9 Additional Revenue Streams For Your Business
by Mashum Mollah Small Business Published on: 17 January 2018 Last Updated on: 14 November 2024
Running a business isn’t always easy, and sometimes your cash flow may not be as fluid as you would like. Diversifying your revenue streams is one way to make more money, and although it may not seem like something you can do at first glance, it is certainly something worth considering because, when you delve a little deeper, you’ll probably find that you can add revenue streams without too many problems. Here are just a few ideas about how to generate additional income in your established business.
Read more: Learn How To Establish A Business Online
1. Hire Out Your Premises
Are you using all of the space available to you in your current business premises? If not, you could rent some of it out, and receive a good income from it. Many small businesses only need a room, or perhaps even a corner of a room. For these businesses, it is difficult to rent a place that is the right size; they are few and far between. If you have an unused room, or space to spare, the owner of a smaller business may well be very keen to rent it from you. To upgrade your rental, can you throw in some shared secretarial services? Shared printing facilities? There is a lot to consider, and many ways to make money. You could even hire out the room for meetings on an ad hoc basis. If you think carefully about who you are renting to, there could even be ways to cross-promote and help one another in business.
2. Sell Online
If you don’t already have an online shop, creating one and selling online is a great idea that can really boost your sales and your bottom line. You don’t even need to change your website, or create a new one; you can sell on sites such as eBay and Amazon Marketplace for a fraction of the cost. Holding stock isn’t necessary either, as you can simply buy in what you need when someone places an order. Make sure you get everything above board and legal before you go ahead by using the Amazon Accountants seller CPA so that you can trade without any worries.
Read more: The key to success with your online marketing
3. Change The Way You Sell
Whether or not you choose to sell online, changing the way you package your products and therefore the way you sell them can make a difference to your revenue stream, and provide you with more income. If you mainly sell services, it’s likely you’ll sell them at an hourly rate. This can put some customers off, as they want to know exactly how much they’ll be spending. Something open-ended can be worrying. Therefore, change the way you sell your services, so that it is more like a product. Charge a fixed price, and more people will want to buy it.
4. More Products
Rather than trying to find new customers to buy the same products and services, it’s often cheaper to find more products to sell to the same customers who have bought from you in the past. Changing – or adding to – your product range shows that you are keeping up with the current trends, and that you understand what your customers want.
5. Extra Value Products
No matter what you sell, there will be something that you can sell alongside it that complements it and brings added value to the sale. If you go out and clean people’s carpets, for example, you could sell bottles of stain remover. If you groom pets, you could sell brushes and combs. If you sell paintings what about offering frames, or even a framing workshop too? Don’t sell something that will take the place of what you’re doing, but something that means your customers can help themselves in between your visits can make a big difference both in terms of income, and in how well your company is received.
6. Become A Sub-Contractor
If you have marketable, talented people working for you that other companies may be able to use, have you considered becoming a sub-contractor? This can be a great way to fill any gaps in the calendar, and ensure that your employees are busy all of the time. It doesn’t even have to be people who work in construction or other physical jobs. It can be excellent managers who can go and help run a workshop, for example. Take care to vet each request for a sub-contractor carefully, as you don’t want to lend out valued employees to a direct competitor accidentally! Also make sure that you charge more than your current day rate, otherwise, by the time you have paid your employee, you won’t have made any profit, and the exercise would have been pointless.
7. Write A Book Or eBook
If you are a successful manager or entrepreneur, writing a book about your exploits, including hints and tips on how others can become just as successful, could be another perfect product for you, and increase your income substantially. As long as your story is interesting and well-written, you can sell it alongside your products, or market it entirely separately.
8. Advertising
If you have a website, or you send out newsletters, then you’ll probably have room to add some advertisements. You can use Google AdSense for website advertising, and if you have a physical newsletter, you could contact local businesses to offer them some advertising space. This will work best if you have a large number of subscribers, as the advertising will seem better value for money.
9. Public Speaking
Public speaking can be one of the best and most lucrative ways to add a revenue stream to your business. Not everyone can do it, it does take a certain amount of skill, but if you can, then it would be a shame to let that skill go to waste. You can talk about anything, including how to start a business, how to create a work-life balance, how to overcome stress, general life lessons, and much more. If you’re not well-versed when it comes to public speaking, you can hire professionals to assist you. Thought-Leader, for example, has former TEDx speakers on their team who can teach you how to speak in public. Participating in TED Talks is an important step toward success. Because of this, it’s important to have proper guidance and learn how to become a TEDx speaker.
As long as you know what you’re talking about and you come prepared with a good presentation, people will pay to listen to you. These engagements can also be a good way to network and meet more potential clients.