Small Business Trends recently published a helpful list of 10 tips to help small companies improve their profitability.
Here is a summary of the 10 profitability tips:
1. “Test Your Financial Literacy”
Obviously, we couldn’t agree more with this tip due to our focus on providing CFO services to small business and startups in the San Francisco Bay Area.
2. “Focus on Managing Your Payroll”
Payroll (i.e., salaries and wages) are typically the single largest expense category (especially for tech and service companies in Silicon Valley).
“Payroll management is part of running a business that can sometimes get neglected. But it’s incredibly important for you to have people dedicated to managing your payroll operations and transactions, even if you have set processes in place.”
3. “Form Habits That Lead to Long Term Success”
Repeating success over the long-run requires systematic processes and strategies rather than relying on chance.
4. “Avoid These Usability Mistakes That Destroy Mobile Conversion Rates”
“If you want your business to make money in 2016, you need to be able to convert mobile customers. That means that your site or platform needs to actually be usable for people on mobile devices.”
5. “Convert Blog Visitors Into Customers”
Blogging continues to be a key element of a successful digital marketing strategy.
“Having a lot of blog readers or visitors can be great for your business. But that alone won’t necessarily make you any more profitable."
6. “Understand That Your Products Are Commodities”
It is increasingly challenging to maintain product differentiation as competition never sleeps.
7. “Consider Changing Your Legal Structure for Tax Year 2016”
Choosing the right legal structure is just one of many possible tax minimization strategies for profitable companies.
8. “Keep Track of Your Online Reputation”
A company’s online reputation is crucial to attract profitable customers.
9. “Follow These Investment Tips for Beginners”
Even large companies often make poor investing decisions in trying to grow their business.
“Investing can be a tricky game, whether you’re personally investing what you’ve made from your business or making investments specifically to help your business grow.”
10. “Use These CRM Tools to Skyrocket Your Success”
“Any business that wants to make money needs customers — and more specifically, loyal customers. If you want to keep your customers happy and engaged with your business, you’ll need some kind of CRM system."