A good business owner is able to ensure
that their company runs like a well-oiled machine. This attitude should refer
to how the daily business operations are handled and the amount of profit that
is gained on a regular basis.
A flat profit margin is nice to have,
especially if it allows you to live comfortably. However, sometimes it is nice
to earn just a little bit more. It would be even better if we could make some
more profit without expending too much time or effort. Sometimes, making a few
adjustments here and there is enough to create a huge jump in your profit
margins. Most of these adjustments will entail reigning in your expenditures,
while others can point you to some key investment opportunities.
In this article, we’ll look at a few ways
you can manage your overall profit a little better.
Freelance
Staff
The idea of using freelance staff instead
of full-timers will only help you depending on what type of business you are
running.
Most online businesses will need to be more
flexible with their approach to their workload, which makes hiring a ton of
regular staff members a pain. The recruitment process is arduous at the best of
times, and you may end up paying some of your staff a full-time salary for
actually doing very little, especially in the early days. When there isn’t much
to be done, your profit margins are going to suffer.
Why not take back a bit of control of your
expenditures by hiring some freelancers instead of full-time staff members? A
freelancer will only work to your specifications, and this means that you only
have to pay them for the time they have worked or the projects completed,
rather than forking out a full day’s salary.
Using freelancers is a great way to save
some money on staff. What’s more, you will have some perfectly trained team
members at the ready when you reach the next point of expansion. It seems that
this approach is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Go
Online
The recent boost in our technological
capabilities has made communicating with one another so much easier than it was
before.
Devices such as smartphones, tablets, and
laptops make holding a meeting with your partners so much cheaper and less time-consuming. There is no longer the need to spend money on travel expenses,
accommodation, or food for your guests. Now, you can open up a screen and have a
perfectly normal conversation with someone who is in fact miles away.
Investing in newer technology can save you
so much money in the long run, and being tech-savvy can give you a head start
when new devices are introduced to the market. Also, speaking of investing…
Invest
In Dividends
Nothing in life is certain. However, a
successful business owner will have faith in their product, which means
investing in dividends is a good idea.
A dividend is a bonus that is paid out to the
shareholders as a reward for their investment in the company. As a shareholder,
you can set up a bonus scheme that pays out every three months as a means of
earning some extra profit from your own business. Of course, this bonus is only
available if the business does well, but you know what you are doing. Plus,
selling dividends is a good way to get investors on board with your business.
Furthermore, you aren’t tethered to your
business. You can use any extra money you have to invest in the dividend scheme
of another business, thus ensuring that you receive a nice bit of additional
profit every now and again. Plus, dividend stock is taxed at a lower rate than
other types of stock, which means you actually get to keep a more substantial
amount of the profit.
If
you are curious about these investment opportunities, check out Wealth Simple
to learn about Canadian
stocks that pay high dividends. These options could help you to earn some
extra money for your business.
Use
Low-Cost Advertising
Marketing your business is one of the most
important ways to raise awareness about your company. Get this aspect wrong, and
you may find yourself failing to earn any profit at all.
Unfortunately, advertising campaigns are
expensive. The best marketing platforms are the ones that are able to reach a
wide audience in as little time as possible, like T.V and the World Wide Web.
However, reaching this big of an audience isn’t always the most profitable
strategy.
Sometimes, targeting a more niche audience
with lower-cost marketing can prove to be more rewarding. Cheaper ad
alternatives, like audio ads, are designed to reach a small percentage of
people in a cost-effective way. T.V ads are going to reach a wide variety of
the population, but you cannot ensure that everyone is paying attention, or
that you are reaching the right demographic.
Audio adverts are not only brief, but they
target the type of media that can hold people’s attention. Podcasts and music
streaming services demand the listener’s consideration. With so many podcasts
out there, you can also target the specific demographic you need by linking
your marketing with similar podcast content.
Upsell
There is always going to be competition in
every business. Sometimes that competition comes from other companies, and
other times it is within your own product range.
It is natural for some of your products to
sell better than others. These high sellers are going to be responsible for a
majority of your profits but may cause some of your other products to look
worse by comparison.
A good way to raise the stock of products
that are underperforming is by crating
deals that involve your high selling merchandise. You will have put a lot
of time and effort into everything that you sell so it would be a shame to see
it go to waste. Try to upsell your less favourable products by offering them in
a deal alongside the objects that are selling. This approach can promote awareness of your lesser-known stock, and give the public more of a reason to
buy what they wanted in the first place.
Once your customers get wind of your lesser-known material, you can then remove it from the deal and sell it at a regular
price again. You may lose some profit at the start, but this method will ensure
that everything you have worked on gets to make a profit in the end.
Know
When To Let Go
On the other hand, some business ideas are
doomed to fail. Whether it is because they are tricky to advertise or because
they are not worth the price of sale, you will encounter a product or service
that cannot be maintained at some point in your career.
Upselling is a good way to boost a product's appearance. However, if this tactic fails then the only thing left to do is let
go. It is hard to give up on something, especially if you have put a lot of
money into it. But sometimes it is better to cut your losses before this
product loses you even more money.
A key part of the business is learning from
your mistakes. Keep a keen eye on what isn’t working and be tough enough to let
go of the things that are dragging you down.
Know
The Tax Laws Of Canada
If you have lived and worked in Canada your
whole life, you will be familiar with how the tax year in this region works.
However, for anyone who is new to business or is thinking about expanding into
these territories, it is important to learn about the tax laws of the country.
Canada is like any other country. You are
going to be taxed more if your earnings are higher. Plus, they have employment
insurance and pension plans that are worth learning about. But the thing that
catches most people out is the division between what is considered to be
property, and what is considered a personal asset. Property is going to be
taxed closer to one hundred percent, whereas personal assets will be taxed at
fifty percent or lower.
So, why is this important? Well, your
business practices may catch you off guard if you aren’t aware of these specific
guidelines. You may end the year thinking that you are in profit, while in
actual your tax is going to put you below that threshold. A mistake like this
can damage the reputation of your business, or create an issue in your
portfolio that could make it harder to make investments in the future.
There is no end to the stories of people
that have been caught out in this way, so be smart and look into Canadian tax
policies before you open your doors in this country.
Summary
Every business leader has a good idea about
what works for their company and what doesn’t. However, not everyone knows the
right way to manage their profits. Take our advice and you could be making a
tidy sum in no time.