Introduction
In this article, I share VERY practical, real world relevant tips about performance measures you can compute daily, weekly, monthly and at the end of year to accurately determine at every stage whether your poultry farm business is operating optimally.
These performance indices are NOT aggregate measures. In other words, they are NOT measured in monetary terms. Instead they have NO units, being ratios, usage rates and percentages that help to (a) establish a normal trend of your farms’ behaviour (b) quickly identify/detect departures from that trend, so that you can take timely/corrective action.
Note that these measures are tried and tested, and are actually built into a custom spreadsheet software application I built for a client who runs a Twelve thousand (12,000) layer poultry farm business.
You Can Quickly & Easily Compute Performance Indicators To Check Your Farm’s Health
It would interest you to know that this client actually currently does ALL data entry into the software application on his laptop, using filled copies of a custom record keeping form I designed (following a farm visit that involved a review of existing/needed records) for use by the farm staff DAILY.
He once shared with me how he detected some anomalies in data recorded by the supervisor, by using the automatically computed performance indices in the software.
The point being made here is that KNOWING the performance measures you can calculate to CHECK how well your farm is doing in terms of OPERATIONS and FINANCES, is crucial.
You can do it yourself, as the calculations are actually simple and easy to use. However, when you manage a large (or growing) farm enterprise, you may get to a point where it would be more value adding, if you saved yourself the hassle of having to do such computations manually.
Instead, you can automate their computation(using custom software like mine), and spend your time doing more intelligent managing of your farm business by studying the trends in your performance indices over time, so as to take timely/effect decisions that lead to overall profitability.
Here are three (3) VERY useful Poultry Farm Business performance measures you should know and use regularly:
1. Mortality Rate (%)
In the course of the laying cycle for a batch of birds on a poultry farm, there will be deaths or losses that occur for a variety of reasons. Could be disease outbreak, fire, predators etc. What is important is that measures be put in place to prevent a re-occurrence.
Then accurate documentation of such losses needs to be done, with needed stock records adjustments being made.
There is NO farm that will not have mortalities. However, the farm management needs to keep it to a minimum. You will be able to monitor the mortality rate easily by computing it daily. That way, you can detect any changes, taking timely action, so that there are no surprises at the month end!
Incidentally, when you keep track of this index, you will find it easier to reconcile otherwise unexpected drops in eggs production.
To calculate Mortality Rate (%):
Number of birds dead x 100
———————–
(Opening Stock + Closing Stock of layers) x 0.5
2. Hen Day Production (%)
Properly documented records of mortalities will aid accurate estimation of Hen Day production – which is the number of eggs produced divided by the total number of laying birds on the farm during the period considered, assuming each bird lays an egg per day.
It is well known that a bird actually takes about 26 hours to lay another egg after a preceding one. This is why we do not expect to set a target of 100% Hen Day production for our flock. It would be reasonable instead to expect that 80 to 90% of the birds will lay eggs each day, so that if our calculations yield results within that range, it would suggest reasonably satisfactory performance.
To calculate Hen Day production (%):
Number of eggs produced x 100
———————–
(Opening Stock + Closing Stock of layers) x 0.5
Your Hen Day production will drop in a manner reflective of mortalities recorded, unless you calculate as shown above. Understanding this will help you compare your results with other farms that may not be conscious of this subtle difference.
Note that this calculation method helps you really verify whether or not your birds are getting less productive, as it prevents the losses that occur from making those birds still alive appear to be laying less frequently – something that can make you start worrying or taking otherwise unneeded corrective actions.
3. Feeding Rate (grammes per bird)
Available records from farms and literate all indicate that each laying bird should eat about 100 to 105 grammes daily.
To calculate Feeding rate (grammes per bird):
Total Kilogrammes feed x 1000 x 100
——————————
(Opening Stock + Closing Stock of layers) x 0.5
Using the total Kilogrammes converted to grammes) fed to your laying birds to divide the total number of birds managed daily will tell you how well they are feeding; if they are underfeeding or being over fed.
Each condition has its own implications. Underfeeding could lead to poor laying; over feeding translates to waste – and of course higher cost of production, which you definitely want to avoid lest you eat into your profit margins!
By calculating your feeding rate for each battery cage or pen daily, you can quickly check and confirm if the birds are getting the right amount of food needed. It would also help you track your balance stocks of feed, and therefore aid planning for new purchases.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1). To achieve a “weighted” – and therefore more realistic – result, the formulas outlined above use a derived average of the sum of the opening and closing stocks of laying birds, as denominator.
