesses, you have to consider the value of your time in addition to any overhead expenses (rent, insurance, etc) that your business pays. It's very easy for service-based businesses to set their prices too low. You need to be sure you are charging what you are worth based on your experience and expertise.

A couple of things to remember

No matter what kind of business you’re in, you need to make sure your price isn’t too high for your target market. 

Your prices should be high enough that people have to think about it a bit, but not so high that no one ever buys from you.

Need help? 

I can help you calculate your prices and also help set a budget so that you can see how much you need to make each month to both cover expenses and make a profit.