If what you have been doing isn’t working anymore and your profits are declining, it might be time to make some drastic changes. Instead of changing just small things, which often has little impact, try reinventing your whole business from scratch to shake things up and get a stale business moving again.
Change Your Industry
One reason profits might be down is if the entire industry has been hit. If everyone else in your industry is having a hard time as well, the answer is to change industries. Of course, you can’t very well switch to a completely unrelated industry and abandon all your contacts and clients. Instead, try switching to a related industry.
When the economy crashed in 2008, many of the “help men get dates” businesses took a huge hit. Many businesses that used to be bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a month were suddenly struggling.
One successful entrepreneur moved into the “help women get dates” industry. The move turned out brilliantly and helped him save his business.
No matter what industry you are in, there are probably half a dozen side industries you could move into. If your main industry is having trouble, try expanding to a different, but related industry.
Launch a New Product
Nothing brings in new energy such as the launching of a new product. Apple had been struggling for some time before the iPod came out. The Apple 3 was a colossal failure, costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The drama of Steve Jobs leaving and then returning cost the company bad public relations, but the iPod, and eventually the iPhone, changed all that. The launch of a new product brought a lot of new excitement. The same applies to smaller businesses. What new products or projects can you announce that would get people excited?
Try New Marketing Channels
What are two or three kinds of marketing channels you have never tried before that are completely outside the scope of what you have done in the past? For example, if you have done search engine optimization and pay-per-click, why not try advertising in a college newspaper or buy remnant radio ad space? If you have only tried buying advertising in the past, why not try partnering for a big joint venture deal, or try guest blogging on a few big websites. One reason for declining profits might be that your marketing formula just isn’t working out right. Instead of making tweaks, try making big changes to see what works and what doesn’t.
Changing these three things — your industry, your product and your marketing — can really help get both the excitement and cash flow up again.
