The 5 ROI levers most family businesses miss
Before you spend another dollar on marketing, check these five places where revenue is usually leaking.
Most family-owned businesses I meet are working too hard for the result they're getting. Before we talk about marketing, we look at five places where money is almost always leaking. Fix any one of these and you get the equivalent of a marketing campaign — for free.
1. Your top three customers are subsidizing your bottom ten.
Pull a list of every customer or account by revenue. You'll usually find the top 20% drives 70–80% of revenue. Then look at margin: many of those bottom accounts cost you money once you count time. Stopping work for unprofitable customers is the fastest profit lever in small business.
2. Your prices are old.
Most family businesses are running on a price sheet from 2–4 years ago. A 6–10% increase, communicated honestly, almost never costs you customers — and it goes straight to the bottom line.
3. You're not asking for the next sale.
After every transaction is the cheapest moment to make another one. A simple 'next time you're in, ask about X' or an automated follow-up email beats most paid acquisition channels for ROI.
4. Your Google Business Profile is incomplete.
It's free. It's where 60%+ of your local customers are deciding whether to come in. And the average family business has it half-filled-out. Fix this before paying anyone for SEO.
5. You're paying for things you don't use.
Audit every subscription, software seat, and ad campaign from the last 12 months. The first time we do this with a client we average $400–$1,200 a month in found money.
None of these are flashy. All of them work. Most of them you can do this week.