Are there opportunities you could be taking advantage of that would give your business a massive lift?
Capitalise has several meanings; to secure funding or inject money into your business; realise an investment; authorise or issue stock (shareholdings)… and several other accounting terms.
Let’s explore this one: Capitalise: to take advantage of; turn something to one’s advantage.
Right now, if you know where to look, there is hidden money in your business.
Let’s go exploring…
Use your strengths
Your personality will determine your strategies:
If investing in your business was like buying property, what would you be focusing on?
A Trump Tower?
(It’ll need deep foundations and buckets of money – preferably not your own money!)
A nice little starter that you can sell to someone else?
(Great for creative types who get bored easily and have a wealth of ideas).
A renovator for a quick makeover and flip for profit?
A long-term “home” you can add value to?
Something with development potential?
Renovate or knock it down and turn it into units – think franchising, multiple business or launch your business on the stock market.
What next?
Once you’ve decided on the best strategy for YOU as a business owner then move on to these considerations…
If your concept is “unique” – ask yourself “Am I being realistic about this? How long would it take for someone to copy this? What would that do to my business?” AND the most important question to ask is “Can I get a good return on investment with this, relevant to the effort I need to put in?”
Does your business have depth? i.e. does it appeal to a good chunk of the market and does it have long-lasting capability (i.e. not a fad that will go out of date)
Is what you sell something that has future potential to grow? i.e. it has complimentary products or services that can be added to your range OR has the ability to do one thing really well so it can be duplicated and scaled through franchising or licensing.
Are there more opportunities to sell all you can to your current customers? i.e. how’s your up-sell and cross-sell – are customers getting all they came for and more (without employing creepy icky sales techniques)?
Are you converting enough leads and prospects into actual customers who buy from you? Regularly and predictably – and are they sending you good referrals?
Can you attract investment partners? Think “Shark Tank”. If you had to pitch your business to investors, how would you do it? What are your weak points? (For a LOT of business owners two weak points stand out: 1) the money side of their business and 2) Marketing to get more customers.
What chunk of the market do you have? How much more do you really want? Be realistic with this – one or two percent might make the world of difference. Don’t set impossible targets, just break down a big goal into manageable chunks and chip away at it.
Ultimately you need to know why any prospective customer would walk over hot coals to get to you. You’ll need to describe the uniqueness of what you offer – it MUST be significantly different to anything else that competes for your customers’ dollars.
Ultimately the questions you ask now will determine your future.