2). If you do NOT have a reliable paper based farm data recording system diligently kept by your competent staff on the farm, you will NOT be able to depend on whatever results you get from computing these performance indices. It would be like it is often said for the computer: Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO)!
SUMMARY
A lot of people run poultry farm businesses out here. Many plan to start. A number are hoping to borrow money from banks, or friends/relatives to launch theirs. Unfortunately, very FEW – just like their catfish farming counterparts – have ANY knowledge of what it takes to intelligently mange the business data analysis aspects of their ventures.
A sound knowledge of how to measure the operational performance of your farm business is essential for ensuring long term success. The three indices I have discussed above can help you in this regard. Learn to use them.
But that is just ONE side to it. You also need to know how to measure the financial performance of your farm business – and possibly compare it to other farms or even a generic standard.
There are at least three financial performance ratios that can be computed to tell you if your farm business is growing or NOT.
They will tell you if you have done better at the end of this year as against last year or two (2) years before. They will also tell those who invest in your business, (or who want/plan to) how financially strong your farm business is – compared to last year etc.
If you are looking to BUY a farm business, you will want to know how to compute these three (3) ratios, to be sure your investment is worthwhile!
Note that the financial ratios I mention are NOT aggregate measures like the Income Statement (also known as the Profit and Loss report) or the Net worth Statement (aka Balance Sheet). They are measures that are NOT unit based, which make them (like those farm operations measurement indices discussed above) easy to use for comparison.
You can get a special report detailing how to compute these very powerful farm business financial performance ratios from me.
By: Tayo Solagbade
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Filed under Business by on Nov 14th, 2010. 
Business Intelligence consist of different methods and techniques that help a company to collect, evaluate and access the necessary business information for decision-making. Such systems exemplify the importance of business intelligence in various fields like market research and its segmentation, inventory management, product development and productivity and statistical analysis.
Each and every business-intelligence program must have some specific goal whether short term or long term. It also increases your control over data and such decisions are applicable to all type of industries.
The people using business intelligence processes utilize application software and different technologies. Software, which allow business firms to make decisions on right time at right costs are knows as business intelligence tools or software. Such tools examine and prepare data for use to make important decisions. Some of the business intelligence tools are data mining, AQL, EIS, OLAP, MIS and many more. Business Intelligence makes better relationships and boost production and supply. It follows both external and internal business techniques to improve competitiveness.
It is also important to know that how business intelligence process works. The first thing you have to do is to ask questions related to different fields of your business and after that map different source through which you get answer of your questions. The sources mainly include web page, discussion group, outside experts etc. Each and every data source is to be handled in its own way and after that check the information available is correct or not.
By: Sumit Sehghal
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Filed under Business by on Nov 13th, 2010.
Now Is The Time For All Good Men And Women To Start Marketing!
In my almost forty years as a marketing professional and consultant, the one question that I’ve probably received the most is, “when is the right time to start marketing?” The answer is always – Right Now! Whether it is when business is booming or when business is in the tank, like now, the very best time to start your marketing campaign is today, this very minute. The reason is that for all companies, but especially small businesses, it takes months, sometimes years to develop a broad awareness of their company and product(s) in their market. Even large companies with budgets of millions cannot establish awareness within their market over night.
It is understandable if we realized that the human animal requires from seven to ten visual contacts before a cognitive recognition occurs. That means that you have to put your company name in front of a potential customer at least seven times before they recognize the name and remember it. That is part of the reason we use multifaceted marketing as a tool to effectively get our message out to our market. We want to have our message reach our market in several different ways over a long period of time, so that we have the best chance of getting in front of our potential customer as often as possible; at least seven times.
I’ve given you one good reason to start marketing right now, because it takes time to make contact with your potential customer. But there are other very good reasons to start now. A great analogy comes to mind: The Tortoise and the Hare.
Remember the story about the hare that ran so fast he never worried about winning a race. As a result he took many breaks along the way. His competitor, the tortoise, on the other hand, moved very slowly but never stopped. In the end, the hare found himself so far behind that no matter how fast he ran he couldn’t catch up.
Now ask yourself; do you want to be the tortoise or the hare? If winning is your objective, the question is rhetorical. The tortoise wins the race. In our case, the race is run with marketing. Especially during a recession companies cut back and reduce or stop their marketing efforts. For those few companies who stay the course and maintain their marketing effort, the rewards are substantial.
