Starting your own business and running a family as well can be overwhelming to say the least. Finding that right balance between business and family life can be difficult but it is possible. Being a mother that has an entrepreneurial spirit is not only good for the family financially but it also sets a great example for your children. Increasing sales and boosting profit margins might seem like more work than can be handled when there are options to help. A proactive approach to company growth can be a huge help but it is important to realize that sales will not increase in one day or even one week. Below we will delve into the different options that can increase sales numbers as well as boost profit margins.
Valuing Your Services Appropriately
One tough aspect of starting a small business is the balance between selling services at a high rate and selling at the right price. People tend to undervalue their services in the infancy of their business. Take the time to reach out to other businesses that do similar work to see if you can get a pricing guide. This will help clear up an ambiguity about what you should be charging. If you provide a high quality service a 10 percent price hike will not lose you too many clients. This can actually attract clients as well as pricing services too low might make people think they are below average quality or the business is desperate to sell anything.
Getting The Best ROI From Marketing Campaigns
Digital marketing is at the forefront of the business community as it can help an unknown company gain recognition and climb the search engines for relevant keywords to a specific business. Traditional marketing techniques like direct mail are still immensely effective for specific types of business. Tracking all campaigns is necessary but this is easier than ever with all of the tools available in today’s technological age. Create a strategy with current goals in mind when marketing otherwise the campaign can end up being a waste of marketing budget. Explore multiple ways to market to see which works best and offers the ROI that a business owner can’t help but love.
Hire A Freelance Sales Professional
Sales just are not for everyone so this might be something you need to outsource. This does not mean bringing in a salesperson in-house but rather hiring a freelance sales professional. The best thing about hiring a freelancer is that you can pay them commission only so risk is minimized. A freelance job can be a great way to test a potential full-time hire without having to handle the onboarding process at your business. One thing to be careful of is that your freelance salesperson is representing your brand appropriately. The last thing that you want is a rude and pushy salesperson giving the business a bad name in its niche. For this reason having this person record calls and monitoring their emails is imperative. This will leave time to spend with the family while increasing sales volume which is a winning situation for everyone!
Join A Business Growth Community
There are plenty of groups that meet in small and large cities with the goal of growing their business. For a mother there are plenty of women’s based groups and most of these types of groups meet once a month. The main goal should be to meet people that you can sell to or you can form a mutually beneficial business relationship with. The fact that these groups meet monthly does not make it a huge time commitment that will take away from time spent with family. These groups can even be a great place to find a mentor as they are usually compiled of people in every stage of their careers.
Cash In Professional Favors
Over the course of time you are going to compile some professional favors. This could be hitting a rush deadline for a client or giving a former employee a glowing reference that helps them get a new job. Create a list of those that have told you “if you ever need anything, just ask” and list how they can be of help. Something as simple as an introduction to the right person at a large company can change the trajectory of the entire business. Former employees can be a huge help as well so it is important that even terminated employees are treated with the utmost respect. Disgruntled former employees can burn bridges with various companies through badmouthing your business so give them nothing to badmouth.
Increasing sales and margins can be done but you have to put in the work. While doing this maintain the balance you have found to work with the family as well. Watch sales and margins skyrocket to turn your small business into a large one!
