Maybe you never want to really grow bigger, just grow more profitable. For some people the idea of a big business with hundreds of employees and a big building with a huge sign is a dream.

For others it's just to have a business for themselves. Maybe it's a small family business. A business on your terms. It could be you just want to keep it as a side hustle.

But how do you make this business THRIVE and generate the income you want to live, to retire, to pass on to the next generation.

If you want to GROW while staying small, you need to optimize the business.

Ways to grow a small business, while also staying small.

• What's the dream?
  • To have a side hustle that makes 40k profit a year
  • To have a family business that profits 250k a year
  • To have a business to retire in, eventually replacing your day job income

Just like with everything, you have to have defined goals to know how and when you've reached them.

• Track your time
  • How much time do you spend taking to customers?
  • Delivering orders?
  • Running production?
  • Maintaining equipment?
  • Accounting?

Part of staying a small business is working with limited time. If you want to stay with 3 people running the shop, you could say you have 120 hours of work a week. You have to track where all that time is going from day one.

• Clean House / Take out the trash
  • Don't work with stressful customers.
  • Only take profitable jobs.
  • Stop taking on projects that don't fit the dream.
  • Stick with what you like and what works.
  • Don't work with technology that doesn't fit the plan.

You will learn lessons as you take on clients. Certain jobs just won't be profitable, others will be loaded with stress. Some work just doesn't scale well (e.g. it takes a 2x the work for the same profit as other work). You have to know when to clean house, turn down jobs and follow the dream.

• Don't be cheap
  • Don't waste time shopping around to save 50 cents on a cone of thread.
  • Do the maintenance, don't skip out on a step to save a few bucks on cleaner.
  • Buy the better heat press.
  • Pay for software if it helps.
  • Upgrade your equipment when its time.

Trying to save a buck can end up costing you so much more. Remember that you are trying to reach a goal. Don't let saving a few hundred bucks get in the way of reaching your goal. If you are trying to get to $100k a year, what's $200?

• Be efficient, everywhere!
  • Move your equipment and tables to save walking time.
  • Get good tools to save time.
  • Have a regimented plan for every order.
  • Get things like a sleeve platen.
  • Sharpen your scissors.
  • Weigh things instead of counting them.
  • Get smart software.

Efficiency is going to be the key to maximizing your small business profitability and revenue. Many times businesses get stuck because they have run out of time!

• Hit your goals, then move to the next
  • If you want to get to $100k a year, start with $20k.
  • Look at what you did to get to 20k and do the math.
  • Can you scale that with the time/people you have?
  • If not, what can you do better?
  • Consider new ideas to scale it up!

You need to step by step to your goal. You may find that there isn't enough time, or not enough profit. This allows you to FIX the problem through success! "I got to $20K! How are things looking? Ok, I know what to fix to get to $40k."

• Ask for advice, maybe take it
  • Ask people who have a business what they do.
  • Find out their goals.
  • What stumbling blocks did they have?
  • Share issues you have and see how they would solve them.

There isn't a magic bullet, but knowledge is absolutely power. Look for inspiration from others, but be sure to not compare yourself to their business too much, remember this is your goal. Seek advice from others, but don't look for exact answers.

Strategies to Plan, Run and Profit from a Business Built for YOU, by YOU. That's the goal. It's YOUR plan, it's YOUR business, it's YOUR goals. You have the ability to make it anything you want.