5 ways to give your business a revival

We have all been there, those dreadful periods where nothing seems to happen and our business is at a standstill. Everything seems to be so routine and while you may be making enough to provide for yourself and your loved ones, the extra incentive is just not there. How do we deal with stalemate situations? Well, we need to change something. What do we change? There are a number of different variables to consider trying out. They all have their particular strengths and weaknesses and each course of action should be undertaken with the special needs and circumstances of your particular  business in mind. So for the frsutrated entrepreneur, here are five time-tested ways to try something different and potentially give your business a much needed revival.

1. Create a new product or service that supplements your current one. You already posses the business realtionships with potential customers. You know your market. You may even have the neccessary equipment and know-how to widen your product line. Ask yourself this: is there any product or service that I can offer that will suplement my best selling product or service? Can I bundle the two together for a complete package deal. What can I offer to make my best selling item even more compelling? It isn´t a coincidence that all major travel companies also sell insurance, car rental and accomodation packages. Once the business model is in place it should be fairly easy and logical to diversify, as long as that diversification adds value to the customer and makes sense from a business point of view.

2. Sell more of your existing product. There are basically two roads that you need to examine here. First, you could ask yourself if there is any way you could sell more to your current customer base. Maybe you can try to gain some market share from some of your competitors. A prerequisite for going down this road is of course that your customers are currently happy with the value your business adds to their lives. If that isn´t the case, this might not be a feasible course of action. The second course of action you might want to explore is whether there are som untapped markets in your neighbourhood that you haven´t researched yet. Try to think in creative ways here. Do some serious brain storming and think way out of the box. You can always exclude the less stellar ideas at a later time. The important thing is try to be creative and think in new ways. You just might be surprised at some of the potential leads that this little exercise might bring you.

3. Cut bad products from your line. You would be amazed at the number of businesses that are stuck selling a service or product simply out of habit. In most instances the product doesn´t add neither a significant profit nor a loss for the company. But there is a major downside. The particular product or service takes up a lot of resources and time. It steals away energy from the stars of your product line, and even more importantly it doesn´t allow for other more healthy products to take its place. If a product doesn´t sell, and it is not part of a strategic line of offering, you should cut it quicklymost cases. the market has spoken. Try something new. Go for something that will outsell your current best seller. Aim high. And if it doesn´t work, simply recharge and try again.

4. Improve your sales methods. I am not talking about sending your sales team to a sales academy. I´m talking about thinking about alternative ways to organize your contacts with customers, but also to listen to your customers. A company that is always willing to go the extra mile in order to provide their customers with a superior experience will rarely find itself out of work. Ask you customers how they would like the sales process to look like. What do they think you do good and what can you improve? And if they could wave their magic wands what would the sales process look like? The customer pays our wages, rents and overhead. They are the ones who are really in charge of our business. Try to provide the customer with what they want, and your business should be rewarded accordingly.

5. Focus on what´s important. We all know about the 80-20 rule. While the rule isn´t always perfect, in many cases 20 % of our work really does account for 80 % of our profits. The concept is simple really, yet many people are reluctant to try this method. They claim they don´t have the time, that it is a simplified way of looking at the world. They may have a point. But I have seen far to many businesses rake in a lot more cash by applying this concept than any other concept I have tried over the years. Go find what activity or event creates 80 % of your company´s profits and set more time aside for this particular activity. Take time from activities that are less profitable. Don´t worry about the fact that you feel you can´t really find the time. Just try it for a short period. Chances are you will be so amazed by the results, that you might stick with it.

We recommend you don´t go all out on any one of these strategies. Try them in smaller scale at first. Learn from your mistakes, and improve your game-plan. If one of these strategies takes of you can start to think about upping the scale and go for a full business remodelling. At the very least you will be happy you tried something new. Every now and then your business model needs a critical look. Whether or not that critical look leads you down a new avenue is really up to you and the business circumstances. But it is at least important to try. After all isn´t that what entrepreneurs do? They discover new avenues, try new things, and they go for action. Always looking to improve, and try the less travelled road. Always willing to go the extra mile. And always shooting for the stars…