Small Business Revitalization Blog

If you are tired of throwing out your strategies time after time (or you need to throw out the ones you've got and revitalise your business!), the phenomenally useful book “Rework”, written by the founders of 37Signals, offers some of the best advice on business strategy I have seen in a long time…  consider these five little gems (and there's more Rework inspiration at www.onstartups.com) :

“Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service.”  If you ever wondered where to find your twenty of so points of difference to your competitors, this is a fantastic place to start!

“You have the most information when you’re doing something, not before you've done it.”  The best way to answer your strategy questions is to put your toe in the water and get real customer feedback.  Don’t just imagine… test and measure!!

“Saying yes when you should say no leaves no bandwidth available for the great rather than the merely good.”  What’s NOT in your strategic plan matters more than what is in some ways!!

“The longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch.”  Quick wins… quick wins… quick wins are the key to getting traction and profits quickly. I launched a product for BlissTribe before I had a website… I was testing the BlissTribe concept and playing with ideas… now I know it has great legs and is worth putting lots of time into!!

“A business without a path to profit is a hobby.”  This is my favourite… I see this happening every day with new businesses… the funny thing is an hour or two spent on developing your business model (ie the plan of where your profits come from) will solve it!!

If you want some different perspectives on Accelerating Your Business strategically, the next Revive Playshop is for you.  21 June 2010 in Brisbane, Australia – miss it and you’ll miss out on insights that will make your business more profitable than you can imagine!!

There's more Rework inspiration at www.onstartups.com too - what's your best strategic business advice?  Share it below...

New business owners often get stuck when it comes to setting pricing. Pricing is determined by factors such as positioning, competition, market demand and, surprisingly, how you value yourself and the services and products that you offer!

Have you ever found yourself pricing a product or service in your business based on what you would pay in your current financial circumstances?  Did you stop to think about whether your personal perspectives are in any way a good match for your ideal customer?

Pricing is a choice.  But rarely do business owners exercise that choice with awareness of the potentials created by different price points.  Let’s consider a brief case study…

Erin is a natural health practitioner who specializes in a couple of healing modalities.  She is making $60 an hour and sees clients for 20 hours a week on average.  This equates to $1200 a week – not quite enough to put her into GST territory, but getting close.  By the time you take out taxes and costs of running the business (eg marketing, hiring space, training etc), Erin brings home closer to $30 a session - $600 a week is not a lot to live on!

So, let’s have a look at the common small business traps Erin has fallen into: She is doing what she loves and is great at, but is not reaping the financial rewards – she needs to charge what she is worth.

• She is swapping time for hours – there is no leverage in her business – if she doesn’t work, nor does the business
• She has not differentiated her service sufficiently so that clients will pay a premium.
• She doesn’t believe people will pay more than she is charging – but she hasn’t tested a higher pricepoint.
• She doesn’t like asking for money for helping people - her beliefs are in conflict with her purse!

Have you ever fallen into any of these traps?  What choices did you make to improve your financial position?  Share your story below – just click the Comment link.

Need inspiration for making more money in your business?  Book your place for the April 19 2010 Playshop:  ‘Show Me The Money’ – you’ll discover more about money and your business than you thought possible!!

I was talking with a business coaching client recently about what they had learned during the GFC.  One of the key things they are changing in their business is the way they look at debt – instead of pulling every cent out of the business and investing it personally, they are now considering ways to reinvest their profits into the business so that they need never worry about another financial crisis again.

This conversation reminded me of some uncommon but simple rules for business prosperity that I learned from Access Consciousness… what would change in your business and your life if you did these three simple things?

1.    Save 10%
If you put 10% of every dollar that comes into your life away and never touch it. Within a year, your whole financial situation will change. When you save the 10%, you finally realize that you have money!

2.    Ask Questions:
With everything you buy, ask: “If I buy you, will you make me money?” If you ask that, every molecule in the universe will support you in making money.

3.    Willingness to Receive
Many business owners are very independent and not in the habit of being willing to receive…  What would it take for you to be aware of where you cut off the energy of receiving because of your point of view, your judgments or your unawareness of the possibilities that could occur if you are willing to ask more questions?

If money weren’t the issue, what would you choose?

Creative spaces can help you think differently!
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/osterwalder/

Many business owners spend exactly zero minutes per year on creativity and innovation.  Richard Branson spends, oh, probably around half of every week!  How many multi-zillion dollar businesses do you run? Do you think creativity and innovation could be worth just a little of your precious time?

So what can you do to make your business more creative and more profitable?  One technique I love for its simple but highly effective profit-generating capacity is to expand your product or service offering.

When I was 14 my parents bought a business in a beachside tourist village.  The bloke who previously owned it quietly said to my Dad… “I reckon you could add another 10 – 15 product lines, but that would be about the limit.”  The shop had around 50 product lines at the time.  My parents added another 500!!  Profits skyrocketed...It allowed us all to live very comfortably for many years…and it enabled my parents to sell the business for substantially more than they bought it for.

Are you limiting your thinking on how many product lines your business can offer?  Are you too tired to think of more?  Here’s three ways you can find new product lines with ease:

1. Research your (international) competitors online.  Often the US market is 1 – 2 years ahead of Australia, and developing nations are much more creative than we are because they have to be!  There are profitable ideas everywhere… you just have to look!
2. Research business trends and apply them to your industry.  Start with www.springwise.com and www.trendwatching.com and your ideas will flow.
3. Get out!  Listen to your clients – what other problems can you solve for them?  Go to trade shows – what’s new? Make networking events fun – do your research with people who are potential customers – what other products or services could solve their challenges?

Today's business coaching challenge:  Invest 20 minutes researching and find at least one new product or service idea that has the potential to add at least 10% to your turnover this year.

Want to know more about using creativity to generate profits?  Enjoy our FREE Teleseminar on Tuesday 15 September at 7pm (Brisbane) time.  Bookings Essential!