5 Ways To Increase Your Bottom Line

When my business partner and I set up our import business here in Spain with one very old 2nd hand van, his garage as storage space, and my living room as our office, with no business or marketing plan, we had no idea just how successful it was going to be.

He had been a salesman and I the secretary at a local company that imported food and drink from the UK. The owner of the company had found a great niche, it was something that was really needed at the time, but unfortunately his business sense did not include money sense. He was spending the incoming cash as fast as he could on personal expenses, and the company was getting further and further into debt.

So we decided to give it a go ourselves and set up a partnership. Paul was the sales and warehouse department and I was the buying and admin department. Fast forward 9 years and we had built a multi-million euro business including 20 staff!

And then the unthinkable happened. Paul suddenly died and I was left with a company to run, shouldering all that responsibility alone. Looking back, that was one of the key advantages, being in partnership we were able to bounce ideas of each other and both knew we could trust each other implicitly, and so the responsibility was shared.

And now I was on my own. I didn't like that. I was used to sharing the decisions. It was then my sister suggested I take on a business coach for guidance and support. So I did. And that's when my eyes were open to just how little attention I had been paying to key numbers in the business.

Paul was a successful sales manager in the UK and he obviously knew what he was doing, but we had never discussed the importance of each of these key figures that my business coach was talking about. It became glaringly obvious to me that I needed to take a good hard look and start tracking the figures to get a clear snapshot of just where we were financially.

My coach spelled it out in easy to understand language and I heard the simplicity in making small changes here and there, the massive difference it could make to the bottom line. And that's what I'd love to help you feel for yourself here today. So first let's start with the 5 key figures:

1. Lead generation (your potential clients) x
2. Conversion rate (how many potential clients you convert into paying clients) x
3. Number of transactions (how many times your clients buy) x
4. Average dollar/euro/pound sale x
5. Margins =
6. PROFIT

So let's say that you now have 10 leads, a conversion rate of 20%, number of transactions is 1, average sale is 100, and margin is 50%. That would mean your profit is going to be 100.

Now imagine increasing each of those figures by just 10%. Now your profit is going to be 161, an increase of over 60%!!

You can choose to increase just one of the figures if it feels easier to you, and do it by a larger amount to achieve the same results. Play around with the figures, look at the results and let yourself have fun. The most important thing here, as always, is to feel inspired to take action. That way you will take the action and be on the road to increased profits.

If this sounds, seems or feels like too much to cope with on your own, or you'd like some experienced support, I would love to help. Drop me a line at sheela@sheelamasand.com and we'll set up a time to do it – and I promise it will be fun :-)