Winning the race means you stay in the minds of your potential customer base. You are the company or product they think of when they get busy again. When the recovery happens, and it will, you will be miles ahead of your competition and will have the momentum to keep going while they are just getting started. The fact is, they will never catch up.
Marketing also means you stay in front of your current customer base. Keeping them happy is critical to your future success and marketing is one way to stay in touch. Marketing can help you let your customer base know that you care about them. It lets you communicate what your company is doing and update them on new products or innovations. It also maintains a presence that ensures your competition isn’t taking away your customers. All of these things are important and necessary if you are to be successful.
Finally, marketing in a recession keeps you in the game. When business is slow we can become lethargic, or can develop a negative attitude about our future potential. Marketing keeps you (and your company) on your toes. It helps you see a broader picture of your market and the economy, and helps you identify new opportunities for penetrating your market, or developing new products.
Marketing has a wide range of benefits, but only if you are actively pursuing your campaigns. Whether it be internet based activity such as articles, PR or advertising, promoting your website with good SEO (search engine optimization), utilizing social networking, attending shows, working with industry publications, speaking at association meetings, or any of a wide range of other marketing activities, the bottom line is begin today. Marketing is critical to your success, and there has never been a better time to begin. Start marketing today.
Good luck and good marketing.
By: Nickolai Vasilieff
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Read more on Marketing Now – Small Business Marketing That Gets Results in a Recession…
Filed under Business by on Nov 13th, 2010.
While Business Shirts with a logo have been around for a long time, the general practice is to only put the logo on golf or polo shirts and leave the dress shirts alone.
Some say that displaying your logo on a dress shirt is a bit too tacky for the boardroom atmosphere. I disagree. A company is about business. Some companies have specific dress codes. What better dress code than to actually wear the company colors?
If you are trade-show bound, then wearing a business shirt with a logo is not only a good idea, it’s almost a requirement. Trade show attendees will meet hundreds of people. By the end of the day, names and faces blur. If while they are talking to you, they are also looking at your logo — you have greatly increased the odds that when it comes time for the follow up phone call, they will have an easier time of associating you and your face with the company, which of course increases the chances of a successful beginning to a new relationship.
Making the logo look good on a dress shirt can be harder to pull off, but very doable.
First consider your logo: Is it “busy” or “plain”? Putting a loud logo on a loud shirt is akin to wearing stripes with plaids (not that anyone wears stripes or plaids any more). Clashing colors doesn’t project the profession image that you are going for.
If you have flexibility with your company’s logo colors, you can easily arrange for combinations that work well together. If your company policy about the logo colors is stricter, then you are of course more restricted when it comes to shirt colors. If you are also wearing a tie, you need to be even more mindful that you present a neat professional appearance.
The option I prefer is a tone-on-tone approach. For example, If you logo is mostly blue, sew it on a blue shirt. Even if the thread matches exactly, you get a subtle almost embossed sort of look – very classy. A different shade of blue also has a softer look – your logo won’t jump off the shirt like a billboard, but will be visible in a very professional understated sort of way.
Wearing business shirts with your logo is just one way to leverage your advertising dollars and project a consistent and professional image.
By: Timothy Slater
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Read more on Business Shirts With A Logo: How To Do It Without Being Tacky…
Filed under Business by on Nov 13th, 2010.
What is a membership site/continuity programme?
Members pay an annual or monthly fee to belong to your club. The members continue to pay a regular subscription (usually monthly or yearly) for access to the content and resources that you provide as part of the programme.
Some things you can include as part of the membership fee:
Forum – a place to network and share ideas with other members
Monthly training call – exclusive to members, on variety of topics
Transcripts and recordings of calls – pretty much a ‘must-have’ item in your programme
Group laser coaching sessions – access to short group laser coaching sessions on monthly or bi-monthly basis
Discounts on products – discounts for any additional products your members go on to purchase
Exclusive members-only events – events for members, which would be of benefit to them
Articles, special reports and e-books – access to a range of material relevant for your members
Discounts with preferred partners – deals negotiated with suppliers that offer discounts on their products to your members
You might be looking at this list thinking there is a lot of work that you need to do to create for your programme but it is not as bad you might think. A lot of the content can be created and scheduled in advance and you do not necessarily have to come up with all the content – bring on board partners and other contributors.
