Businesses have taken a toll differently this year. 2020 has shaped many businesses to rethink and re-establish themselves, businesses had to evolve and make new strategies to survive and grow accordingly. Jim Collins once said, “Focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” Businesses have to think outside the box and develop their aims and strategies accordingly.
A business plan is simple as it sounds, it is a documented plan on how the company actually hopes and plans to achieve its goals. It contains everything like how the company plans to intrigue investors, how it plans to deal with its competitors, the need and wants of its consumers, long-term planning in terms of growth and sustainability of their company, etc.
Business strategies are basically a guide on what is important and give the company an overview on how they are performing in the market, what their capabilities are, their strengths and weaknesses, and if these things will help them grow in the long run. It creates a vision and direction for the whole company, not only the CEO or shareholders but the managers and employees too which helps them work more efficiently.
Every business wants to get ahead of this and grow, so what are the strategies that apply for a profitable business? Is it as simple as cutting your costs and selling more? Well, no. You need much more than that and here, you will read about some important applied strategies for a profitable business in 2020 and the future.
- Prices: if you are in a hurry to earn money, you can always increase your prices gradually and gain profit but as the situations have changed during this pandemic, it’s important to make your prices competitively accurate. For instance, trip advisors changed the prices for the best parks in Chicago according to their consumers. The prices for locals are different and foreigners are different but they are both accurate according to their competitors. So the best strategy to increase profit is by being smart about it in relation to your consumers, not just yourself.
- E-commerce and Marketing: a strategy that will increase your profits by the minute! Online sales are increasing dramatically and will soon be the most valuable way to make sales. You need an online presence more than anything. It can be in the form of a website, social media like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and much more! You can even generate your own app and get revenue by the click. You need to be efficient about your payment methods, delivery system, and customer service though. E-commerce is also in the form of SEO content, keywords like if I search best parks in Chicago again, I will directly see links to trip advisor and 10 best fits. You can use this and marketing strategies like email marketing, video marketing, etc. To play this strategy smartly, you need to plan ahead and make the online experience easy and worthwhile for your customers.
- Use your Customers: don’t forget that there will be no profits if there are no customers. You can lower your prices and advertise yourself in every way possible but can only go so much further. You need to make sure your customers feel heard and trust you, especially through online platforms. They are already sceptical about buying things online. The strategy here is to make them feel important by asking them for reviews and being there to answer them in need. This can be achieved by creating a live chat on your website, hiring a customer operations representative to answer the emails and DMs. You can also share the positive reviews on your portals and get the word out! It will help you with the easiest and most effective form of marketing “word of mouth” which can generate your profit like no other.
- Freelancers: as I mentioned above you can hire someone to look after your customer sales but that’s another cost. There is a way you can increase your profit by lowering excess costs and that is to hire freelancers. There are many freelancers out there who would work for half the price and it will also save you the cost of health insurance, taxes, etc. So the bottom line is, less money will be spent and automatically more money for you. Some sites and apps have made your job easier like Fiverr and Upwork. You can post a job according to your requirement and the pay you can offer or just choose from the ads the freelancers have already posted, this will give you an idea to choose someone according to their expertise and salary. They can also be hired for a short term project and do the job more quickly and thoroughly.
- Attract a new Audience: new customers can increase profits and help a business grow. You need to expand your market in order to lure new ones in. Advertising is the key to attract a new audience. You can also attract them with various strategies like giveaways, discounts, contests, bundles, and sales! No matter who the crowd is, they will always be intrigued to see what you are offering hence increasing your consumers.
- Don’t forget your Old Customers: a company sometimes gets hungry to attract new ones and forget the value of old consumers but they are the key strategy to stay afloat. You can create loyalty cards and special discounts for your old ones to make them feel like a part of your family which will obviously create better relations and regular sales.
- Review Yourself: lastly, you need to check your cash flow, your overheads, your inventory, your employees, etc. There are many things we miss or need reevaluating after a while hence it’s important to look deep into yourself to increase your profits by cutting extra costs accordingly and building your strategies from the way up.