A new year is upon us, and for many business owners that means finding ways to increase revenue in the next twelve months. After all, we all want to make more money than we did the year before, right?
In my time as a self-employed individual, I’ve learned a thing or two about increasing revenue. I’ve managed to do it every year since 2013 and I’ve managed to do it by over $20,000 each time. I expect the same to occur in 2017. Here’s how I’m going to make it happen and how business owners of all kinds can make it happen too.
Increase your rates.
Perhaps the easiest way for business owners to increase revenue in 2017 is to simply start asking for more money.
A lot of business owners are scared to do this because they feel they will lose money. However, I challenge you to ask any business owner who has done it how it’s worked out for them. Chances are they’ll tell you it’s one of the best decisions they’ve ever made.
You especially need to do this if you’re feeling overworked, underpaid and are starting to resent your clients. Here’s a newsflash: it’s not your client’s fault. It’s your fault for not asking for more money.
Now, as for the fear of having clients leave you, that just leaves room for new clients who will pay your new rates.
Outsource.
If you’re still in a stage in your business where you’re trying to do everything by yourself, you’re going to have a difficult time trying to increase revenue because you’re spread out too thin. Trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way.
Spending your time on social media, writing invoices and answering emails doesn’t increase revenue. Sales does. And in order to make more sales, you need time. In order to have more time, you need to get stuff of your plate.
This is where outsourcing comes in. Hire a VA to handle administrative tasks. Hire a bookkeeper to keep the financials in check. Hire graphic designers for all those Instagram posts. Basically, try to hire out things that you either hate doing (that’s accounting for me) or simply can’t do (like, design for me.).
And so, in 2017, I’m making it a point to outsource more so that I can finally have time to pitch those magazines I’ve been meaning to get to but simply haven’t had the time.
Find ways to scale the business.
Not every business is scalable. Freelancing is one such model which typically isn’t (unless you go the agency route which not everyone wants to do).
This means you’ll eventually hit a plateau because there’s only so much client work you can do. This also means that if you want to increase revenue – not just for 2017 but for the long haul – you’re going to need to find ways to scale.
This is my personal big project for 2017. I’m scaling by focusing on my membership site where students can get access to the classes I teach. Everything is on-demand and the monthly membership fee allows me to create passive monthly revenue.
Granted, none of these things happen overnight. I’ve been working on some of this for a long time. But, it is something to start considering if you want to increase revenue in 2017 and beyond.
