Boosting Your Revenue
If you’ve priced your goods and services appropriately, revenue leads to profit. If you are interested in increasing your profit, there are only five ways to do it:

1. Increase your revenue by selling more products or booking more business
2. Increase your fees or prices
3. Reduce your expenses
4. Develop new revenue streams
5. A combination of the above

For the past two years, my goal has been to work less and make more. It’s not that I’ve gotten greedy. I just want to make sure I’m getting a fair return for my labor. And, if I’m going to take time from my family, I want to make sure I’m adequately compensated.

Sometimes we underestimate our value as work-at-home moms because of lack of confidence or gratitude that we can work flexibly when others can’t. A friend challenged my thinking in this regard when she flippantly said, “Just because you work in your pajamas sometimes doesn’t mean your work is worth less than someone who gets dressed every day.”

She’s right. That’s why we need to periodically take a look at our income and expense statement in order to insure we’re earning what we’re worth and maximizing our profit. Here’s how to measure your success in this regard:

Determine the minimum you have to work to cover your overhead. My profit was lean the first years of my home-based business because I was caring for a toddler and an infant and I wasn’t able to do much else! Yet I still had overhead expenses such as a second phone line, internet connection fee, and office supplies. Be sure your prices allow you to cover your overhead and make a profit. If you’re a network marketer, be sure you’re selling enough consistently so that your expenses are covered each month even if you’re in a maintenance mode.

Identify the market value for your line of work. If you were employed by another company doing what you’re doing, what would your salary be? Another way to think of this is to determine the “going rate” for your type of work—and then compare what you currently charge. Though you may be making somewhat less due to the fact you are not based in an office outside the home, may not be working full-time, and have flexibility that many employees don’t have, your income should still be comparable. If it’s not, it’s time for an adjustment. A consultant I know increased her fees by 30% when she realized she was under-charging for her services. No one balked. If it’s been a while since you’ve increased your fees, ask yourself if now’s the time to do it again.

Examine your expenses. If your profit isn’t what you want it to be, take a careful look at your expenses. Can you save by buying in bulk or shopping at a wholesale club? Use refurbished ink cartridges rather than buying new? Consolidate your phone and internet with the same provider in order to reduce costs? Make do with the software you have rather than upgrading every time a new version comes out? Form a co-op with other work-at-home moms so you can buy in bulk and share the cost savings?

It’s a challenging exercise to actively look for ways to reduce expenses and one that should be done at least annually. The lower your expenses, the higher your profit margin. Be sure you don’t cut expenses to the point of compromising your effectiveness or causing you to have to work harder than you need to. Remember it takes money to make money.

Be Realistic. Though you may wish to sell more products or book more business, doing so will require you to work more than you are, unless you can find a way to handle the increase without additional effort. If you’re a network marketer, you might choose to focus on building a bigger team underneath you. If you’re an independent service professional, you might decide to market more aggressively but pass the increased workload along to subcontractors instead of handling it yourself.

As you set goals each year, be sure to recognize your limits in terms of time, energy, and capacity. If you choose to increase your income, be aware that doing so requires other increases as well, including the possibility of increased stress. If you don’t want the anxiety that may accompany increasing your current sales levels, reduce your income expectations or increase your fees instead. Keep in mind there may be a point at which the market will no longer bear fee increases. If this is happening to you, consider developing new income streams for your business.

Profitably,