The other thing to remember is to start small. Start out with just a training call, transcript and recording, until you get comfortable, and then introduce other things later.
Charging for your programme
You need to think about how you are going to charge your members. You may decide on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ business model, where you have one rate for membership. However, you may be missing out here as, having have sampled your service, your customers may want to spend more money with you.
Think about having different membership levels to satisfy different budgets and the different levels of interaction that your customers may want.
By: Emma Jayne Walker
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Read more on Add Communities Into Your Online Business Product Line…
Filed under Business by on Nov 13th, 2010.
Technological breakthroughs have paved the way for more opportunities by empowering the way we live and the conditions we work in. The cyberspace becomes the haven of individuals who wish to work from home and earn as much as they can in accordance to the exerted time and effort. The benefits of this kind of work set up, working from home, is becoming more popular and will always be in the years to come.
There are a lot of home based marketing options to choose from but please be aware of the existing scams as well. These scams come in the form of a very attractive offer. They promote getting a great deal of “value” after purchasing a marketing tool or signing up for an online resource. Indeed, plenty of those who are in dire need to earn money online have been victims and have taken money out of their investments only to find it has been thrown away. You don’t want to be like them, thus, be meticulous enough when offered with any form of attraction marketing.
As human beings we are more inclined to work for our selves rather than be oppressed by authority figures who mandate how our time is spent. But because we need to earn a living for our selves and our families we do as we must and work, work, work. The nice thing about working for yourself is you can dictate your own schedule. Take the kids to school and not be late for work because you work from your house. Hang out and go fishing and start work around noon if you want. Take a nap after lunch or even not show up for work today. Thus, everybody is dreaming for an opportunity of working independently and at their own pace at home while expecting to have a lucrative income. You may be the person who has the opportunity they’ve been looking for.
While on your way to your financial freedom through your Home Based Business, remember that you have the answer to someone’s prayer. They’ve been searching for an answer to help save their house or to just buy some food or might want to stop working two jobs. Success of any business venture starts with proper planning. People don’t plan to fail…they fail to plan.
Home based business marketing unfolds in many forms. You can make use any of these types to maximize sales. You may also concentrate to only one strategy to be more focused and expect the same results. If you want to succeed in your online home based business, all you need as implied earlier is an adequate knowledge related to marketing and must be coupled with hard work.
Without any consideration as to how effective the marketing strategy is, marketing your home based business can be enhanced through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This has quite a broad coverage of techniques that you can best employ when you have the skills to do so. Only employ this strategy after careful research and analysis otherwise, you need to pay someone to do it on your behalf. This marketing strategy is aimed at giving your website an increased visibility on the search engines. Start with a free strategy like Facebook or social media marketing.
Another great free method is through article marketing and email marketing. The former works through article write ups that have informative and unique contents. A number of articles with links to your website will be submitted to the article directories making them researchable by people in the search engines. On the other hand, email marketing works the same but in a form of emails containing ads massively sent to a great deal of your potential market’s email addresses.
And who can ever resist the tempting performance of MLM Traffic? This system may be known for some terms in the online business field but the way the strategy operates remains the same. How? By simply pooling a huge network of potential marketers where one earns from the effort of another who in turn will be compensated from the sales of their recruits aside from the personal sales generated. By doing so also, you are driving traffic to your site. Thus, sales accumulate in large volume as the marketing networks increase. This means a lot of money is coming your way. Absolutely amazing isn’t it?
Craig Waters
By: Craig Waters
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Filed under Business by on Nov 12th, 2010.
Perpetual Progress
We’ve become used to things improving over time. The VCR has become the Cable/DVD/VCR/media player and burner. The laptop went from barely able to handling word processing to allowing us to watch full HD streaming videos. Naturally, we’d assume that websites are getting better too. Which they might be – if it wasn’t for the fact that there is still a lot of confusion in the business world about exactly what professional business websites design should be getting better at.
Websites can do eye-popping things now; yet pixar, has an incredibly sparse website considering what they could do with it.
Websites can be used to attract thousands, even millions of people to your business, yet SEO companies routinely post case studies on how they took recently built websites, overhauled them, and generated a phenomenal uptick in traffic to the site.
Wordpress and Facebook have given millions the ability to publish content to the web, and yet our business websites often rely on systems that are so hard to understand we end up paying the companies who built them to maintain them.
What are these business websites supposed to be accomplishing? What truly matters in making a professional business website design successful?
