Every business is engaging in certain money-rendering, customer and prospect generating processes they don't even recognize -- let alone measure and analyze.Until and unless they recognize what and how they're doing, they can't begin to see how much better they could be performing.Now, let me stop and talk a little about leverage in the new context that we're going to talk about.Most people -- particularly people who have a financial bent -- think of leverage as having two quotients to it: upside potential and downside risk.That happens when you buy real estate, lease a piece of capital equipment or buy any other kind of investment with little or nothing down and a future payment obligation.I don't want to deal with that. I want to deal with the most wonderful kind of leverage each and every business person -- and probably almost everybody who is gainfully employed in any activity to an employer -- has and that's upside leverage.Parenthetically, it costs you as an employer, business person or professional the same fixed amount --No matter what it is you do -- to drive business into your company.If you run ads, have salespeople, generate referrals in a subtle, understated type approach, do direct mailings, have outside field people,use manufacturers reps, do trade shows or whatever, the activity costs you "X" dollars --and that "X" is a fixed cost and has no correlation to how the action or the process performs.First it comes from analyzing, measuring, identifying -- and then replacing -- certain underperforming aspects of your selling, marketing, advertising, or operations with alternatives that perform better.Here are ten unique ways to multiply your wealth & maximize your potential:Smart bootstrapping is about turning your lack of resources into a competitive advantage. Peter Drucker says that there are two questions in business: question one is what business are you in, and question two is how is business? That's it. I would say there probably is a third question -- with all due respect to Mr. Drucker -- and that is how do you improve business.He also said that all businesses are designed to bring in a customer and that can only be accomplished through marketing and innovation. These are the only two functions of business and everything else is an expense.There is an interesting aspect of leverage that not one in a thousand business owners, CEOs or accountants ever recognize -- and those are the intangible assets. That means the advertising, marketing, good will, customer relationships, distribution channels and expertise that a company possesses -- and ways they could more effectively and productively use them to their advantage.To increase your income or rate of success in everything you do:Take full advantage of what you already have — your hidden assets, untapped opportunities and overlooked possibilities.Create multiple sources of income or success — so you aren’t reliant on just a single approach.Change the way you think so you can continue to grow and improve indefinitely.Embrace these strategies and apply them well to achieve financial security, influence, recognition and the success you deserve.See the big pictureMost people make the mistake of complicating business more than it needs to be.For example, building and increasing your business may seem intimidating and complex, but in realitythere are only three practical ways this can be achieved:You can increase the number of clients.You can increase the average sale per client.You can increase the number of times clients buy.Therefore, to build your business (and your income):Calculate the number of clients you now have — and how you can increase your number of clients by 10% in the next year.Figure out exactly how much, on average, each of your clients spends with you now — and how you can raise that average by 10% in the next year.Determine how often clients are currently purchasing from you — and find a way to decrease the time between transactions by 10%.Taken together, those three incremental 10% improvements will combine to expand your business by a total of 33%. And frequently, that will result in a doubling of personal income without much of a difference at all in operating costs.In short, most businesses are constantly awash in a sea of potential opportunities for growth and expansion. All that’s required is:The insight to see how these opportunities can be connected.Knowledge of the proven strategies other people have used successfully in similar circumstances. The ability to leverage these strategies together to produce greater income and success. When a person understands what to do, they also understand exactly and precisely how they can get anything they want in their business life and career.Create breakthroughsAs well as looking for incremental gains, you should also be attuned to breakthrough ideas — completely different and original ways of doing the same things.Breakthroughs create quantum and dramatic leaps forward instead of small gains. A good breakthrough also creates leverage — allowing you to change the entire game of business and seize a sustainable competitive advantage.To use the breakthrough mindset:Be opportunistic. Whenever you notice a problem, ask, ‘‘What’s the overlooked opportunity here to solve a problem loads of other people are facing every day?’’Think in terms of possibilities — about different and better ways of doing things.Be receptive to novel new ways of doing things — outside the traditional or industry standard approaches.Look at things logically. Be open-minded. Often the most obvious solutions are the last to be considered.If you keep an ongoing flow of high-quality information into your mind, you’ll be amazed at the number of ideas you can borrow and adapt from other fields that will generate genuine breakthrough business opportunities.Inventory your strengthsIn order to start moving forward to where you want to go, you first need to know exactly where you are today. To do that, you need to take a personal and business inventory — a strategic analysis of strengths, weaknesses and how these factors relate to the competition.A good strategic analysis:Lists all your business and personal assets and strengths – including character traits, network contacts, background experience, skills and knowledge. Categorizes how your business currently generates its business revenues. Identifies other businesses that benefit whenever you create a new client and evaluates the potential for joint ventures.Articulates your unique selling proposition (USP).Analyzes competitors — their strengths and weaknesses along with their competitive advantages. Details what your costs are in generating new clients — and compares that with the lifetime value of a client.Looks at all the ways you can lower the risk of transacting business with your organization. Studies how you go about generating referrals, reactivating old clients and up-selling your existing clients.Looks at your client retention track record. In practice, less than 5% of businesses ever get around to carrying out a detailed strategic analysis of themselves.That’s because most business people spend the majority of their time working in their business rather than on their business. Until you know what you’re currently doing right and currently doing wrong, you won’t have any ideas about how to improve. see hubwealthy.com/wealthy
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