The main goal of a company is to make a profit, and there are numerous ways a company can approach this goal. So, what are the profit strategies?
Depending on what is affecting profits, management could focus on pausing production and proceeding cautiously, divesting a small or larger part of the business, liquidating non-key assets, focusing on a quick or long-term turnaround, or focusing on getting the business stable before making more drastic decisions.
In all cases, a wise course of action is to thoroughly investigate the cause of your dip in profitability and what change makes the most sense to turn things around. Consider whether your goal is to move the profit from a loss to a gain as quickly as possible or whether you desire changes that will offer growth into the future.
Let’s focus first on the profit strategy and then compare that against some alternatives. We’ll then discuss ways to increase your profitability, plus other cost items to consider when trying to move that bottom line in the upward direction.
When an organization deploys a profit strategy, it aims to maintain a profit by any means possible. This can be done through a variety of activities.
Profit strategies are often short-term fixes in response to temporary problems. These problems could include the following:
These strategies are usually not sustainable in the long run but are implemented to maintain the bottom line.
When employing a profit strategy, the goal is to stay above water and turn those numbers around as quickly as possible. If new technology will affect profitability in the long run, this is not considered in the profit strategy. The focus is on using what you have. Once the bottom line shows a profit again, improvements to the process and equipment can be considered.
The profit strategy assumes that the difficulties that led to the downturn in profitability are short-term. Thus, the decisions are designed to get at the problem and turn it around quickly. An organization must consider a different strategy to sustain business growth if the difficulty persists. Damage to the integrity of the business is a risk if this strategy is used for a longer period of time.
The profit strategy has limitations in its execution:
While the profit strategy is focused on profits, the revenue maximization strategy is based on achieving high sales volume. Instead of increasing prices to make profits, the focus is on decreasing prices to bump sales. The result is hopefully an influx of profitable customers. The challenge later is whether the customers will remain when the prices are raised or whether the company can maintain the lower prices and still make a profit. Business models are based on a direct correlation between sales and profit.
Another strategy for increasing profits is the growth strategy, which differs significantly from the profit strategy. The first significant difference is the growth strategy is a longer-term plan focusing on the growth and expansion of the business. Contrary to the profit strategy, a growth strategy capitalizes on new investments and isn’t afraid to spend money on assets or inventory.
The growth strategy believes in spending money to make money and may require extra funding. It may take more time to turn a profit, but the company will be in much better shape for it.
Before things get worrisome, any business owner should study their financial reports and forecast how the business will perform. There are several areas where a business can adjust income or expenses to increase profitability.
Several key cost areas affect your bottom line. Adjusting any of these will affect profitability.
Analyze the cost of each activity and determine if there are cuts you can make to trim costs.
Adjustments to the products and services you offer to clients can increase profitability.
Negotiate with your suppliers to ensure you are getting the best deals. Check other suppliers on the market to see if you can get your raw materials at a better price. If you see a better deal, return to your current supplier to see if they can match the price.
If you’ve been a loyal customer for a long time, ask for a better rate. If you are a small business, look for others you can partner with for a larger order that might qualify for a better per-unit rate. While volume discounts are often cheaper upfront, consider the costs of storing and managing inventory onsite.
Cutting waste can save money, contributing to profitability. Waste can come from many areas besides materials.
Earlier, we mentioned the revenue maximization strategy, where a company focuses on sales volume. One does not have to be in trouble to concentrate on sales—this should be a continuous effort. There are a few ways to approach increasing sales.
Spend time researching other industries and markets to see if they would benefit from your product or service. If you sell a basket for tools, could that also be used as a product for home organization?
Use social media for ideas and to do some research into new markets. If there is potential, carefully analyze what it would take to adapt and market the product to new customers. This analysis includes exploring the new venture’s resources, risks, and profitability. Consider partnering with another company that is entrenched in the new market.
Customers fall into three main profit categories:
Profit increases can occur by focusing on the best customers and finding a way to turn around those who are drains and deserts. Here are a few ways to create more profit-peak customers.
The first step to turning around profits is identifying customers bringing in less revenue and fewer profits. Often, these customers purchase a lot less volume than your best customers. Volume purchases may be profitable, but purchasing a single item may not have a slim profit margin.
The solution may be to cut costs in the production of your items. Looking at every step of your process, from the cost of supplies to the production process, you could find cost-cutting measures to increase the per unit profit. Don’t forget to look at external factors such as restocking fees and bonuses.
A second method to lowering costs involves building relationships with customers that don’t drain profits. Studying transaction-level metrics help identify savings that are outside of raising prices. For example, a company might sell to a customer to get them in the door. The assumption is that the customer will increase sales, becoming more profitable.
Another approach is to look at how the customers are ordering products. For example, shipping costs can skyrocket if free shipping is offered and the customer orders items at the last minute. Perhaps offer incentives to order during non-peak times.
Comparing the practices of high- and low-profit customers can provide insight into which items to focus on.
Three cost items offer opportunities for profit improvement:
Profitability is the culmination of many factors. When facing a downturn for whatever reason—internal or external—it’s natural to want to follow a profit strategy and cut costs wherever possible. Sound financial advice is to evaluate all components of your business. A growth strategy combined with cost-cutting measures may benefit your business in the long run without fracturing your customer base or infrastructure.
The best plan is to plan ahead with knowledge of your customers, industry, production process, and available strategies to handle a potential loss. For more valuable information on running your business and keeping more of your wealth, click on our extensive library of financial articles. Here’s to a profitable future.
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