7個理由，你的小生意或自由職業無法賺到足夠的錢（上）

In a recent post, I answered a question from a small-business owner not generating enough sales. But what if you have sales and are still not making enough money?

在最近的一篇文章中，我回答了一個小企業家的問題。但如果你有銷售資源，但仍然沒有賺到足夠的錢怎麼辦？

Here are seven reasons your small business is not making enough money.

以下是你的小生意沒有賺到足夠錢的七個原因。

1. Current business area is lower-paying than previous corporate role.

1. 目前的業務領域比以前的公司職位薪酬更低。

This particular small-business owner is not making enough money when she compares her current consulting business to her previous corporate role -- “I have *not* reached my corporate salary (not even close)” despite strong sales and clients results. However, this may not be a fair comparison.

當這位小企業主將自己目前的諮詢業務與之前的公司職位進行比較時，她並沒有賺到足夠的錢——儘管銷售和客戶業績都很好，但“我還沒有（甚至還沒有達到）公司的薪資水平”。然而，這可能不是一個公平的比較。

A previous job might serve Fortune 50 clients, while the current business serves mom-and-pop businesses. A previous job might deliver long-term, multi-departmental projects, while the current business is a solo consultancy with smaller, discrete pieces of work. Make sure the money potential is there in your current business before you expect it to replace your previous corporate salary.

以前的工作可能服務於財富50強的客戶，而現在的工作則服務於夫妻店。以前的工作可能會交付長期的、多部門的項目，而現在的業務是一個單獨的諮詢公司，有更小的、離散的工作。在你期望它取代你以前的公司薪水之前，確保你當前的業務中有潛在的資金。

Depending on your financial obligations, you may not need to replace your salary. Compensation is not just monetary -- there are psychic and lifestyle benefits that make up for the lower pay. However, if you do want to make more, then look at your revenue potential. If you charge by the hour, can you charge a high enough rate and book enough hours that you can replace or exceed your corporate salary?

根據你的財務義務，你可能不需要更換你的薪水。薪酬不僅僅是金錢上的——還有心理和生活方式上的好處，可以彌補較低的薪酬。然而，如果你真的想賺更多，那就看看你的收入潛力吧。如果你按小時收費，你能收取足夠高的費用並預訂足夠多的時間來取代或超過你的公司工資嗎？

2. Pricing is too low.

2. 定價太低了。

That said, if your current business is in a similar market as your previous corporate job and you are still not making enough money, this is a legitimate concern. You should expect to match, if not exceed, your former salary (after all, you are now taking on the risk of developing the business).

也就是說，如果你現在的公司和你以前的工作市場相似，你仍然沒有賺到足夠的錢，這是一個合理的擔憂。你應該期望自己的薪資與以前持平（如果不超過的話）（畢竟，你現在正在承擔發展業務的風險）。

So, if you are doing similar work but not earning as much money, look at your pricing. You may be charging too little -- a small price for a small shop, rather than a big price for a big company. You might have strong sales, but are you pricing high enough with each sale, or at least your average sale?

所以，如果你在做類似的工作，但賺的錢不多，看看你的定價。你可能要價太低——對一家小商店來說，這只是個小价錢，而不是大公司的大價錢。你可能有強勁的銷售，但你的定價是否足夠高，或至少你的平均銷售？

3. Costs are too high.

3.成本太高了。

A consulting or services business typically doesn’t have as complicated (or high) a cost structure as a products business that has materials, manufacturing, storage and distribution costs. However, all businesses have costs, so when you are not making enough money, you have to review yours.

諮詢或服務業務的成本結構通常不像產品業務那樣複雜（或高），產品業務包括材料、製造、存儲和分銷成本。然而，所有的企業都有成本，所以當你沒有賺到足夠的錢時，你必須重新審視你的企業。

For example, my services business has costs, including office rent, accounting and legal fees, technology and equipment and travel and entertainment. If you have strong sales but don’t feel you’re making enough money, then your cost structure may be too high for the prices you are charging.

例如，我的服務業務有成本，包括辦公室租金、會計和法律費用、技術和設備以及旅行和娛樂。如果你的銷售業績很好，但你覺得自己賺的錢不夠，那麼你的成本結構可能對你的要價來說太高了。

Do you need ongoing office space? Do you need that professional membership? Do you need that subscription? In the 10+ years I’ve been in business, I have pruned a number of support services that turned out not to return enough for the cost. Many of these services aren't too expensive on an individual basis, but in aggregate, they can impact your profits.

你需要持續的辦公空間嗎？你需要專業的會員資格嗎？你需要訂閱嗎？在我從商的10多年裏，我已經精簡了一些支持服務，結果證明它們的回報不足以彌補成本。這些服務中的許多在個人層面上並不太昂貴，但總的來說，它們會影響你的利潤。

4. Volume or turnover is too slow.

4. 成交量或營業額來得太慢。

Let’s say your costs are minimal and your pricing is in line with your market. Your profit seems high each time you make a sale, but you are still not making enough when you draw each week, month or quarter. Your individual sale might be just fine, but you are not making enough of them.

假設你的成本是最低的，你的定價與你的市場相符。你的利潤似乎很高，每次你做銷售，但你仍然沒有賺足夠當你每週，每月或季度。你的個人銷售可能還不錯，但你做得還不夠。

This particular reader is getting results and referrals, so not having enough volume isn’t a reflection of not doing a good job. It could be simply be caused by a long selling cycle or a conscious decision to not take on as much work. If it’s a conscious choice to limit your number of clients, then you have to charge a premium to each client. If your selling cycle is so long that you inadvertently limit the number of clients, then you have to focus on speeding up the process from the time a client hears of you until they decide to buy.

這個特定的讀者正在獲得結果和推薦，所以沒有足夠的數量並不是沒有做好工作的反映。這可能僅僅是由於一個長期的銷售週期或者一個有意識的決定不承擔那麼多工作造成的。如果你有意限制你的客戶數量，那麼你必須向每個客戶收取額外費用。如果你的銷售週期太長，以至於你無意中限制了客戶的數量，那麼你就必須集中精力從客戶聽到你的消息到他們決定購買你的產品，加速這個過程。

點此閱讀：7個理由，你的小生意或自由職業無法賺到足夠的錢（下）