4 Ways for Small Businesses to Maximize ROI

Running a small business is challenging, and especially in the early stages, turning a profit often seems elusive. One of the biggest issues for small business owners is finding the time to operate their business and bring in new customers at the same time. This is the type of dilemma that leads to 18 hour work days, and often with little to show for it. Bringing in new business is always important, and you should certainly have some methods in place for doing this consistently. But in the constant search for new customers, business owners often overlook ways to get the most out of their current customer base. Here are four ways business owners can maximize their return on marketing dollars, so they can be profitable even when the customer base is small:

Ask customers how they found you

With both online and offline marketing, it is important to find out how customers and clients are finding you. Because once you know that critical piece of information, you know what marketing methods work best, which methods are somewhat effective and which don’t work at all. This allows you to eliminate marketing strategies that are too costly, not effective, and are an overall waste of your time, talent and treasure. For online marketing, you do not necessarily have to “ask” your customers, you just need to have a tracking system set up that accurately records their pathway to your website. For offline customers, you need to go “old school” and either ask the question audibly, or in some kind of form or survey they are filling out.

Ask customers for referrals

Satisfied customers are some of the best brand ambassadors you can have. However, sometimes your customers need a little nudge to refer their friends or family. While doing business with them, ask a simple question such as “do you happen to know of anyone else who could benefit from my product/service?” Many times, they will say “no”, but some customers will want to help you and give you some warm leads. Customer referrals are as good as free advertising, so make the most of these opportunities.

Build stronger customer/client relationships

The way to build an army of brand ambassadors in the first place is to treat your customers/clients like gold. This means going above and beyond to not only satisfy them with your product or service, but to get to know them as human beings. Become friends with your customers, find out everything you can about them, and keep this information in a file somewhere so you can keep track of it. Now if you really want to “wow!” your clientele, take what you know about them and give them a personalized gift based on their interests. For example, if you have a client that enjoys baseball, give them two tickets to a Diamondbacks game. The gift does not have to cost much, but it will go a long way in fostering lifelong customer relationship.

Maximize your tax saving opportunities

There are numerous tax deductions and credits available for small businesses, and taking advantage of all the tax reduction opportunities available to you can sometimes make the difference between being profitable or losing money. The challenge is finding the time to become an expert in small business taxes. The best way to handle this area is to partner with a local accounting firm. For a nominal fee, a  can uncover all your tax saving opportunities and ensure your business is in the best possible financial position.