Saddle Up, Stand Out
Having discussed websites with countless businesses, it’s clear that everyone from sub shops to bio-pharmaceutical manufacturers understands that the key to getting more attention to their business online, and thus more business, is for their website to stand head and shoulders above everyone else’s.
It makes sense that businesses would have such angst about their site, since 60% of the entire US population uses the web to research a company prior to doing business with them whether they do business with them online or off.
In their zeal to get this attention, businesses want to make their sites as powerful as possible. But they are lead astray by a deceptive and very common phenomenon: when a business wants a new professional business website design, they are often also seeking a new, or updated, sense of identity.
Serving Two Masters
This quest for identity means that a company’s new website becomes a tool for them to visualize themselves, and a valuable one at that. But just like in the days of Mad Men, when a business running a new TV ad campaign would indulge in long, introspective attempt to “update the brand” and tap into an emotional connection with viewers, ad companies knew that the secret to ongoing business wasn’t selling product, it was selling clients on ads that made them feel good about themselves. Often the ads they made stroked the ego of the clients while failing to generate sales growth.
Web design companies are in a similar bind. There are so many different ways to make a website, and so many different priorities to focus on, that they let the client set the agenda and just build them what they want. The problem is, what the client wants their website to be is rarely what their customers want it to be.
Your Business Identity Crisis vs Your Web Visitor’s Expectation
Websites have become the de facto business litmus test. Research has shown that customers can now accurately assess the size of a company and the kind of experience they can expect to have with them from their website within seconds.
These findings are consistent with the research compiled by Maxwell Gladwell in Blink, a brilliant book that convincingly argues that humans rely on snap judgments to survive, and their snap judgments are often right. Given the average time people spend online every day, the typical web visitor has spent thousands of hours surfing the web, making them experts at sizing you up online.
The perception gap between businesses who own websites and the people who visit them is simply this:
Businesses are concerned about the image they are representing online. Visitors are evaluating the experience they are having with your business online.
This means that the most important thing a business can accomplish online is not to impress or amaze its visitors, but to enhance their relationship with the customers.
By the way, Google has banked their entire future on helping people find those good experiences, and avoid the rest. As has an army of bloggers, tweeters and anyone else seeking to create value online.
Seek the Holy Grail, Oh Web Traveler
This means the #1 most important determinate of success on your professional business website design isn’t whether or not it represents your identity, but the experience the website provides to your customers.
By: Brian E. Sowards
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Filed under Business by on Nov 12th, 2010.
Starting your own business is an exciting, stressful and risky action to undertake. Many people would love to start their own business, but are either too afraid, or, are looking for so many guarantees of safety, they just paralyze themselves.
However, if the business is successful the rewards i.e financial, psychological and physical, can easily outweigh the disadvantages. Four simple concepts to consider when starting up your own business are:
1. Choose to do something which you will enjoy
2. Plan ahead
3. Keep financial outlay to a minimum
4. You, are the most important person
It is key to start a business which you enjoy undertaking, whether it be a home based business or not. Generally if you enjoy what you do, you will be good at it, you will be committed to it and it will be sustainable. By doing something you love and have the skill set to do, the value you offer to the customer will come through. In difficult and challenging times, when money is tight or non-existent, it is the commitment, belief and enjoyment of your business which will get you to succeed.
Don’t give up your day job. In the days when you are still working and money is coming in, use the time to plan ahead. Planning and being prepared for what you are going to venture forth in doing is critical. Develop a business plan for both your business and your personal life. For quite some time your personal and business life will be inseparable. Ensure one does not suffer as a result of the other.
Keep your financial outlay to an absolute minimum. Personal desires are a thing of the past initially. Status symbols are a sure way to place you in debt. Only spend out on critical items integral to your business. Outsource as much as possible. Not only will this mean you will be maximizing the time spent on your business, but also experts will be providing you with the most appropriate and accurate advice. Lawyers, accountants, insurance agents are all valuable contacts.
The most valuable commodity you have in the business is you. Brand yourself as part of the business. All businesses require you to sell in one art form or another, whether it is a product or a service. Know who your target market is. Belief in yourself and your business will have a positive effect on your customer. Build up strong relationships with your prospects. Do not appear desperate to sell. Get them to trust you, believe in you. Listen to what they say, what they are looking for and respond to this knowledge. Once the customer feels they are being treated with respect, valued and made to feel special they will reward you with their custom time and time again.
