Insights, Ideas, Results
Are you ready to discover the secret sauce behind successful pricing strategies used by all the good small businesses out there? Then you’re in the right place! In this article, we’ll check out the top pricing strategies that the best small business owners use to boost their profits. Whether you’re still an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned small business owner who needs fresh insights, we’ve got your back.
Selling precious coins in the market is easier said than done. It’s a market of chances, but you will need to be smart if you are to make a killer sale. The prices of the coins will vary depending on factors such as how rare they are, whether you sell them through an auction or a dealer etc. Let’s take you through a few tricks and tips to help you get the best deal when you sell your precious coins.
As many of us know, over half of all businesses fail before their first birthday. I don’t tell you this to scare you off. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. I use this statistic to encourage you to work even harder at your dream. Only a small percentage of companies survive the early years, and it takes an enormous amount of perseverance.
It also means avoiding some of the biggest mistakes and pitfalls. As a new business owner, you can learn from the mistakes of the past here. While you may be relatively inexperienced, the same mistakes are killing businesses time and time again. Learn them, and you can avoid them.
Running a business requires fascinating alchemy of hard work, savvy, talent, and luck —just a few of the ingredients necessary for your success. But there is one other element that doesn’t get quite enough press, and that’s finding the right kind of customer.
Whether you run a printing press or a marketing agency, not all customers are created equal. Sometimes it is better to let go of “bad” customers and focus on the ones that are good for your business. But where and how do you find those “good” customers? From being results driven to trusting your gut, here are six ways to attract better customers to your business.
Bundling products and services is a time honored technique used by businesses of all types. Walk into a McDonald’s and you will see bundling in the form of Value Meal where you can buy burger, fries and drink for the price that is lower than if they were bought separately. When you book your vacation package that includes airfare, hotel and car rental for one low price you are buying a bundle. In customers’ mind bundling saves them money by paying less than what they would have to pay otherwise. Businesses also benefit from bundling because they are able to sell more even if they sell at a discount. It appears that bundling is a win-win for both customers and businesses.
The goal of pricing a product or service for any small business owner is to charge the maximum amount that customer is willing to pay and maximize profit. If you charge lower than what customer is willing to pay you leave money on the table. If you charge higher customer will walk out the door and you will lose profit.
To some it may seem like Black Magic, but pricing is combination of art and science. Big corporations, such as Wal-Mart, do lot of research and number crunching to figure out to the pennies exactly how much they should charge so that they get the maximum profit. This is the science side of pricing. No matter how much number crunching and data analysis you do human behavior and psychology plays a big role in customers determining whether a given price is a good deal or not. This is where art comes into play. There are number of ways in which business owners can convey the message about good deal (aka pricing) and take advantage of how customers react to that message.
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As we herald into 2013 I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit the stories we produced in 2012 and the response we received from the readers. Here are the top 10 articles, in no particular order that got the most attention, discussion, controversy and response.
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The scenario may look familiar to many small business owners. You are doing a brisk business with loyal customer base. The sales are growing steadily. You are making decent profit. The same holds true for other competitors in the neighborhood. The existing customers in the town are divided between your and other businesses. In short, equilibrium has been established amongst existing businesses.
And then, a new competitor decides to get a piece of the action. Suddenly, everything changes. The new competitor tries to grab customers with lower price and increased marketing. The existing ones try to hold onto their customers. Employees will leave for bigger opportunities. It’s as if someone threw a stone in the calm waters causing ripples everywhere in the neighborhood.
The initial reaction for many existing business owners may be to counter the new competitor with force right away to ensure these ripples do not cause significant damage to your boat. However, this may be a mistake. The best strategy may be to watch and plan for the future before taking radical steps. In particular, it is important NOT to do the following right away.
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Many small business owners fail to understand the customer base they serve and end up not being prepared to sell to those customers. How many times have you thought about various types of customers that you are selling to? Is your business ready to serve those different types of customers? Do you have marketing programs in place to attract those customers in the first place? Important questions to think about, isn’t it?
Different customers have varying types of needs. Some are looking for bargains, while others will pay premium for the quality product. By understanding the needs of customers your business can determine which customers are right for your business. You can take this approach one step further and develop customer personas based on the customer needs and purchasing habits. Personas are helpful in not only identifying the customer types, but also tailoring your marketing and operations to serve their needs. Below we have identified 5 such customer personas. Think about which ones are usually doing business with you and whether your business is prepared to serve their needs.
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If there is one company that is loved by its customers, employees and shareholders equally it is Apple!! It is hard to find any other company that generates the excitement that Apple does. The company is valued at almost $600 Billion that is estimated to reach $1 Trillion in too distant future. That amount will be higher than the GDP of many countries on the planet. The amazing thing is even at this size Apple manages to grow its revenue and profit at astronomical rate of 70-80%! There has never been a company in the history that has achieved what Apple has in the last 10 years.
While it may not be possible for small business owners to achieve success at the same level as Apple there are important lessons you can learn that will help you grow your business. Below we analyze Apple’s critical success factors and explain how you can apply them in your business.
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