What have you done to raise your income in the past 12 months?

[Ihavenoname]

What have you done to raise your income and profits in the last 12 months other then working longer or harder?

Limit yourself to only 3 things please.

Thank you.

1. raised my prices
2. built a full retail price list
3. charge for supplies for every job about 10% of labor as an add on.
4. bonus: dropped the BS work and raised price 3 times to $120 minimum for junk work. (yep, I don't get much bs work, but if I do it's well worth it now)

[scottymc]

What have I done? Moved on to another  way of making a living, so much easier.

[Peppy]

What have I done? Moved on to another  way of making a living, so much easier.

So you don't do upholstery anymore then? Must be nice!

[scottymc]

I do a bit in the winter,but only for friends and people I've done work for before. If I don't like the look of it  I don't do it ;D. I have a guest house now, it's not really work time consuming but not work as we know it.
This is my place, www.marengobeachbreak.com.au

[Mojo]

Very nice Scotty. My next trip to Oz I want to head down to Ballarat and see the old mining operations and the town itself. I heard it is gorgeous and filled with history.

Do you know why all the trees in Victoria lean to the North ?

Because NSW sucks............:) heard that joke once and had to laugh.

My wife is a Northern beaches baby. Born and raised near Manly. We typically stay at Bonnels Bay near Gosford with her Mum when we go over.

Very nice place you have.

Back on topic. I raised my prices.

Chris

[scottymc]

Ballarat is a nice place, a renovaters delight, to far from the ocean for me. You'll need to raise your prices if you come over here, sound like your dollar has dropped below the peso.
Oh yeah congradulations I hear America won the world series yet again.

[Rich]

What have I done? Moved on to another  way of making a living, so much easier.

Can't top that one.
Rich

[gene]

I told my wife we will never, ever, and this time I really mean it, pay $600.00 for medical treatment for a cats eyeball. The next time a cat gets an ulcer in their eye we will go with the eye patch.

gene

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

I'll take a serious stab at this;

1) Take on more products to offer
2) Become more efficient in the office so I can focus more on other things, as in being more productive with things that make us profit
3) Better follow up, with customers and clients, as in doing the things a professional salesman would do, if we had one
Extra credit; I have to pimp out my web site; it's too difficult to navigate, and find what you need.  Very scattered.  I can't just wave a magic wand, either, as I am the one who does it soup to nuts. 

[mike802]

Working on designing some new products, haven't been able to build them yet, still tooling up.

Added a couple new trade shows.

I am planning on redoing my web site, adding some video and making it more interesting and easier to navigate.

Unfortunately none of this has payed off yet.

sound like your dollar has dropped below the peso.

Yes the dollar is going the way of the peso, does anyone remember the Weimar Republic.

[kodydog]

[quoteI am planning on redoing my web site, adding some video and making it more interesting and easier to navigate.
][/quote]
When my wife started our web site over a year ago, I didn't think it would add any new business. Turns out I was wrong. Theirs a lot of people who don't use the Yellow Pages any more. She put samples of our work and pieces we have for sale on it. It adds about one customer a month and for a mom and pop business it really helps. Shes also planing on making it bigger and better. 

[Mike8560]

Well I closed my shop and decided to save the on the overhead and just work mobile fromy home.
I so sold my old home and moved to a canal spot to Save on Marina fees.
That when I got a real blow and had a   TIA stroke.

not making as much but it dosent cost much either.

[kodydog]

I just noticed in the local news paper an add for a Home Show. Its a big show and it happens the first weekend in March and sells out by February. I'm just wondering if any one has had any success at one of these trade shows. The entry fee is $525 for a 10'X10' booth and you can sell products while you're there. Any info would be helpful.

[gene]

I did a chair and ottoman in a really 'far out' black and white fabric, kind of like a panda print, sort of, for an Interior Designer who does a home and garden show once a year. I did this several years ago. She used it to get upholstery business for herself, and thus for me.

She is a fairly consistent customer of mine. This home and garden show was her #1 source of new business for many years. She does everything in terms of Interior Designing, so I don't know how well it would be for someone who only did one thing, like upholstery without all the other stuff.

One piece of furniture could pay for your expenses and time. I think more important than the price of the booth is what kind of people go to the home show? Are they potential customers for you?

Good luck with it if you choose to dive in.

gene

[bobbin]

Many years ago, while working for my previous employer I "did booth time" at a Home show in a local community.  It was a fair amount of work to set it all up, as I recall.  He was really trying to make a name for his business in lateral arm awnings and marine work.  I'm not sure he derived the kinds of sales he thought he was going to, but that may have been because the concept of a Home show wasn't really the right venue for what he was trying to accomplish.