These are some of the most effective ways to double or even triple your business in just a few months. We will address the simplest ways first and work our way into the more advanced techniques later.
One: Increase revenue by increasing your prices
Many founders are afraid of increasing their prices just because they don’t know if it will work. Think about it. Do you think Steve Jobs asked for public permission before releasing the iPhone at US$499? Today you can get an iPhone 7 at $649 and even $769.
You can increase prices by doing an A/B test to find out which price point works best for the value you are providing.
Two: Up your conversion rate
The words every founder loves to talk about are ‘web traffic’. Many do not realise that you can have a million unique visitors or downloads and still be broke. What founders forget is that few of the news articles they read are written by entrepreneurs. What is more important than likes and shares is actual conversions or sales. You can increase your conversion rate by educating your customers on the benefits of using your product. Tweak your opt-in pages, landing pages and copy to see what people respond to.
Three: Get more targeted leads
People say the more leads you get the better. That is a BIG lie. The more targeted your leads are, the better. In my experience, most founders can’t even tell you who their ideal user is. The trap is wanting everyone to download your app and getting only a 3% conversion rate. Many start-ups have gotten funded, been featured in TechCrunch and still failed. If you have to pay more for a high-quality lead, do it.
Four: Change your business model
Just because you have an app, a website or a hardware product, does not mean you must copy the same business model as everyone else. One of the reasons Dell became a billion-dollar business and Tesla is making waves is that neither of them chose conventional business models. Consider subscription, advertising, events, affiliate offers and consulting as supplementary or complementary to your current model.
Five: Sell more stuff
One way to grow your start-up is to sell more stuff to your users. You can either sell a premium package or just add more high-value features and charge for them. Facebook has become increasingly useful as businesses find more ways to use the service to reach their audiences.
Keep in mind, however, that people pay for results – so don’t just create features for the sake of it.
Six: Offer value-added affiliate options
When you buy a house (depending on where you live), you may get offered deals for a gardener, swimming pool, insurance and other value-added services. This thinking will work for almost any industry. If your start-up offers project-management software, your users may also require a an email auto-responder or payroll-management services. Contact other start-ups and create a profit-share agreement where you offer each other’s services to your users.
Seven: Set up recurring payments, subscriptions and membership packages
Software as a service (Sass) and media start-ups have found this a great way to grow their revenue. Is there a premium package you can provide for a fixed fee every month?
Eight: Attract sponsorship and advertising
You can bet that there is a sponsor or business that would like to have access to your list of users. You can set up a joint venture partnership with sponsors in exchange for money, traffic or other resources. Consider business models such as reselling and licensing, too.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that content is probably the most overlooked way to grow a start-up. Think about it. The more people know about a business, the more confident they are as to whether or not to buy. Having blogs, videos and an effective content marketing strategy is necessary. Even more important than that is to automate the entire process so you don’t have to work all the time to make money.
Author: Jeffrey Manu is an entrepreneur and marketing strategist. He founded Growingstartup.com and builds marketing systems and advertising campaigns for business owners. He also runs STEM-based boot camps for African youth. His personal website is Jeffreymanu.com.
