![]() "Profit isn't the purpose of a business, but without it, there is no business." – Peter Drucker In Canada, approximately 60% of small businesses fail within five years, with poor financial planning and cash flow management being one of the leading causes (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2023). While passion might fuel the fire of entrepreneurship, it's profit that keeps the lights on. In an age of digital storefronts and virtual workspaces, mastering “profit hacks” — smart, focused strategies that drive income without increasing burnout — is not just a nice-to-have. It’s a business necessity. Today, we’re examining four key strategies to increase your profits, whether you’re running a solo operation from your kitchen table or scaling a growing brand from your laptop. These hacks aren’t fluff — they’re field-tested and crafted to help you retain more of what you earn and build a successful business. 1. Know Your Numbers (and Watch Them Like a Hawk) Before you can hack your profits, you need to know where they’re leaking. Many entrepreneurs operate on hope instead of hard data. Profit isn't just about making more sales; it's about retaining more of what you earn. Why it matters: You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Understanding your profit margins, customer acquisition costs, and recurring expenses can reveal hidden gaps draining your business. The process: Use straightforward tools like QuickBooks, Wave, or even Google Sheets to monitor your income and expenses weekly. Build a habit of reviewing monthly reports. Comprehend your break-even point and focus on high-margin products or services. How to launch: Begin today by examining last month’s numbers. Highlight three key areas: the largest revenue drivers, the biggest expenses, and unexpected cost leaks. You’ll swiftly identify where to focus your efforts and where to make cuts. 2. Increase Prices Strategically Raising prices is the quickest method to boost profits, yet it's the strategy that entrepreneurs dread the most. The truth? People are willing to pay more for perceived value, confidence, and results. Why it matters: If your pricing doesn't reflect the value you provide, you’re not only earning less; you are also serving less effectively. The process: Review your customer results and testimonials. Highlight your unique selling points. Consider implementing a small price increase (5–15%) and track the response. Use value-oriented language to reframe the offer. How to launch: Start with your top-selling offer. Add a bonus, boost the perceived value, and try charging a higher price for a few new customers. Track conversions and gather feedback. 3. Automate Low-Value Tasks to Free Up Profit-Driving Time Time is the most limited resource, yet many entrepreneurs waste it answering emails or designing Canva graphics instead of securing clients or creating offers. Why it matters: Every hour you spend on $10 tasks is an hour not invested in $1,000 activities. The process: List your weekly tasks. Identify any repetitive, administrative, or non-essential items. After that, automate these tasks with tools like Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and AI-based assistants. Delegate what you can. How to launch: Choose one task to automate this week: set up an autoresponder, use AI to draft emails, or outsource design on Fiverr. You’ll instantly regain your time and enhance your earning potential. 4. Upsell and Cross-Sell with Purpose Selling once is good, but selling more to the same customer is better—and much more profitable. According to Marketing Metrics, the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60–70%, compared to 5–20% for newcomers. Why it matters: Repeat customers are less expensive and spend more. Upselling and cross-selling build loyal, high-value buyers. The process: Outline your customer journey. What logical next step or upgrade can you suggest? Use email automation to trigger personalized offers based on past purchases or behaviors. How to launch: Add a simple upsell at checkout or offer a cross-sell in a follow-up email. For example: “Loved our course? Add 1:1 coaching at a discounted rate.” Make it timely, relevant, and easy to accept. APPLICATION FOR AT-HOME ENTREPRENEURS Profit hacks are game-changers for home-based businesses and solopreneurs. With limited time and resources, your ability to increase profits without extending hours is crucial. Whether you're selling handmade products, offering coaching, providing digital downloads, or delivering online services, these strategies can provide you with a competitive edge.
These aren’t just tips — they’re tactics that shift your income ceiling upward, from your living room or laptop. Conclusion and Call to Action Profit hacks aren’t about working harder; they’re about working smarter. When you understand your numbers, increase your value, leverage your time, and serve your customers deeply, profit naturally follows. You deserve a business that not only fulfills you but also funds the life you want. Now’s the time to take action:
Want more resources on scaling your impact and income? Subscribe to our weekly round-up newsletter (write Newsletter in comments below) or Consider our Bizwoli Solution (See Below!). By the way we have turned the statistic around so that 80% of small business succeed after 5 years. Write Bizwoli in the comments for a free consultation. Thriving shouldn’t be optional. Thank you for reading, folks. Continue striving to be the best you can be as you search for your true self. Richard By seamlessly integrating business, work, and life, we create a virtual tapestry of well-being, skill development, business growth, workplace culture, and leadership, enabling you to become your best self. Note, some links in this video are affiliate links; if you make a purchase, we will earn a commission. We provide FREE weekly learning opportunities for you: Mondays: Free Articles are posted on our FontanieMagazine website https://bit.ly/3WKM9QD Podcasts available at 8 AM Central Time on:
Further Resources Available to you: Executive Video Coaching: https://bit.ly/4cnqGDV Bizwoli – Planning and Organizing Your Business: https://bit.ly/3YripHD Affiliate Marketing With Richard: https://bit.ly/3ZqE18D FM Storefront: https://bit.ly/4bNfiBs Facebook: https://bit.ly/3uPyvSa Pinterest: https://bit.ly/3RSWCrk Life’s Dimensions, Instagram: https://bit.ly/3W7zYOM Coaching Opportunity to Gain $10,000 per month: https://bit.ly/3t4cbmO Michael Cheney: Partner and Profit: https://bit.ly/3ZkY3mI Note: Script and Image A.I. Assisted
