A CHALLENGE TO Gordon: 10 Ways To Grow Your Business?

[GordonJ]

Lower costs, sell more.

With physical products, unless the seller is the source, as in books, reports or study guides you have to look at the supply side.

Where do you source your products? Are you getting their lowest prices, do they offer volume discounts if you buy more? Are they bought in bulk or by single units?

Examine the costs of the item to see if it can be reduced. Or check for different suppliers. Do you use drop shippers? Or could you?

Here are some general questions about selling products and comments too.

There are those who BUY products first, as we see in retail, or the thing about buying in lots. By the pallet; overstocks, returns, end of runs. This is one way to go about it. Find a source and BUY.

As a one man operation, this means you have cash invested (or credit extended) and inventory. Inventory doesn't make you money, this month FEB. is traditionally the time when stores try to lower their inventory, which is why Washington's Birthday Sales used to get full page spreads.

So this BUY PRODUCTS then resell them, is one of the ways, maybe the main one for most sellers.

The other, less popular, but maybe better for the NET profits is to find BUYERS first, then supply them with products, pretty much the foundation of Remote Direct Market, isn't it?

NET profits increase from lowering the costs of customer acquisition, and so the idea of a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush sort of thing. Your list of BUYERS is a critical area to find Net profits, nothing beats a satisfied customer.

So, you want to add customers and sell to the ones you have.

Is there DEMAND for your products? Where do you see that DEMAND? How can you fulfill that DEMAND?

And SUPPLY. How secure and available is the supply? Who else supplies these types of products?

What is the competition? Can anybody sell these products? Is the supply available to all wholesalers? Do you have any exclusivity? .

Take sunglasses. A product anybody can sell. They are everywhere. Cheap commodity. Yet Joe Sugarman made a fortune selling his BLU BLOCKERS, and it wasn't due to a superior product, NO WAY, but through his advertising.

So can your products be marketed different from the other people selling these kinds of products.

Sales, promotions, limited time offers can often bring in FAST profits, if the margins are good.

Sustained NET PROFITS growth happens from building customer lists and then as my "mantra" has been for decades, go to the well where you got the water.

When I was at SCI, they had 6+million JEWELRY buyers on the house lists. And that list got hit with OFFERS, OFFERS, OFFERS...so how many offers are you making to your buyers?

A lot of costs associated with even the simplest physical product, the delivery of it to the customer, RETURNS (although I'd bet the % with Zoom Spout Oil was extremely low), inventory storage, overhead and the cost of the product itself.

It is WHY I basically quit selling physical products and went into information or services. (Caveat: as a business, Chatteling done as a person).

But for you, to increase net profits, do either a spread sheet or mind map and SEE on paper: COSTS and PROFIT margins. Then ask yourself how to lower the first and increase the second.

I suspect, for you MikePT, as for many others, BETTER marketing might be the fastest way to increase net profits via better advertising and promotions.

Anything else?

Gordon

Originally Posted by MikePT

As expected, a great reply.

Grow a business = I mean net profit, cash on the pocket from my business.

In my own case, being a Solopreneur, I sell different physical products online only. So Harvey Brody, representing the one man band, is what I am looking for.

Your 10 BEST WAYS and your FASTEST way to GROW a business I consider it answered.

But any additional comments from you will be appreciated.

THANK YOU !

MikePT