5 Tips to Help Your Business Grow

   Hewelett Packard sent out an email yesterday that described 5 ways in which to boost your organizations' profitability.  I found these ideas compelling, so I want to share them with you-- we have talked about some of them on this blog before, however, you can never address these matters too much!

Idea #1-- Always Buy Quality-- You're Only As Strong As Your Weakest Link---- I have always said that it never costs any more to go first class!  Oh, the initial cost is always more, however, the recurring costs are either eliminated or reduced.  What many folks fail to realize is that buying the cheapest piece is always the most expensive because either the piece wears out prematurely, is not designed with the best features or is made of inferior parts which fail at a higher rate than good equipment.

Idea #2--Innovate: New Ideas Are The Lifeblood of a Business--- Seems simple enough, however, in today's changing business environment, innovation is the key to business success!  Trying new ideas, new concepts and new thoughts provide you with a competitive edge over your competition.  The more new ideas you try, the better your business will compete with other like businesses.

Idea #3-- Leverage Relationships:  No Firm Does It Alone----  This is probably one of the hardest concepts for many business owners to grasp-- you cannot do it all yourself.  You just don't have enough time, interest, expertise to be an expert in all facets of your business or non-profit organization.  Here is where outsourcing or use of consultants pays big dividends.  A consultant or outsourced function is an expert at that function, does not detract from your core competencies of your organization and is able to perform the task quicker, better and more effciently than you ever will be able to.  Accounting, information technology, marketing as well as business operations are all areas in which you can make money having these tasks completed by outsourced experts or consultants.

Idea #4-- Create Simple Programs: For High Frequency Repeat Buyers---- Create a scalable, fast and easy program with built in discounts to reward your repeat customers.  Repeat customers are the lifeblood of any business-- the car wash example is classic-- buy 10 car washes, the 11th one is free.  Same thing at the donut shop-- buy 10 donuts/cups of coffee, the 11th is free.  This works for everyone, you, the business owner, the client and most importantly, the new customers that you attract each day.

Idea #5--Love Your Customers: Take Care of Them---- The customer care component is key in today's competitive environment.  Everyone is competing for your customer-- what are you doing that is different, unique and creative that your competitor fails to do?  Try something, if it does not work, try something else-- the key is to continue trying new and unique ideas until you find some that work.  Review Idea #2 above!

These are all great ideas!  Use them and see what a difference they make in your business or organization.