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![]() Absolutely you can make money online, but you can’t necessarily do it for free. What a misconception? That is that you can make money online for free. Now that I have your attention, there are ways to be more cost effective with your online business and that is what this article is all about - discovering ways to reduce your costs especially if you are just starting out. But even if you are a seasoned online business owner you may find there is something here for you too. Strong online business owners want to be in control of their business. They don’t want to hand it over to others and put themselves in a position of falling victim to the whims of others. Keep the core of your business close to you so don’t hand the essential parts of your business to others. If you do you lose control of it. In order to have control over your online business, there are a few essentials you need, like your own domain, a hosting service, an autoresponder and a website to name a few. Here is the problem with free stuff, you don’t own it and it can be taken away just as easy as you got it. And there is usually some catch, for instance you really don’t get what you need and to get what you need there is an upsell. So you pay anyway – and even more than you originally intended. So yes, you will need to spend money to build a successful online business. However there is good news. Your initial investment is nowhere near as much as a brick and mortar business. In fact, with around $200-$500, you’ll be able to build your very own online business from scratch and notch it up to a comfortable income. If you are on a tight budget the following strategies will help you reduce costs that will take out some of the burden of starting an online business. 1. Start Small Starting small is the most important rule of the lot. When buying a domain name, use an affordable service like Godaddy. Choose a 1-year plan rather than opting for more just because you get a discount. When choosing hosting, go with a starter plan and pay monthly rather than paying yearly because you want a cheaper price. This is what starting small is all about. When your business is doing well, you can opt for the annual payments to enjoy cost savings – but not when you’re a beginner who’s just scraping by. 2. Follow your nose rather than the herd The online marketing space is filled with followers who will jump on every new thing that comes along. You need to be more astute and alert. When you’re first starting off, you may need a page builder for your sales pages. Think about using Google Documents, or your own Word document. These much more cost effective than purchasing ready-made documents. Email is still one of the best ways to market your products and if you use Facebook right you may find you are building your list while at the same time strengthening your relationships with your clients and customers. The best advice says, "Watch for not getting trapped into expensive options and reduce your recurring bills as much as possible." 3. Track your expenses If you’re paying by PayPal, most of your recurring bills will be automated and it’s easy to lose track of your pre-approved payments. Make a list of all the monthly expenses in your online business. You may be shocked to find that you’re paying for services you no longer use. For example, you may have a Canva subscription, but you’re hiring graphic designers from Fiverr. So you’re wasting money here. You can eliminate wasteful spending just by tracking your expenses. And, make sure you have access to your receipts in case the tax man cometh. 4. Leverage free trials A lot of software, tools, and the like come with free 7-day, 14-day or even 30-day trials. You can save money by using them – but before you sign up, make sure that you’re ready first or you’ll be wasting the trial. For instance, when you take a 30-day trial for an autoresponder, prepare your opt in pages are ready and obtain traffic before signing up for the 30-day trial. In this way, you’ll hit the ground running from day 1 and build your list instead of wasting precious days getting the other components in your funnel ready. 5. Quality matters You get what you pay for. Sometimes, it’s better to pay more for a product to get a better service. You’ll often find, for instance, cheap self-hosted autoresponders sold by dodgy marketers. Their selling point will be that you only pay a one-time fee. That’s true. But once you start using their software, you’ll find that the cheap software breaks down or has atrocious deliverability rates and so on. You’d be better off paying a monthly fee for a solid service like Get Response or AWeber and avoid wasting money on questionable products. Your key here is to find the balance between cost and value. 6. Shop around You may find that some info-products, educational programs and courses. are priced differently in different places. For example, you may find a PLR store selling you a resell rights product for $9. That same product may be sold in another website for $3. This happens all the time and is no different from a buying a bag of popcorn costing 3X more in a cinema than at your nearby grocery store. Shop around and see if you can get the product at a cheaper price. If you are buying products on Warrior Plus or JVZoo make sure you read reviews first before being taken by the glossy sales page. Remember these are prepared by seasoned marketers who know their stuff and have excellent internet marketing experience. Also many of these products have “down sells” so watch you don’t jump at the first page that is presented to you. Finally look at the bonuses that sellers offer, ensure you understand them because some sellers are just unloading worthless products that have glitches in them. 7. Look for coupons Another way to save money is to search on Google for ‘product name + coupon’. You may find coupons that help you get a few dollars off. Always be alert. Sometimes software is discounted during times like Black Friday, Christmas, and other festive holidays. These may be the best time to grab products and save yourself some money. Alternatively, you can contact the product vendor directly and ask for a discount coupon. Many vendors will respond to your requests if you’re polite. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. At the end of the day, you want to run a lean, effective online business that makes money round the clock without incurring huge costs. One of the easiest ways to increase your bottom-line will be to trim your expenses. Constantly look for ways to do this and your business will see higher profits and you’ll be able to earn more and save more. Thanks for reading, And as always stay safe, be well and continue becoming the best version of yourself. Richard Fontanie |
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