Owning your own business gives you a great sense of freedom. The commitment required is high and the sacrifices are many. However, you can dictate your values and beliefs, develop something for yourself and build up your self-worth and self-esteem. Financially, if successful, the rewards can be endless.
By: Sarah C Turner
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Filed under Business by on Nov 12th, 2010.
The United States government has a whole litany of incentives for people to begin and maintain their own business. The US economy thrives on small businesses and there are a bunch of programs, bonuses, tax breaks, and more for the small business owner to compete and eventually become the next hot thing in the business world. Making it work in business in America is threefold; you need to have a good product which is original that everyone wants; you need to be able to balance your books and pay your creditors; and you need to have a squeaky clean (or at least, not tarnished) public image so that people will want to buy your product. It is no secret that these three things are all what makes or breaks a business and this should be remembered whether you are talking about consumer business or government business opportunities.
One of the real reasons that people design themselves to partake in the government business opportunities is that there are all sorts of programs and reasons for people to continue the struggle. Opening up the US Small Business Administration websites FAQ page will lay out some of the programs and incentives out for you in some detail.
Business Development Program: The SBA has a program (also called the 8(a) BD Program), which is specifically for the smaller, disadvantaged business. This program, whose numerical affiliation is for its particular spot in the section of the US Small Business Act, allows smaller businesses the opportunity to compete and access the federal procurement market.
Support: The United States not only offers support in an actual manner from these various programs and benefits, it also continues keeping tabs on what challenges small businesses continually face and how they can help to accommodate them. The Academic Research on Small Businesses Office of Advocacy helps by conducting policy studies and culling economic research on areas of concern for small businesses. The Advocacy Small Business Statistics and Research was an office created more than 30 years ago, which acts as an independent voice for small businesses inside of the bureaucracy that is the government.
Disaster Assistance: There is a chapter of the US SBA program whose goal it is to be there in times of need. The disaster assistance division helps by offering emergency financial assistance for rebuilding businesses and the homes of small business owners in the aftermath of a disaster.
Financing: There are also a number of ways that the federal government can finance small businesses. Typically this is done by way of loan guaranties through banks and other private lenders to various small business clients.
There are these and many other types of services, which are offered to people seeking out government business opportunities. With the wealth of information made available to people at all stages of the game, you have no reason but to consider yourself a potential player. So if you feel like you would like to take the dive and begin your quest for government business opportunities, there are resources available that can help!
By: Dustin Cannon
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Filed under Business by on Sep 14th, 2010.
If you are a small business owner, and you want to increase your business quickly, there are two ways that you can do it without have to spend any additional money on advertising. Keep reading to find out more.
Many small business owners are not marketing experts. They are entrepreneurs, the idea people and the inspiration for everyone else they come in contact with. The standard answer for many small business owners is to go out and pound that pavement if they want more business. After all, if you want more money, you need more customers, right? Well, not always.
There are two other things that you can do, where you don’t have to increase the amount of customers. In fact, many small businesses are maxed out and could not accommodate any more customers in their workload. Instead, try these two things:
1. Increase the dollar amount of each customer’s order- This is where you are going to really get in there, roll up your sleeves, and find out what else the customer wants. Find out what their problem is and offer them MORE products or services that will solve that exact problem.
Suppose you own a hardware store. A customer comes in, looking for a 39 cent *****. You help them find it, spending 15 minutes with them, and they leave happy. What if you asked them about the problem they were trying to solve. Maybe they were trying to hang a rusty bird feeder. You could show them your complete line of rust-proof bird feeders as well as a bag of premium seeds, increasing that 39 cent order to $39.
When you already have the customer in your business and they have already made a commitment to purchase, is the time that you need to work on solving their exact problem. The customer will be thankful and you will make a lot more money in the process.
2. Increase the frequency that your current customers come back to make another purchase- This is where you need to become a direct marketing master. Using your current customer list, you will need to contact them on a regular basis. Create opportunities for a call to action, where you are getting your customer off the couch and into your business. This can be accomplished through limited-time coupons, contests, free consultations, entertainment, and many other things all designed to bring them back. Loyalty programs will also fall into this category.
By doing just those two things, some businesses have doubled or tripled their revenue in just a matter of months. All you have to do is solve the customer’s problem perfectly and remind them frequently that you are still in business.
By: Joshua Black
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Read more on Two Secrets to Increase the Revenue in Your Small Business…
Filed under Business by on Sep 14th, 2010.