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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 316
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| Thought for the week: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas A. Edison |
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In this week's issue:
'Stealth' tips for increasing your prices
Quite often in the small business world, the difference between a winning and a losing product is how you price it. Sales tests have shown time and again that price is one of the most compelling factors that determine the success or failure of a product's sales, or even of the business itself.
One pricing strategy that can be used and successfully applied to the advantage of small businesses in many different sectors is that of increasing your prices - but without actually increasing your prices at all.
Here are nine tips for ways that you can increase your sales revenue without publicly announcing that you've increased your prices.
1. Decrease the level of discounts you're currently offering customers.
2. Increase your minimum order volumes so that customers have to reach a higher threshold before they qualify for discounts.
3. Increase your delivery charge and start charging for any additional special services related to delivery.
4. Charge your customers for any engineering and installation services that you previously included as standard.
5. Raise prices to cover for overtime or additional time needed to deliver rushed or very short notice orders.
6. Start aggressively collecting and charging interest on overdue accounts from the last few months.
7. Begin to shift your overall product sales mix towards higher profit margin products and services, and start phasing out your lower margin items. If you don't know what your margins currently are, you'd better damn well find out fast.
8. Begin to write stiffer penalty clauses into all of your contracts. Think about it - your suppliers will almost certainly be doing this to you, so there's no reason why you can't be commercially more hard-nosed as well.
9. Find ways to decrease some of the physical features or characteristics of your product, but continue to charge the same prices.
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The UK Small Business Marketing Bible contains hundreds more tips and tactics for boosting your sales using proven marketing strategies that work no matter what product or service you sell. |
EnterQuest readers can also get their hands on a free copy of our sister publication, BETTER business magazine. Simply send us your name and address to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com, putting 'EQ magazine offer' in the subject box.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
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Hair warfare. Battling against nits and lice, The Hairforce team employs 'lice assassins' to tackle the infestations in children and schools. Children are kept entertained with DVDs and magazines while the treatments take place.
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Guitar rental. Like designer bag or dress rental, Guitar Affair rents out high-end guitars to customers, by day or by week. Once the customer is finished with the guitar, they post it back using the shipping case provided. The service is currently only available in the US.
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.
Do you know the meaning of the word 'subvention'?
a) avoidance of a subject or topic
b) the discussion of an opinion in public
c) an argument or proposal
d) financial assistance, especially from Government
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?
1) Recent research from the British Standards Institute (BSI) has revealed that a fifth of small businesses have unwittingly breached which of the following Acts of Parliament?
a) the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974
b) the Data Protection Act 1998
c) the Freedom of Information Act 2000
d) the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
2) The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling for the smallest businesses to have an organisation serving their needs in a particular area. Which of the following is it calling for?
a) a Small Business Safety Council, for health and safety compliance
b) a Sector Skills Council, for training and skill needs
c) a Recruitment and Employment Council, to help with employment red tape
d) an Intellectual Property Council, to help with copyright needs and issues
3) A report by NatWest has claimed that which of the following types of business are proving resilient during the recession?
a) social enterprises
b) franchises
c) partnerships
d) limited companies
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
Marketing hints and tips
Marketing Minefield is a website containing marketing articles and tips on seven types of marketing - Internet marketing, outdoor advertising, direct marketing, traditional marketing, public relations, unusual ideas and sales.
HSE website updates
The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) is changing its website content. Every week from 3 June until March 2010 it will launch at least one new microsite on a sector or health and safety topic. It has some draft designs that you can browse through and you can also give feedback.
Networking help from chambers
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has launched Business Network Online - a networking and trading portal that operates via local chambers of commerce. Businesses can receive tendering alerts, advertise online and meet new suppliers. Chamber members have free access and non-members can have a three-month trial of the network.
Tips for keeping clients happy
This article focuses on keeping clients happy and is particularly useful for freelancers and sole traders. Top tips include providing good customer service, invoicing on time and trying to better your own service.
Win an IT security audit worth over £500
Most people are aware of the threat from viruses and other malware resulting from internet usage, and the risks to the security of our electronic data.
IT solutions firm axon-IT has teamed up with EnterQuest to offer one reader the chance to win a remote online security audit package worth £550.
Your computer system and its data are at threat if you do not take steps to protect them. Would you leave the front door to your house open or unlocked whilst you were out for the day? Of course not, but this simple analogy holds true to computers and systems that are at risk if you 'leave the door wide open'.
Axon-IT is accredited as a Microsoft Gold Partner with a specialisation in security, covering all aspects of IT risk. For your chance to win the security audit, simply answer the following question:
Q: What is the total number of franchise systems operating in the UK, according to a report by the British Franchise Association and NatWest bank?
Email your answer, together with your name, address and daytime phone number, using 'axon-IT competition' as the subject line, to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
All entries must be received by 30 June. Full competition rules are available on request.
This book tells you how you can use Twitter in your marketing strategies and tap into the Twitter network to gain loyal customers. It contains case studies of businesses that have used Twitter in their own marketing techniques. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is d).
Subvention means financial assistance from Government.
Businesses require more subvention to see them through the recession. |
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Good luck
The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
