After working with thousands of small business owners over the last thirty years, I have noticed that there is very little actually separating those who are fantastically successful from those who are struggling. Many business owners I have worked with eliminate just a few profit killers in their company and experience massive sales and profit growth.
A profit killer is a deficiency somewhere in your company that is stopping you from reaching your full profit potential.
The good news is that most profit killers are easily fixable once identified. Another piece of good news is that your profit killer has most likely been solved before by someone else. You don't have to recreate the wheel! You just have to follow what has worked for others who have experienced the problem before you.
The bad news is that most business owners often don't even recognize that they have profit killers in their business. They just know that they are working harder than they ever have before and many times are making less money than they did at their last job.
Even if they are making money, many business owners feel that they are not in control. The business takes 100 percent of their time and effort. The business owner knows that if they just could find the time their business has the potential to become much more profitable. In fact, they know that they have the potential to be an industry leader. But again, they don't recognize what profit killers are keeping them stuck where they are.
The worst news of all is that there is no "easy button" to eliminate their profit killers. Once they are identified it takes constant, consistent work on the right things to eliminate them.
So how do you eliminate your profit killers?
I recommend a three-part plan:
- Identify all of your profit killers.
- Prioritize them according to what will have the largest impact on your profits in the shortest amount of time.
- Work weekly to eliminate them.
Sounds simple, but obviously it isn't, or every company would be massively profitable.
Follow the three-part plan and protect yourself from these business and profit menaces!