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5 Instant Fixes For Your Business
Updated: Sep 14
This article has compiled five practical solutions you can implement immediately to enhance your business. These 5 Instant Fixes For Your Business will provide the tools to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and boost your bottom line. The world of business is based on strategy; let's read more.
Elastic or Inelastic
What type of products or services are you selling? What are they worth? Is a competitor selling it? For how much? How many locations are they selling products out of? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself before considering selling a product or service. Ask yourself before you think about selling a product or service and when and when you are selling a product or service. Once you figure this out, you must determine if your product or service is Elastic or Inelastic.
Elastic means your product or service is everywhere and has different prices, options, etc., so people might need more time to buy it because it is available around. For other costs, the price might also be lower than yours. There is no demand for your product or service because there is an excellent supply everywhere. They might even get better quality at a lower price, making it harder to sell products, causing you to drop the price to keep up with the competitors.
This may also determine how many pieces of your product someone will buy or how many services they will have you perform. If the price is too low, people buy more; if the price is high, people buy less.
Inelastic means your product or service is unavailable everywhere; there are no different prices or variations. This means you can sell your product or service for a much higher price because you know people will pay for it, and more than likely, there is a demand for it. If your product or service is Inelastic, the price does not matter; if people want or need it, they will buy it and might buy a lot.
People will pay for rare products or services because everyone does not have them; this makes that person feel like they have more "status" than the next person. People like to flaunt the newest and latest products and have the most unique services.
For instance, when market conditions changed this year, gas prices went high, and at the time of typing this, prices were still somewhat high. Gas is an Inelastic product that everyone must drive; no different versions cost different prices everywhere. You may see different prices when you travel, but the prices will be the same in your area. No matter how much gas costs, people will still buy it.
You must determine if your product or service is Elastic or Inelastic before selling or providing it. If you notice, when you go to certain areas, there are many health foods stores around, many barbershops or hair salons around, many gas stations everywhere, many of the same department stores everywhere, etc. These places offer the same products and services for different prices and have different variations, sizes, quantities, etc.
These products and services are elastic; these companies compete for your money, which is why things are so cheap. This audience will want a discount; they want more by spending less money; they bargain shop and comparison shop. If you target these people for your advertisements, you must understand that these things will come to life quickly.
You will notice that everyone wants a discount or a deal or tries to find a way to get something for free. If your products or services are Inelastic, you will get people with money trying to see you and spend top dollar for your products and services. These people don't care how much your product is; if they want it or need it, they will buy it no matter the cost.
Once you determine if your product or service is Elastic or Inelastic, you can advertise and target certain kinds of people to buy your products or services. Still, you must determine if your product or service is Elastic or Inelastic first.
Optimum Pricing
Is your product or service set at Optimum Pricing? Did you throw some numbers together to create a price? How did you come up with your price? Before you price a product or service, you must understand pricing and why you should determine an Optimum Pricing before you launch a product or service. You might be charging too much, not getting many sales, or selling a lot, but still leaving money on the table.
Is there a demand for your product or service? What areas are your products or services being sold in? You can search the site (s) where you sell your products or services and see if someone else is selling them and for how much. If five places sell the same products or services, they have no demand, so prices must be low to keep up with cash flow. It might make sense to sell cheaply and receive more customers than for high and fewer customers.
If people see people inside your business, they will come into it; curiosity does not always kill the cat. So, it is better to keep the store full for low prices than empty for high prices. Therefore, your products and services must have Optimum Pricing, setting your products and services at a price that would generate the most income in a year.
You will determine Optimum Pricing by first establishing if there is a demand for your product or service. If there is a demand for your product or service, you can charge premium pricing because you know people will buy it regardless of the price. If there is little to no demand for your product or service, you must lower your costs to keep cash flowing through your business.
You will then ask yourself if your product or service is of any value to the customer. Can they go home and do this themselves and get the same results, or will you do it better if they buy your product or service? For instance, if a customer buys your shampoo and washes their hair, will they get the same results as you? If the answer is no, you have added value to your product and can charge more. Optimum pricing starts with learning what your competitors are selling the same product or service for.
If one business sells a product or service for $100, and you sell the exact product or service for $200, you will more than likely lose customers that comparison shop or bargain shop. Many companies will send someone to buy their competitor's product or service so that they can analyze it. It is always about strategy in business; what you do and how you do it will affect the company's growth. People will pay for things they perceive as value, so add value to your products and services, even if it is adding a comb with the bottle of shampoo I was talking about earlier.
Another critical factor about Optimum Pricing is determining where you will advertise and place your products and services. It will be a good idea to search communities to see which residents are making money and which are not. Promoting a product or service that sells for $2000 in a society that makes $20k per year or less will not be a good idea. Yes, some people might be able to afford it, but why take the chance of dumping thousands of dollars into advertising a product or service for $2000 in a community where the average income per year is $20k?
