The number of leads (information requests or quotes given) provide early warning of any peaks or troughs in your sales. If you have an established leads-to-sales conversion ratio and know the size of an average sale, you can use the pace of leads to forecast sales.

Monitoring sales figures can show:

• If lead conversion rates are improving.
• Which categories of product are selling well?
• What each salesperson has achieved.

Your accounts receivable collection period (the number of days on average to collect payments from customers) is an important driver to monitor. Try to improve on your past performance and at least match the industry standard.

If the standard is 35 days, and you’re taking 45 days on average to receive payments from customers, then improve your collection activities immediately. Bill promptly and highlight overdue payments for prompt action.

Your inventory turnover rate is the ratio of cost-of-sales to inventory. Most businesses aim for a high inventory turnover rate because it indicates an efficient use of capital resources. If the ratio decreases, find out why.

This is a key metric for businesses that charge per hour (most professional services for example).

The more staff that leave the more training and cost incurred to get new employees up to speed.

If you find product is being constantly returned your profit margins will drop due to wastage and replacements.

Making sure you have the right staff is critical for the growth of any business. If there are vital skills missing amongst your staff, look at upskilling them through training, or hiring someone with the knowledge and experience you need.

It’s also crucial to have the staff you need to meet increased demand. If you’re manufacturing coffee tables and your orders are increasing to the point where your current staff can’t keep up, then it’s definitely worth hiring another staff member.

You don’t want your business growth to be hampered by not having the right equipment on hand to do the job, or the facilities to do it in.

If you’re looking to increase production of 50 coffee tables per week to 500, it’s likely that the location you’re in and the facilities you’re using won’t be adequate to meet the new demand. Take into account:

• Location. Look at moving to a new, larger location, or opening another branch of your business.
• More equipment. To increase production on a scalable level, you’ll need the equipment. It’s worth investing in newer machinery to increase output.
• Suppliers. If you’re going to need more raw materials to produce what you’re selling, make sure suppliers can meet the increased demand. If not, find one that can.

Your customer experience must also be able to scale. Doubling sales will double customer queries, complaints, calls, web traffic, and demands on your time.

Review your customer relationship system, possibly upgrading so you can track buying behaviors and preferences, maintain contact, and develop customer loyalty programs.

Remember, your customers are the most vital component of your business and to its growth, so engaging with them, listening to them, and rewarding them is essential, no matter how large your business grows.

When it comes to increasing capacity for scalable business growth, you’ll almost always need additional financing.

Even if your business is enjoying a healthy cash flow, financing options for expansion are worthwhile to explore if you don’t want to use up all your working capital on long-term assets.

A smart idea is to get advice from a financial expert – one who’s had a lot of experience in business growth and expansion and will help you decide what funding options would suit your business best. Diamond offers knowledgeable representatives that can offer loan options for your unique business needs.

Convince your customers that price increases are necessary. You’ll need to convince your target market that your products or services are worth the additional cost. Think about ways to justify a price increase and focus on the benefits. For example, one of your products might make a certain task easier, cheaper, faster, or more efficient than traditional methods.  

Talk to your customers about the reasons why your prices have increased – like keeping up with the rising cost of raw materials. Your customers are more likely to accept your new pricing structure if you can justify it.

Consider pricing differently to customers, assuming that prices are confidential (such as closed contracts). Assess carefully if you can increase your hourly rate, or add on legitimate charges you may previously have done for free.

Use legitimate external events to justify a price increase, such as wage increases, fuel or power increases, a fluctuating US dollar, or increase in your supplier costs. Be sure these are accurate and applied fairly. Often small business owners face a rise in costs themselves, and then don’t feel like they can pass the cost on. They should.

Optimize the customer experience. Your customers are likely to be more receptive to pricing increases if your customer service meets or goes above their expectations. It’s smart to revisit your customer service policies before increasing prices – even some basic refresher training for staff could help smooth the deal with your customers.

Review the market position of your business. If you offer superior quality, being cheaper than the competition could actually harm the perception of quality your customers have about your business. However, if your business is known for superior value, the opposite would be true. Think beyond competitive pricing strategies and reflect on what your business is well known for – its unique selling points (USPs) – and the pricing that would complement these points.

Consider ‘staggering’ price increases over time rather than increasing the prices for all of your products or services at once. You could also look at limiting your price increases to products that are expensive to source or, if you’re a service-based business, use price differentiation for peak and off-peak times.

