Do What Makes You Money

Let’s start with this statement: You are in business to make money – to make a living. For most people in business, this is the main goal, or at least ONE of the main goals.

You have a passion for what you do – which is a great thing. But, does your passion actually make you money? Is your passion one of the key areas in your business that is bringing in dollars and enabling you to receive a weekly paycheck?

If you are finding yourself in the same boat that many are in right now with the economy, loosing money or just not making what you were a year ago, maybe it is time for you to take a look at your services or products and figure out exactly which ones are making money and which ones aren’t. For some, this can be a very difficult and eye-opening experience because you may find out that the one thing in your business that you truly love – your passion – may not be making you any money. Actually, it could be making you lose money.

Once you go through your products and services (and possibly even employees) and find what is making you money and what isn’t making you money, the next step is the hardest. You must take action and do something about the things that are not making you money. In times like these, for many, major adjustments must be made in order to stay in business.

Think about this example. Nancy had a card shop that she sold her homemade cards in. Making cards was her passion. Even though she never sold tons of her cards, she still loved doing it and was convinced that one day her cards would “catch on”. Because of this, she also had to sell other designer’s cards, small gift items, specialty paper for scrap-booking, and miscellaneous nick-knacks. Nancy had never really figured the exact time and cost that went in to each card that she made. She just priced them competitively with the other cards she sold. When Nancy’s business started struggling, and she had some extra time on her hands, she sat down and figured up her best and worst selling products and also figured the real cost of her own cards that she was making. The results were astounding to Nancy. She found that the price of cards she was making needed to be increased by nearly $2.00 each in order to make money off of them. However, if Nancy were to mark them up that much they would be the most expensive cards in the shop, and Nancy knew that her cards wouldn’t sell for those prices. Even though making cards was her passion, the other reason that she had the card shop in the first place, was to make money. If Nancy continued to dump money in to making her own cards, her business would not only continue to struggle, but would eventually fail. The hard decision was made and Nancy stopped making cards. The extra money that she was using on her own cards, she took and put in to advertising. Within three months, Nancy was able to hire Tarte Advertising, Inc to build a website and start running some ads/promotions in a few of the local publications, something she had never done before. It wasn’t an overnight, quick fix, but after 8-9 months, Nancy was definitely able to tell a difference. It was a tough decision, but she knew she had to do it if she wanted to stay in business. Nancy is still hoping that once things pick back up with the economy she will be able to start making and selling her cards again.

If your goal is to make money, do the things that make you money – or do something different.