When it comes to making more money,  many business owners think there is a magic formula or complicated process for increasing profits.  That is just not true.  To simply and demystify your options, I've broken it down into 4  simple strategies. Here are 4 ways to increase your profits:

1. You can actually do more work.  If your business is client-based and you charge based on time you could start seeing more clients.  Delegation is key here, because you don't want a sense of overwhelm and stress, which are counterproductive and just plain unhealthy.

2. You can start a new stream of passive income, which usually requires more work at the beginning but has the potential to show long term profits when marketed correctly. This could be teaching group classes, creating an information product, selling products your clients might enjoy or you are using with them when you deliver your service, or becoming an affiliate for someone else's work and getting a commission when one of your referrals purchases from them.

3. You can raise your rates. This should be done after careful consideration.  This action is rarely reversible and will require a  great deal of confidence in the value you offer, as well as an ability to communicate that value so that your clients realize that you're well worth the increase. Perhaps you only increase your rates for new clients or increase rates by 10% for existing clients and 25% for new clients. And of course, the market must be able to bear this increase, otherwise you may fall prey to your less expensive competition.

4. You can decrease your expenses.  If you know how to bootstrap, then this can be easily accomplished by canceling redundant services, being more cost effective with discretionary spending, and adhering to a revised, tighter budget.

Before you commit to any of these methods however, it's critical that you define what you have now, evaluate the situation or process, find inefficiencies or areas of opportunity, and implement a fix. You may want to do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) at this point as well, so that you can spot all possible opportunities and risks to your business before embarking on a new profit increase plan. All in all, increasing your profits is more doable than you may realize, and can be accomplished quickly if you stop to review your options and the possibilities first.

Deanna Maio, Business Development Strategist & Speaker, teaches women business owners how to grow their business significantly while still having time to live a great life. For FREE tips on how to get more results without working harder, attract more clients, and grow your profits, visit http://www.savvygals.com/