I've just been on a two-day course, all about improving profits for small businesses.  Not just where to look, that's pretty easy to do, but more the process.  Simplifies what needs to be done hugely (can you end a sentence with an adverb?)  However, I'll save that for another day!

First, where to look.  Say you bought a business; the first things you do are cut out the dead wood, find ways to save money, and then seek to maximise revenues.  You do this without any sentimentality or loyalty.  So, why not do this on your own business now - seriously and rigorously?  (All those adverbs again!)

Reduce Costs

Don't waste money - look at debt and interest (refinance or ask for a better rate), rent (lots of vacancies, so easy to negotiate now), salaries (look for staff lateness, long lunches, people checking Facebook or their mobile phones - if they'd prefer to be somewhere else, let them go),and other costs (you may not save a lot, but look at the cost and the effectiveness of your marketing, IT costs, insurances, and perhaps bank charges.)

Raw Materials

Go on the internet and find the prices of other suppliers.  It's not just about the lowest price, but shipping, terms of payment, range, and reliability.  You can achieve a material saving by reducing buying prices, avoiding wastage, and not holding excess stock.

Factory Wages

People making things are fascinating to watch.  But, you also need to know if the jobs are being completed in good time - know the required job times, keep work-sheets to measure budget and actual hours, make sure everyone has work to do all the time, and that you hear about problems early.

Maximise Revenues

Make sure every product line is profitable, and necessary.  Perhaps increase the range of products and services to existing customers before you chase after new customers - it's more cost-effective to look after existing customers than to find new ones.  Look at your sales process - customer reception, product knowledge, sales skills, incentives, after-sales service.  Will these be a positive consumer experience, and ensure your customer retention and conversion rates go up?

A good time to do this is at the start of the new year, come up with a rough plan on how to do better.  It should take only a couple of hours.

Next time, a bit about the process and a format for a simple plan; it's simple and very effective, and it starts with you knowing things can be better with a little time on the basics.