Every accomplished business person can attest that one of the keys to their success has been taking calculated risks at the right time. While some know right off the bat what business model they want to explore, others take more time uncovering how to make the most with what they already have.
Here are a few key questions to start uncovering these winning opportunities.
3 Key Questions to Maximize Revenue With Existing Resources
How do we do more with what we already have?
The purpose of this first question is to get you thinking about every single possible revenue-generating scenario. Here, much like the mantra of any good brainstorming session, everything goes. There aren’t any bad ideas so let your imagination fly. You just want to compile a long laundry list of possibilities to get more out of what you already have.
A few questions to uncover new opportunities are:
- How can you maximize profit within your square footage?
- What if you package existing products to serve a different need or attract another audience?
- How about you combine your resources differently to make better use of them?
- Can you make better use of your space, or your employees time?
- What have other successful businesses done?
How can you add top-line revenues in your existing space with your current employees—with minimal added expense?
This is the next logical step. Once you have all the ideas you can think of with the first set of questions, honing them down to what is actually realistic and business savvy is what marks the difference between a solid investment and a fad that sits on your counter.
Take all your ideas and put them through a few filters.
The first one is space. You want to think about what works within your existing space – we’re not looking to take down walls or increase square footage. Walk around your space, are there “dead” spaces that aren’t being used to their best capacity? Do you have a “catch-all” spot on a counter or a certain spot your employees use to hang out? Is there a better way to organize your materials or ingredients to save space without compromising efficiency?
The next filter is your existing workforce. Again, we’re not looking to increase your payroll or have existing employees take on a ton of additional hours. Ask yourself: How much downtime do my employees have? Could we optimize processes so they can do more without sacrificing quality? Think of your employees time as square footage, you want to make sure every moment that they are clocked in is dedicated to making you money.
The third, and most important filter, are expenses. There will always be some sort of expense that goes into shifting an existing business model, but you want to make sure you’re not taking on an unjustifiable risk with a new strategy that hasn’t paid off yet. Any new strategy will need tweaks, a few adjustments, and a testing period – make sure your investment doesn’t put you in a position in which you’re relying on its immediate success! Now that you have a few, solid ideas on possible business models to increase your bottom line, have you thought about complementary branding?