Help boost your business’s gross profit margin with actionable operational improvements. Discover four ways to help enhance profitability and grow profits.
Small businesses should regularly overcome challenges to maintain profitability, especially during periods of economic uncertainty and inflation. But when faced with rising costs, businesses can do more than just raise their prices to maintain their margins. This article explores the importance of maintaining a good gross profit margin and presents four key approaches that could help you do so.
Improving profit margin is a crucial goal for any business owner. After all, profit margin – the percentage of revenue remaining after accounting for costs – is a key indicator of the financial health and sustainability of a company.
As a business owner myself, I understand the constant pressure to expand profit margins. It can feel like an uphill battle at times, especially when facing rising costs. However, boosting profitability is possible with careful planning and execution.
In this comprehensive guide, I will share 12 proven strategies to increase profit margins based on my own experience as an entrepreneur Whether you’re running an online business, retail store, restaurant or service-based company, you’re sure to find actionable tips to implement right away
Conduct a Profit Margin Analysis
First things first – you need to diagnose your current profit margin to identify areas for improvement. Calculate your net profit divided by total revenue to find your net profit margin percentage.
Then, break this down further
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Analyze your gross margin on a product/service level. Look at your direct costs of goods sold.
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Review operating expenses line by line. Marketing, payroll, supplies, etc.
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Identify unused or under-performing assets. Equipment, software, inventory.
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Compare profit margins year-over-year and month-over-month. Trend analysis.
Doing a deep dive into your numbers will reveal spending habits you can change and opportunities to optimize. The goal is to pinpoint what’s dragging your margins down, so you can fix it.
Reduce Operating Expenses
Operating expenses take a huge bite out of revenue, directly impacting your bottom line. Evaluate each line item with a critical eye – are they necessary? Can you trim costs?
Some areas to audit:
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Payroll – optimize staffing levels and watch overtime.
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Software/Tools – cut unused subscriptions and services.
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Hosting, utilities, phone, internet – shop competitors and negotiate rates.
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Supplies and materials – reduce waste and rein in discretionary spending.
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Marketing – analyse ROI and prune ineffective ad channels.
Even small savings add up. Strive to run a lean operation without sacrificing quality.
Leverage Automation
Automating manual processes is a powerful way to drive efficiency and reduce costs. Look for repetitive tasks that are time/labor intensive for staff to handle.
Invest in software, scripts and bots to eliminate mundane work. For example:
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Accounting – automated invoicing and collection
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Customer service – chatbots for common inquiries
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Marketing – email sequences, social media tools
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Sales – CRM to streamline workflow
The goal is to free up staff time for high-value tasks only humans can handle. Productivity will rise as a result.
Renegotiate Supplier and Vendor Contracts
On the flip side, renegotiating contracts with suppliers and vendors presents another chance to reduce expenses.
Review agreements annually and benchmark against competitors. Be ready to make your case for:
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Better rates/pricing
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Faster payment terms
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Larger order discounts
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Reduced shipping fees
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Bundled products/services
Even marginally better contract terms improve profit over time. Pick up the phone and open a dialogue – you have more leverage than you think.
Implement a Price Increase
When timed strategically, a price increase is one of the fastest ways to lift profit margins. But you must tread carefully – steadily raise prices over time to avoid shocking customers.
Consider these best practices:
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Benchmark competitors’ pricing
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Test incremental hikes on low-volume products first
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Communicate value, not just higher prices
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Offer discounts for loyal customers
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Promote newly added features or offerings
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Highlight superior service worth paying for
With the right approach, modest price increases can improve profit margins without detrimentally impacting sales volume.
Offer New High-Margin Products/Services
Another profit-boosting tactic is to introduce additional products or services that carry higher margins. Especially if they complement existing offerings and appeal to your customer base.
For example, a consultant could offer DIY templates or online courses in addition to their services. Or a retailer could launch a private label line with better margins.
Before rolling out new offerings, be sure to:
- Identify market demand
- Develop products quickly and cost-effectively
- Price for maximum profit
- Promote through existing marketing channels
Get creative and brainstorm ways to supplement earnings through profitable new revenue streams.
Reduce Costs of Goods Sold
For product companies especially, scrutinizing costs of goods sold (COGS) – the direct costs of manufacturing a product – can lead to instant profit margin gains.
Analyze COGS drivers such as:
- Sourcing of direct materials/components
- Manufacturing and assembly
- Inventory management
- Shipping and fulfillment
Then explore options like:
- Negotiating bulk discounts on materials
- Minimizing waste and quality defects
- Improving inventory turnover
- Lowering freight costs
Savings from even fractional COGS reductions quickly compound thanks to amplified profit on each incremental sale.
Review Pricing Models
For companies selling products and services, a pricing model overhaul can unlock significant profit margin improvements.
Common pricing model tweaks include:
- Tiered pricing – higher prices for premium features/options
- Packaged pricing – bundled offerings sold for one price
- Customer segmentation – tailored pricing by industry, size etc.
