If you’re like most small business owners, you’re feeling the pinch of today’s economy. As you look for ways to increase revenue, it’s important not to overlook all of your options. The good news is that there are probably more ways to grow revenue than you might think.

We’ve found it’s common for businesses to focus on just one way to increase revenue, which is by getting new customers. While that’s a viable option, it also tends to be the most expensive one and can take the longest to pay a return. In fact, there are three simple ways to increase revenue that apply to almost every business. In this article, we expand on the three ways to increase revenue to give you more options for your business.

#1: Increase New Customers

As we’ve already alluded to, the first way to increase revenue is by increasing the number of new customers you attract to your business. This is the option most people think about when they think about growing revenue. It’s about going out to the market and capturing customers you didn’t have before.

To illustrate what this looks like in action, take the example of a restaurant. The owner can attract new customers by sending direct mail to surrounding residents. Another possibility is to offer a special to local businesses on first-time catering orders. The cost to print and send flyers is minimal, and an influx of new customers would quickly cover the expense.

To increase new customers, you might:

Offer a new customer discount.
Start a referral program that rewards customers who send new clients your way.
Attend events (local, charitable, industry, etc.) to get exposure to new customers.

#2: Increase the Transaction Frequency

A second way to increase revenue is by increasing the transaction frequency. Put another way, this means increasing how often your customers buy from you.

Going back to our restaurant illustration, let’s say the owner wants to increase the number of times a customer comes to her restaurant. One way to offer incentives is to hand out lunch coupons to dinner guests. By doing that, she’s capturing a crowd that might typically only go out to eat for dinner, but with a coupon in hand are far more likely to go out for lunch, too.

A second way she could increase transaction frequency is by offering a new option—something like Sunday brunch. The restaurant isn’t normally open for breakfast, but Sunday brunch is a popular meal to eat out and opens up the possibility of getting customers in for an additional visit.

To increase the transaction frequency, you might:

Pre-sell multi-visit services at a discount.
Offer a rewards program that allows customers to earn points for every dollar spent, then turn those point in for free services or products.
Communicate regularly with your customers (email check-ins, text messages, social media, etc.) so that you’re not forgotten.

#3: Increase the Transaction Amount

The third way to increase revenue is by increasing the average transaction amount. This means that each time a customer makes a purchase, on average they purchase more products and services.

The restaurant owner decides to train her servers on how to upsell items to the customers—things like appetizers, desserts, and drinks. Rather than simply taking a person’s order, the servers are automatically working suggestions into every interaction they have with a customer. Simple questions like, “Can I bring you a glass of wine?” or “Have you tried the new queso yet? People love it!” are making a difference in raising the average ticket price.

To increase the transaction amount, you might:

Raise prices.
Offer bundled services that help customers try services they might not buy a la carte.
Give free samples to allow customers to try new products.

In most businesses, there are things that can be done to grow revenue in all three of these ways. However, for any given business some of these ways might be easier or more applicable than others. Take a few moments to consider ways that you can implement one or all of these suggestions into your business.

The universal ways to grow revenue are part of the Business Model program – one of the 11 elements of an exceptional business. Our mission is to multiply the number of exceptional businesses globally. Join the conversation on LinkedIn.