The ins and outs of your business are important, but ultimately the buck falls with your bottom line. If an operation is just scraping by, then it’ll be just one misstep away from falling into real problems that could spell the end of the business.

In an age when things are more expensive than ever before, all businesses are looking to increase their profitability. Alas, that often seems easier said than done. But there are things that businesses can do to improve their profits and all-around improve the financial health of their business. In this post, we’ll look at a number of strategies which, when all put together, could make a big difference.

Trim The Fat

You can increase your profits in two ways: bringing more money in, or reducing the amount of money that goes out. If you’ve been in operation for a while, then it’s worthwhile taking a closer look at the expense list to see if it’s possible to reduce or eliminate any costly and unnecessary expenses. It’s likely that you’ll find something. In some cases, you may find that you can save money by using a different service (say, switching your software tools to a new, low-cost alternative), and that’ll be just as effective as boosting your bottom line by bringing in more money.

Enhance Marketing

If you’re not currently making enough sales to have a solid profit margin, then it could be time to extend your marketing campaigns and reach more potential customers. It’s easy to think, “If we build it, they will come,” but in a hypercompetitive climate that’s just no longer true. 

It’s the quality of your marketing campaigns that’ll dictate how many customers you attract. You can step up your marketing by looking at advanced, innovative techniques; many successful companies use conjoint analysis in market research to identify new marketing strategies to explore, for instance, or you can hire a marketing agency that specializes in your field to deploy the latest techniques. Ultimately, the more people that know about your business, the more likely it is that you’ll make sales.

Raise Prices

Raising prices is the most effective way to improve your bottom line. Raising the cost by $15 can have a significant impact on your profit margins if you sell 1000 products at that price. Of course, this is a task that has to be managed correctly; you should only raise prices by a fair amount, otherwise, your customers may not accept it. 

Upselling and Cross-Selling

Upselling and cross-selling are two of the most effective strategies used by Amazon and other big retailers, but it’s a tactic that businesses of all sizes can utilize. The process involves suggesting related products that your customers may be interested in, which in turn can increase AOV (average order value). It’s a way to extract the most value from each sale in a way that makes sense to the customer, which it will so long as the products they’re being shown are genuinely relevant.