If you make sales, you will likely break even or receive little return on investment (ROI). Advertising a product for $100 in this community will make more sense. You must know the audience you are advertising to and where your products and services will be sold. Many businesses hire or develop a marketing team that works strictly on marketing and pricing products and services.
Traditional Advertising
Many people do not know how or don't try to advertise their products or services because they think it costs too much money; that is not the case here. Before we had computers, the internet, Google, cell phones, etc., people were using traditional ways of advertising. Many people forget that many "Old School" things done years ago are still relevant today.
Postcards – Creating a design and printing it on postcards and mailing them is an "Old School" way of advertising your products or services, which is still influential today. A postcard serves many purposes: 1. It is free advertising to everyone who sees it. 2. It is free advertising for everyone at the post office; they have money too. 3. Someone may see your postcard and give it to someone they know is interested in what you offer. An oversized postcard, like 6" x 9", will catch someone's attention wherever the postcard is.
Make sure your images are big, your text is big enough to see when glancing at them, and your colors are bright. Sit one of your postcards on the table with other mail mixed in, and if your postcard sticks out the most, you have a good postcard. Even if your postcard looks ugly, it will still catch people's attention if it sticks out.
Flyers – With the same design as your postcards, make a flyer to pass out to people; always have a stack of them in your car or with you. When I started my first business in computer repair, I made thousands of flyers and went to shopping centers, flea markets, and everywhere that had tons of cars in the parking lot. I had my kids with me, and we put a flyer on every car in the parking lot. This is a free way to advertise your product or service.
Of course, certain areas do not allow you to pass out flyers and solicit people, so check with your city to ensure you are not breaking any laws. I was surprised by the number of people who called me for computer repair services. Everybody has computer issues, so putting flyers on people's cars was a great idea. I also hang up flyers at coffee shops, donut shops, laundromats, bus stops, barbershops, and any place with an area for businesses to advertise their services.
Door Hangers – With the same design as your postcards and flyers, create door hangers and hang them on the doors of every business or residence you want to target. I also had my kids with me on this journey. We hit many blocks in the morning and hung door hangers on every residence and business in the area. I did this every month for about three months, and people called to inquire about my services.
I did have 3 or 4 people call and ask why we hung door hangers on their door; I told them I was trying to advertise my business, and my street team may have put one there. I asked for their address and told them we would no longer hang anything on their door. This is part of what comes with advertising. Some people might not like it, but it is legal; insurance companies, politicians, electric companies, schools, etc., hang door tags, send postcards, and more to everyone.
Website
Believe it or not, many people are trying to conduct business with no website; I have seen many times online where people are trying to sell something, they make a post, people comment on their post asking about pricing or buying their product or service, and they say "inbox me" this is a great way to lose money on online sales and lose credibility in your industry. Whenever someone asks you about your product or service, you should give them your website address and tell them if they have questions to contact you by calling the number there or leaving a message on your contact page.
Scammers hang out in their inboxes because they have something to hide; if you are in business, you should not hide anything. Every time someone asks you about your business, you should have a business card available or post your website address under their comment. A website should be one of the first things you create when starting a business; it will make money while you are asleep and let people know you are in business. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many people do not have a website and are trying to sell something.
If you are selling 1 product or service, you should still have a website; you can create a landing page for that product or service you are selling. Your landing page should contain the content you are selling, a little about you or your company, your contact information, and your social media pages. Your website should look just like the postcard and flyer you created; everywhere people see your company, they should see the same thing. This will remind them of who you are and that they saw you before, drawing them to your website to check out your company.
Social Media
Many people are mixing their business and personal lives on social media, distracting people from the main objective: going to your website and buying something. If you are in business, your social media accounts should be used only for interaction with some personal information to let people know you are not fake. If you want to make an individual post, mention your business.
For instance, if you want to post a picture of yourself, post a picture of you in your business uniform, shirt, jacket, or hat, say whatever you want to say, and at the end, mention your business with a call to action, the call to action is to visit my website, put your website there, so people can go check it out. If you want to post a regular picture without your uniform, make sure it is classy, and put something like a quote or motivation as the caption so that people can see you as inspiration or motivation. Remember, your whole image should be about business if you are in business.
Clean up your social media pages and have only business-related things on there. It would be best if you were not on social media smoking weed, drinking, twerking, etc., and then tomorrow asking people to buy your product or service; none will take you seriously. Once you build your brand, you can make off-subject posts because people will know who you are and see that you are a business owner at the end of the day and you just posted something crazy today.
Keep your communication professional with 90% business talk and 10% personal. Use humor cautiously.
Conclusion
There are many ways to see instant results in your business, and I have provided only a few. I will contact you soon with more information on different topics and strategies. Remember, running a business is about having a strategy system in place and psychology; if you can implement both, you will see significant success.