Building your business and profits

Your business is just opening its doors. You are so excited. But you want to make sure that your business doesn't fail. You want to grow and build up your profits. Here are a few suggestions to help make your business a success.

Tip # 1 - Be the best!
Customers will naturally begin flocking to your doors when they realize that you provide the best quality item. This comes from doing your homework. The more you know the better. You need a combination of book sense; common sense and business sense all working together as one. Your book sense gives you the knowledge about everything you make. Your business sense helps protect you from being ripped off or knowing where to shop. Your common sense helps provide that moral compass sometimes lacking in business situations.

Tip # 2 -Know your customer and fight for them.
Your sales are truly dependent upon how well you know your customers. Build a good quality profile of who you sell too. Test the market and see if that profile truly fits the product. Once you find the right characteristics and there are enough of them to keep your business from going under..fight for them. Many companies believe that just because you bought something once you will continue to come back again and again. This is a fallacy. Customers only come back and become loyal if you have a product or create an environment that is unique and purposeful. There is always someone else willing to sell more of the same thing for less.

Tip # 3 -Constantly be looking for new customers.
Smart business owners dedicate a percentage of all their revenue to marketing and advertising. This budget provides the lifeblood for the continual search of new customers. Beware of over saturating a market. Never let your advertising and marketing grow stale.Keep it alive and in tune with what the customer is looking for.

Tip # 4 - Manage your cash flows.
Make sure that you never run out of money. Keep a healthy reserve for emergencies.Responsible businesses make sure to replenish funds going out with funds coming in.This is where having a good business plan and budget come in. Make sure you have good policies in place for collecting money and for paying money out. Take advantage of any discounts provided for early payments.

Tip # 5 - Charge what you are worth.
If you undercut yourself right out of the gate - your realization of profits will never happen. Be cautious and careful when putting together your costs sheets. Make sure you have a healthy margin that matches industry standards for profit. Price it right the first time. It is very difficult to come up in price and keep customers than it is to start high and drop prices. Be careful not to start too high.

Tip # 6 - Maximize value of (for) each customer.
Never pressure your customer into buying. Some of the most successful businesses are very hands off. They provide simple meaning full suggestive displays. The first sale to a customer is the hardest, but once that ground is broken a customer's experience can be enhanced by providing them with meaningful suggestions and services.For example, providing a gift shop in a restaurant. The hidden message to customers is "while you are here, let us help you find a gift so that you don't have to shop around." Once the sale is made, the business should have some additional ways to provide service to the customer.The question "Would you like fries with that?" is a great example. Generally speaking the profit margins tend to be higher for subsequent sales than the first. Marketing costs for repeat customers tends to be lower as well.