Think about your products and services, and bundle the ones that can be offered together, and make sure staff are aware or are incentivized to sell. You don’t want to improvise when you’re actually interacting with customers – part of the art of cross-selling is confidence that the complementary item is exactly what they need.

Combining products and services is a great method if the primary part of your business does one thing, but you can complement it with the other. Hairdressing salons will often sell the products they use on your hair. Appliance companies might offer free installation of a new oven.

Tempt customers to spend just a bit more in return for a reward. For instance, you might offer free shipping on orders of more than $150. So if a customer has already spent $140 with you, they’re likely to go ahead and round that up to $150 if they get free postage.

Offer a discounted second product which is only available if customers purchase a prime product (or service). Make sure you don’t reduce margins as this dilutes your profit margin.

Conduct a stocktake and eliminate products that aren’t selling well. Hold a sale to purge these items, and in return, bring more cash into the business.

Identify the products that are selling well and invest more in marketing them. Then try and come up with new products that might compliment those that are already popular, and as mentioned above, bundle them together in packages.

Consider stocking premium versions of your existing products. Many customers are willing to pay more when offered higher-value options. Look for opportunities to introduce new products or services that complement your current offering. Regularly reviewing and refreshing what you sell can help you meet changing customer needs and uncover new revenue opportunities.

Enhancing an existing product or service can be just as effective as launching a new one. By adding features or benefits that customers appreciate, you can create a premium option that increases value for both your customers and your business. The key is ensuring the additional value exceeds the extra cost to your business.

These may be purchasing, production, sales, marketing, finance, and administration. Assess your profit and loss statement for the last six months and rank all your expenses from highest to lowest, then start working your way down, identifying areas where you could save costs. Focus on applying cost-saving tactics in areas where you’ll see the most reward.

Consider your overheads, and look around for better deals on costs such as energy, internet, and telephones. These types of consumables have multiple providers where the product is undifferentiated (the internet is the same thing regardless of who hosts it for you). Reduce energy costs by conducting an energy audit and turning off what’s not needed.

Pinpoint un-necessary and inefficient costs, such as carefully checking your invoices to make sure suppliers aren’t over-charging you. Look at alternatives to high priced suppliers or see if you can re-negotiate your terms with existing suppliers. Are any manual, paper-based systems that could be computerized to increase efficiency?

Try to work out why there are differences between what you planned to spend and what you actually spend. The larger the cost overrun, the more scope there should be for savings. Periodically review what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Benchmarking your business against other similar businesses may show that your performance is sub-standard. For example, your wastage levels might be higher than the industry average. This is an opportunity to implement cost-saving solutions and to set goals.

Talk to your staff and get them involved in ways to cut costs. You might be surprised at some of their ideas. Give them an incentive to suggest cost-saving ideas and ask what causes them problems or wastes their time. Employees are more likely to cooperate with cost-control initiatives if you explain the reasons for changes and they understand the benefits to the business.

Think about outsourcing full time employees that are not always needed, and contract them in only when needed. You could also consider moving staff from full-time to part-time roles. You may be surprised how many would take up this offer. Outsourcing administrative tasks such as payroll to companies that will charge a monthly fee is also worth considering.

It might be worth buying your premises; it may be cheaper in the long run to own your own location if interest costs are less than the lease. It’s also a good idea to look at your equipment needs and decide if leasing it when you need it is more cost-effective than buying it.

Lower the cost of goods sold (COGS) by using lower cost materials where possible, without affecting quality. Research lower cost providers, or ask for your current supplier and their competitors to pitch for your business. This is not always easy if you’ve built a strong relationship with your suppliers, but it’s common to over pay them because ‘you’ve always dealt with them’.

Reduce waste by conduct an exercise to spot any areas where there is excess waste, and then devise ways to minimize. This can included wasted hours where employees under performing. Recycle and reuse any waste materials you can, and make sure your employees are doing so as well. Just by recycling you’ll save money on supplies. Lastly, buy only what you need and nothing extra.

You could look at importing your materials instead of sourcing them locally. Often, you’ll find it’s cheaper, without compromising the quality of your products. You could also incorporate new ingredients or materials if they serve the same purpose but are more cost-effective.

Learn the art of cross-selling. This means suggesting to customers that whatever they’re buying from you would be of more value if they purchased a complementary item. For example, if you’re selling business attire for men and someone buys a shirt from you, you’ve got an opportunity to cross-sell by encouraging them to purchase a tie as well.

