You can add to your bottom line immediately by making some small but effective changes in your business. Making small improvements in your business can be just as effective as introducing a single 'big bang' change. Consider this, making 1% improvements in the way you work, your processes and checklists can add up quickly. One hundred 1% improvements is already a 100% improvement on your current state! Here are some simple ways to start adding to your bottom line today:

1. Refine your checklists and procedures. Are there areas which involve unnecessary double handling or redundant checking (i.e. checking that adds no value)? Any process improvement that enables work to be completed in a shorter time - while still ensuring quality - represents a reduction in cost, an increase in profit and an improvement in your bottom line
2. Make your staff accountable for the time they spend at work. That means ensuring they complete daily timesheets that compel them to account for their working hours. One business owner who started this (and we have encouraged numerous businesses to adopt the process) added a massive 10% to their bottom line by eliminating wasted time. The time was not being purposefully wasted but because there was no recording mechanism, there was no visibility of how it was being used. By creating this visibility, staff began reducing their 'timewasters'. This is not a case of lack of trust in your team, but rather reinforcing the importance of spending time wisely and for the benefit of the business
3. Check those 'old' processes which you probably haven't looked at for years. Are you mailing items that could be emailed? Are you mailing items in A4 envelopes that could be sent just as easily in DL sized ones (at half the price)? A simple change in an old habit can potentially save your business an enormous amount of money
4. Check your suppliers for competitiveness. If you can get the same item at a lower unit cost elsewhere, this is a saving that translates directly to profit. Alternatively, ask your supplier for a discount
5. Ensure all your team are actively engaged during the day. Sometimes adding to the bottom line is as simple as allocating work from an overburdened resource to an underutilised one. If everyone in your team is productively engaged, your bottom line has lots of potential to grow.

These simple steps are changes you can make today to improve your bottom line. They do not require a massive investment of time or money, but are inexpensive ways to firstly, help you and your team be more focused and secondly help you save money. One important idea when looking at ways to improve your bottom line is this: you don't have to dramatically increase your prices or slash your overheads to improve your profitability. Yes, there will be occasions when price increases and significant cost reduction are appropriate (and necessary) however, if you are not in that position and want to make changes, consider the above suggestions and the thought that it just takes 1% improvements to make a difference. Look closely at your business and see what changes you can make to your business now to add to your bottom line.