A version of this article first appeared on EideBailly.com.
Boosting profitability doesn’t have to be complex. It begins with making smart decisions backed by strong data. In fact, organizations that prioritize data-driven decision making are 63% more likely to successfully adapt to a changing business environment.
Here are four ways to increase profitability in your business.
Create an Agile Strategic Plan
The ability to shift quickly is only possible through continuous monitoring and adjustment. This starts with understanding your organizational value, including financial metrics, brand, customer satisfaction, employee retention, and more.
Quick decision making relies on trackable KPIs and visibility into your data. Awareness of your current state allows you to calculate future project profitability and accurately assess potential investment and acquisition opportunities.
Leverage Trend Analysis and Scenario Forecasting
Staying ahead of industry trends isn’t just about keeping up — it’s about positioning your organization to lead. 71% of leaders surveyed by HLB are using predictive analytics to track future trends in 2025. By regularly reviewing and comparing trends across industry, you can identify shifts in market conditions and uncover emerging customer needs.
Additionally, using your data to analyze “what-if” scenarios — such as economic changes, supply chain disruptions, or changes in consumer behavior — can help you prepare for the unexpected and develop proactive strategies.
Prioritize Cost Vigilance
Top performing companies prioritize building a foundation of financial resilience. By focusing on effective cost containment and cash flow management strategies, you can reduce financial stress, maximize resource utilization, and reinvest savings into initiatives that optimize performance.
Strategies for cash flow optimization and cost containment include:
- Analyzing Payables and Receivables: Streamlining the collection of accounts receivable and negotiating better payment terms with suppliers can significantly improve cash flow.
- Fixed Cost Analysis: Fixed operational costs can account for over half of a business’s income. Identifying and reducing semi-fixed costs such as rent, administration, and production can improve liquidity.
- Scenario Forecasting: Utilizing software to forecast cash flow for multiple scenarios, businesses can prepare for fluctuations and maintain financial stability.
- Process Improvement: Look for areas to improve like manual data entry, poor inventory management, redundant approval processes, and outdated technology.
Optimize Your Technology
Optimizing your organization’s technology can reduce infrastructure costs and improve both scalability and efficiency.
Our clients report the following challenges:
- Multiple software that performs the same function
- Poor adoption of technology investments
- System is cumbersome to use
- Technology spend is higher than the return we are getting
- Inability to stay on top of maintenance
Optimizing existing systems and tools leads to more calculated, controlled growth.
Key areas to review include:
- Data Utilization: Organize your data to enable faster, more accurate reporting.
- Integrations: Leverage tools that integrate seamlessly to reduce manual effort and errors, cutting operational costs.
- Automation: Automate repetitive tasks to enhance efficiency and free up resources for high-value activities that drive revenue growth.
- AI Readiness: Evaluate your readiness to adopt AI and other advanced technologies to boost both performance and profitability.
Increase Profitability Today
When profitability becomes a priority, growth follows naturally. With the right approach, you’re not just preparing for the future — you’re shaping it.
