What if there was a way to be selling the same number of products, work the same number of hours but take off some of the financial pressure of running your business? Think better ROI on your marketing efforts, and more cash left over at the end of the month to invest back into your business. Sound good?
The good news is, there is a way!
Yep, it’s called margin analysis and is the best way to understand your business as a whole.
How do you do it?
The first thing you need to do is grab my Income Planner. Comment on this post below and I will send it to you. (You will also be added to my mailing list, which has a bunch of other freebies and training too).
Then fill out the sections for each product you sell.
Play around with the quantities of each of your products, and see how increasing the number sold of one product, while decreasing that of another, can impact your overall profit before fixed costs.
Still unsure? Watch this FB Live video I did on the planner. (And glimpse a behind-the-scenes look at working during the holidays.)
A completed Income Planner for an Organising business (theoretical)
What next?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What product earns me the highest profit before fixed costs (also called Margin or Variable Contribution)
- What happens if I sell MORE of the products with higher margin and less of those with lower margin
- What are the roles of the products with lower margin? It could be an introductory product, to get traffic into your (virtual or real) store, or a complimentary product to others you sell.
Once you are clear on your answers you can then focus your marketing efforts around these roles.
Start by focussing all your marketing efforts on your higher margin products. If you aren’t getting much traffic, promote your product that encourages that.
And then?
Look at your Profit and Loss statement at the end of the month, and see the impact these changes have made on your bottom line. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
So, do you have your copy of my Income Planner? How did you go with the exercise? Let me know in the comments!