- Volume pricing – discounts for larger orders
- Membership fees – subscriptions for ongoing access
Conduct market research then test and iterate on adjusted pricing models. With the right structure, profit margins can expand considerably.
Focus on Customer Retention
It’s 5-25x more expensive to acquire new customers than retain existing ones. So doubling down on retention is a profit-friendly approach.
Retention initiatives to consider:
- Loyalty programs
- VIP services
- Client advisory boards
- Surveys and feedback
- Renewal discounts
- Automated check-ins
- Community engagement
Better retained clients generate higher lifetime value – making the initial sale just the beginning. Reduce churn to compound sales amongst your customer base.
Trim the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Sky-high customer acquisition costs eat into revenue gained, decimating profit margins. Assess your complete CAC – the total spent to acquire a new customer.
Evaluate the key drivers:
- Marketing – ads, campaigns, events
- Sales – bonuses, commissions, travel
- Promotions – discounts, free trials
- Onboarding – training, support
Then optimize the most expensive initiatives first. For example:
- Lower CPCs with improved landing pages
- Raise conversion rates with better lead nurturing
- Refine targeting to reduce waste
With CAC optimization, growth ties more directly to bottom line gains.
Outsource to Reduce Labor Costs
Outsourcing certain operations can markedly lower labor costs. Consider outsourcing:
- Call centers – chat, phone, email support
- Manufacturing – third-party producers
- Accounting – bookkeeping, taxes
- IT – web hosting, cybersecurity
- HR – payroll, compliance, benefits
Ensure rigorous vetting and service level agreements for outsourced partners. And redirect your team to more value-driving initiatives.
Eliminate Unprofitable Customers
As unpleasant as it sounds, cutting ties with consistently unprofitable customers lifts profit margins fast. These accounts siphon time and money.
Characteristics of unprofitable customers:
- Ultra-low prices and margins
- High service and support needs
- Constant demands for discounts
- Excessive fees and charges
- Frequent delinquent payments
Review account profitability data and have candid discussions with chronic offenders. Though a last resort, dropping certain customers is a vital part of optimizing profitability.
Monitor Profitability in Real-Time
Lastly, real-time visibility into profit metrics helps make quick, decisive moves to constantly improve profitability.
Modern software makes it possible:
- Accurate job costing
- SKU/product performance
- Departmental reporting
- Profit forecasts
- Profit dashboards
With up-to-the-minute data, teams can identify downward profit trends immediately and troubleshoot issues before margins deteriorate.
Now Go Improve Your Profit Margins!
Checking off each step in this comprehensive guide will put you well on your way to enhanced profitability. Small consistent changes make a huge difference over time.
Strive to build a lean operation that delivers value profitably. Maintain an intense focus on profit margins amid growth and expansion. With the right discipline, your business can thrive on razor-thin margins – turning higher profits for the long-term.
Upsell to existing clients.
Acquiring a new customer can be more expensive than retaining an existing one. Once a customer is “through the door” and engaged, customer retention marketing strategies – like product bundling, automated cart abandonment reminders, and minimum order amounts for perks like free shipping – can all encourage customers to spend more. At the same time, service-based businesses can focus on improving the client experience to keep customers coming back, and potentially increasing their order size when they do. In either case, increasing the average order value of existing customers can directly improve gross profit margins without the need to raise prices.
Streamline your product offering.
While all product lines may be profitable, it’s unlikely that all will yield the same margins. Retail businesses with many SKUs, for instance, could analyze sales data to identify bestsellers or highly profitable items. By prioritizing these products and phasing out underperforming items, businesses could improve gross profit margins without increasing carrying costs.
Beyond products, this strategy can also apply to a broader business focus. For example, if a sporting goods store identifies that baseball equipment yields the highest margins, it can concentrate on catering to that niche. Meanwhile, specialization can justify higher prices due to the uniqueness of the offering, compared to the generic, easily available products they were offering before. However, any strategic shift can involve financial risks. Costs and benefits of the new approach should be tracked and compared with order volume and profit margins to determine effectiveness.
How to Boost Your Profit Margins
How can I improve my profit margin?
Evaluate your marketing strategies and service infrastructure to see if you can improve how you attract and retain customers. Conduct competitive benchmarking to see how your industry peers are faring. One way or another, find what you’re doing wrong and work to correct it. If you want to improve your profit margin, you can’t go in blind. 2.
Should you increase sales or increase profit margins?
Increasing sales is always a business positive, but increasing profit margins requires a more robust approach. In addition to boosting revenue, you need to understand the profit margin formula and know how to utilize it.
Why are profit margins important?
Profit margins are essential when evaluating profitability. Gross, operating and net profit margins contribute to a company’s financial statements and showcase efficiency with cash flow. Improving these profitability metrics can benefit a range of business processes that support growth and development.
Why do profit margins go down?
When profits decline, your margins will go down, usually due to lagging sales, the economy, a social shift in your customer base, or a failing business model. In short, you’ll need to increase sales to increase margins. All industries are at the mercy of overall economic conditions, and a rise in expenses can affect your profit margins.