Refine your competitive advantage and use it to increase awareness of your brand. Focus on what you do better than anyone else and review your marketing strategy to ensure that the message is getting out there.

Look at investing resources in increasing your sales volume and see if you can identify any new markets or distribution channels. Maximize the value of your sales. Consider moving upmarket and providing a premium product and service. Add features to products if the perceived value to the user is greater than the cost to you.

Make sure you have good systems in place because these will ensure you minimize errors and save time and money. The time invested in creating systems is usually minimal compared to solving a problem from scratch. Stay focused on profitability, it can have a dramatic impact. Cash flow may be your top priority, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of profitability.

Review your profit margins. Businesses offering multiple products can use a simple technique to improve overall profitability. This involves reviewing sales and profit margins periodically. Consider possible side effects before making decisions. For example, a low-profit product might be the one that brings other business from a major, highly profitable customer.

Look at ways you can sell more to your existing customers. Selling more to customers is a popular strategy because it costs less than selling to new customer. So do some research on your customer base, to try and find out if they’re disappointed because there’s something you don’t sell. Is it a product or service you could add?

Your existing customers will know other people just like them who could benefit from your products and services. Setting up a formal referral program may be beneficial. However, many customers are more than willing to refer business your way if you simply ask.

Set up a professional sales system using sales software so you can keep track of what your existing customers are buying and when they’re buying. This will help you tailor special offers to bring them in more often.

Build goodwill and keep them loyal with targeted ‘thank you’ promotions and giveaways based on their purchase history.

Increase your customer base. Review your social media platforms to make sure you’re getting the most out of them and examine your content marketing strategy so that it’s optimized for bringing in new business. You could look at a strategic alliance with another business. Cross promotions are particularly powerful on social networks where sharing is so easy.

Find new customers who are less price resistant and will pay more, especially if they’ve found you through word-of-mouth and have heard how great your product/service is.

Advertise to create awareness among new customers. You can’t always rely on your website social media or online traffic. You may find that for your particular business, traditional advertising will still drive new leads such as television, newsprint, trade journals, direct mail, and radio. They all require different budgets and vary in their effectiveness depending on who you are targeting.

Consider exporting to find new customers.

Review your business model. Your current business model is the way your business earns money. It could be selling online, wholesale, using an agent, exporting, or importing. What’s your business model? When was the last time you reviewed it? A change in your business model can bring substantially more income – sometimes for less work and lower overhead costs.

Build an online distribution channel. With online distribution, you can open up your business to customers outside your current location and region. Sell products you offer for online sale, and inventory can be held by a distributor. You don’t even need to see the product as it’s delivered, and it also means you’re not limiting your sales to business hours.

Make paying easier for your customers. The more payment options you offer them – credit card, PayPal, online banking etc. – the more chance you have of them paying early. If you’re not already, offer the mobile payment option. Most customers prefer to pay on the spot, using the latest technology. Everyone’s got a smartphone and it’s the new ‘wallet’. For business owners, enabling your customers to pay using their smartphone is often easier than you think and can help boost sales and loyalty.

Early payment discounts can encourage people to pay on time. They’re more useful on higher margin products or services as the discount will have less impact on your profits than thin-margin products. For example, if you offer customers 60 days credit, consider a 5% discount for payment within 30 days.

Research what your competitors’ payment terms are. You don’t have to follow suit, but it may help by spotting a gap or opportunity to be more flexible, such as more payment options, easier ways to pay, offering discounts for cash deals, and online purchasing.

You might be able to incentivize your customers to pay you in advance. This is important for businesses that operate online, e.g. through auction sites like eBay and Amazon. Customers first pay the purchase price (including shipping costs) into your bank account. You then wait for the payment to clear before sending the goods or supplying your services.

Make sure you have robust systems or software in place for handling debt so that you can chase up payment if needed. As with most things, prevention is better than a cure. If you have good processes in place for collecting debt, the less chance you’ll have to chase debtors. And if you do, having the proper processes in place to follow up on late payers makes it much easier.

Make sure you conduct credit checks. The more you know about who you’re extending credit to, the better. It’s important not to skip this step, as it can save you a lot of time and money down the road.

Shorten your cash cycle. This will boost your cash reserves, keeping your business going and providing a buffer in times of financial uncertainty. The longer your business goes without cash, the longer it takes you to pay your creditors and the riskier your business becomes.