When most people think of leverage and adding leverage to their business, they immediately think of using debt.
I like to use the term another way … as in dividing to multiply, or even more simply, getting “ever more with ever less.” In my mind, leverage is all about doing more or getting more with ever smaller investments of my own resources, be it time, effort or money.
In short, it’s about working “neck up” (meaning from your knowledge and skill set) instead of the “neck down” (tasks, activities and/or physical labor).
Another way to look at this is how can you find ways in your business to “do the work once and get paid forever?”
Sound too hard? It isn’t, when you really think about it, or look at the current tasks and activities you are currently doing in a new way.
For example, here’s a list of things you are probably doing in your company today you could greatly leverage at very little cost (with a few tweaks) that would bring you a lot more returns both in terms of ROI (return on investment) and “RORI” (return on resources invested) …
- Hiring and Training New Employees:
Whenever you hire and train a new employee, you are leveraging your company’s vision, mission and culture, as well as your company’s unique knowledge and skill sets.
Knowing this, how can you improve your systems for hiring and training to truly allow your new hires to multiply your efforts … and your bottom-line?
- Getting More Repeat Business:
Whenever you get a repeat purchase, you lower the original costs of acquisition for that customer. Get enough repeat business, and that customer becomes very profitable. Get a new referral from that customer and you’ve lowered your new customer acquisition cost for that new customer to … zero?!?
Systemizing your company’s scripts, improving your service experience and making sure you reward your best customers for their referrals can not only leverage your existing marketing efforts, but can ultimately reduce the long-term costs of your campaigns, because you will be relying on referrals and word-of-mouth versus paid ads.
- Testing and Measuring to Either Kill or Keep Your Advertising Campaigns:
Can one single ad make or break a business? We can debate that one, but a single tested ad or campaign that’s proven to be effective can be the basis of your business growth for years.
Plus, how valuable would it be to have a system in place that forces you to stick with a focused message that really resonates with your target audience, versus spending resources every few months to create new campaigns?
What are some other ways you can apply the concept of leverage to your company?
- Franchise your business model
- Develop a new product or system for your business
- License a new product or system to others generate new income streams
- Build a network of distributors for your product or service
- Use multiple platforms (conventional, online, social media) for company communication
In short, leverage is creating something meaningful by effectively working with other people, systems, and processes to save time and energy that also can make you more money.
The key to all of this is systems. It’s also about thinking of ways of using existing resources in different ways. Because of this, I would venture to say of all the great business development strategies I’ve come across, “leverage” properly used is one of the best and most effective you can adopt.
It’s also the key to great and sustained wealth. That said, your mind – and your business and financial education – is your greatest lever of all. Start using that lever to move your business “neck up.”
You’ll soon discover once you can find ways to actually “do the work once and get paid forever,” you’ll not only run a better and more profitable business (or businesses), you’ll also have the extra time and energy to enjoy your increased success.