There are only three ways to increase revenue in your business:
1. Increase the number of sales 2. Increase the average size of each sale 3. Increase the frequency of repeat sales Easy, right?
But it’s not so easy if your business isn’t structured properly. And most small businesses aren’t.
The problem is that most small business owners focus solely on what they see others doing and offer their clients and customers only what they’re used to offering. The simplest way to increase the number of sales, the average size of each transaction, and the frequency of repeat sales is to look in one’s “blind spot.”
Quick, take a quick look at your kitchen table…Does it have four legs? Great. (If it only has three legs, then you’ve mistaken your bar stool for your kitchen table.)
Your kitchen table has four legs for a reason; it’s the most stable that way. And, that’s the kind of solid foundation upon which you should build your business.
Draw a 3-D line drawing of a kitchen table, complete with four legs. Under each leg, write one of the following labels:
1. Coaching 2. Consulting 3. Training 4. Leveraging 1. Coaching means providing guidance, advice, and support.
2. Consulting is like being a player-coach. You’re providing guidance, advice, and support. But you’re also on the playing field, helping implement your plans. (As a coach only, you’d get penalized or kicked out of the game for being on the playing field.)
3. Training happens when you provide information and education to more than one entity at the same time. Examples include seminars and teleseminars.
4. Leveraging means that you’ve turned your intellectual property into products and services that can help people (and that you can sell) even when you aren’t there. These include information products, membership web sites, certification programs, licensing, and franchising.
THE PROBLEM:
The problem is that most businesses are designed with only one leg of the kitchen table: The consulting leg. That’s akin to running a foot race on only one leg! Most businesses are missing out on tremendous opportunities to get more clients and customers, get them to buy more, and get them to buy more often.
THE SOLUTION:
The most solid way to build your business is just like a kitchen table, with four legs. Each leg represents a product and/or service. Built this way, your business will develop a more reliable (and larger) revenue stream…and stay stronger over the long haul.
SUMMARY:
Regardless of whether your business is product or service-based right now, you can structure your business according to the kitchen table model I just described. In fact, I challenge you to show me a business that can’t be built with four legs.
ACTION PLAN:
1. Map out different options for adding on one new “leg” to your business.
2. Rank your options by considering the following:
a. What leg makes the most sense, based on existing resources, revenue potential, benefit to your clients and customers, and ease of implementation?
b. Which options give you the best opportunity to develop a recurring revenue stream?
3. Now, take your top option and devise a strategy, action plan, and timeline for building that leg and rolling it out to your clients and customers.
Is your business a kitchen table or barstool? - To learn more about this author, visit George C. Huang's Website.
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