How to Maximize Your Business

Cropped shot of a young woman making notes on a design
Cropped shot of a young woman making notes on a design

Over the next few articles we’re going to talk about how to take a hard look at the resources available to your business and what you need to do to capitalize on them. The goal is use your resources as a profit maximizer.

Today we’ll take a look at three different business maximizers that you have in front of you at any given moment.

  • Big Picture Thinking
  • Get into C.A.R.S.
  • Find Your Weakness

Big Picture Thinking

First you need to step back and take a hard look at what you actually have.  Pull out all those many business cards that you should have collected in the past year.  Create a 30, 60 and 90 contact lists of those individuals who you MUST, NEED and SHOULD contact.

 The individuals in the MUST contact are those people who may have or can be an ideal customer or partner. The individuals in the NEED contact are those people whom you may have be able to help or refer to a colleague or contact. The individuals in the SHOULD contact are those people whom you should take to lunch or coffee to start developing a longer-term relationship with (i.e., people you should know).

Sometimes when you are too close to something, you can’t make out the big picture. You need to step back and really take a hard look at the resources you currently have in front of you. You are surrounded by opportunities that can drive your business forward.

Get into C.A.R.S.

All too often we spend time talking about what we don’t have or hoping for a break. However, if instead you stop waiting for breakthroughs and begin to create them yourself, you would find that you are moving forward. Begin by looking forward to get into C.A.R.S. to drive your business forward.  The C.A.R.S. (Collaborate-Adapt-Revise-Substitute) is merely a new way of doing things or finding a new thing to do for the same or better market you have.

Some great examples of breakthroughs are:

  • A health and beauty company discovers a side effect of a product that can be re-marketed and sold.
  • A company creates a roll-on deodorant inspired by the shape and size of a ball point pen.
  • The founder of Nike poured rubber onto a waffle iron and created the most innovative and successful running shoe ever.

C.A.R.S. can come in many forms, here are a few:

1.   Look for the hidden opportunity in every situation.

2.   Look for at least one cash windfall for your business every three months.

3.   The more value for your client, the better your breakthrough.

4.   Create multiple streams of ideas to find the best breakthroughs.

5.   Effective breakthroughs remove all risks or resistance.

Find Your Weakness

Running a business is hard and lonely, and searching for a breakthrough can be even harder. Therefore, you need to know what processes and systems are not working for you, or they may be the death of you. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers and employees what is working, and more importantly, what isn’t. SurveyMonkey is an online free tool that can you to capture this information.  Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, take a hard look by comparing yours to those of your competition.

There are some great questions you can present to you and your team to get a handle on where your business is right now. You can also start to dig a little deeper into your relevant reasons for doing business.

Here’s a few questions to ask yourself as you get started.

1.   Why did I first start this business? Why am I in this industry?

2.   What products/services did I offer then? Which were the most popular?

3.   Why are my customers/clients buying from me right now?

4.   How did I generate new customers/clients then?

5.   Which of my marketing efforts were bringing in the best results?

Once you’ve got some answers to these questions, you’ll know better how to approach your weaknesses.

With these three different business maximizers front of you

  • Big Picture Thinking
  • Get into C.A.R.S.
  • Find Your Weakness

You have a starting point to increasing your profit. If you need any help with your strategic or systems analysis, try our FREE test drive to work with me. Take a test drive at www.mastersofbusinessacademy.com or take the $10,000 marketing challenge at www.sakirajackson.com.

Dr. Sakira Jackson is the founder and CEO of  Brainpower Consulting and the Masters of Business Academy. Dr. Jackson coaches business owners to million-dollar transformations using proven techniques for strategic business growth, client attraction, revenue generation, income acceleration and business transformation.

 

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