Are You Making As Much Money as You Could?

Are you satisfied with the growth and profitability of your business?

If you’re delighted with your bottom line, congratulations! You’re living the dream. Show this article to a competitor. They may need a shot of inspiration or a serious renovation of their business plan. Every time a company in the home improvement sector enjoys success it makes our entire industry stronger and accelerates demand for our products and services. So let’s help one another.

Here’s a fact. We’ve learned the three concepts outlined below the hard way. And we’re convinced business owners shouldn’t repeat errors we see start-up businesses making daily.

So, if you’re NOT certain you are set to maximize your potential, ponder these questions:1) Is your business model scalable and sustainable?
2) Are you monitoring a consistent set of metrics in each of your markets?
3) Do you really understand your customer’s point of view on your products?

Stated differently, we suggest three ideas you can implement today.

• Construct a business model that naturally replicates itself.
  
• Establish a set of metrics that can be measured across your entire geographic scope.
  
• Forget your product perceptions and seek to understand your customer’s perspective.
  

Construct a business model that naturally replicates itself.
Teach everyone on your management team the basics of your business. They will never be accountable for your company’s growth unless they can articulate your business essentials as well as you can. Let them demonstrate their ability to mentor new employees in your presence. Applaud their communication efforts. Gently correct their mistakes. Build a team that is committed to the consistent execution of every process. This facilitates scalability.

Establish a set of metrics that can be measured across your entire geographic scope.
Simplify your business planning to the point where you can identify a set of metrics that apply in every market or sector in which you compete. A couple of high level metrics that we monitor are revenue per lead and production per hour. We strive for consistent performance in every branch against these benchmarks. Sure there are some explainable irregularities, but ultimately we know the goals we’re stretching to reach in every market. And we seek consistent metric performance in every branch.

Forget your perceptions and seek to understand your customer’s perspective instead.
How many business owners do you know who project their value system onto their customer base? As an example, perhaps they assume buyers won’t finance their purchase because they personally don’t like credit card purchases. These types of assumptions are distractions and inhibit growth. Try new solutions and give your customer new options, products and services. The sales numbers will tell you when they value a new offering. Give the customer the chance to decide what they want. Beauty may be in the eyes of the beholder. Value is in the eyes of the customer.

So I’ll ask you again. Are you making as much money in your home improvement company as you should? Start today! Construct a business model that naturally replicates itself. Establish a set of metrics that can be measured across your entire geographic scope. Forget your product perceptions and seek to understand your customer’s perspective.

Rejuvenate your growth and profitability! Your customers, your employees and your suppliers will thank you. Take it to the bank!