Add some sparkle to your sales

The results of the shake-up have been impressive. Over Christmas she sold out of her Dragon and Phoenix range while continuing to sell expensive jewellery to customers who wanted to mark some special occasion.

Rogers, 43, said the review of her products and the way she sells them was invaluable. "If someone comes in your door it is better that they buy a £20 pair of earrings than they walk away with nothing."

If you want to give your business the best chance of success in 2010, it is vital to carry out a thorough review of the products and services you are offering and discard those that do not fit the current market or do not make an adequate profit.

Salim Mitha, 35, has also taken the opportunity to review the range of services his business offers. He is the co-founder of Wahanda.com, a website that lists health and beauty practitioners by type and location across the country, from beauty salons and spas to individual therapists. He started the business in 2008 and takes a commission on anything that is bought through the site.

After talking to his clients, however, he discovered that while they liked being listed on the site, many of them would prefer to sell some of their more complex products such as laser eye surgery and skin treatments to their customers in person rather than through a website.

Mitha realised the solution was to allow salons and practitioners to offer free consultations and day passes on the website to get customers to visit them in person. He launched this service in October, charging salons £30 a month.

"We found that a lot of people don't feel comfortable purchasing a gym membership or laser eye surgery on a website so we introduced free consultations. We saw that these businesses were having a hard time getting customers through the door so we introduced the facility to offer a free skin consultation and so on. It gives customers more information before they make a decision."

The introduction of the service has worked well, said Mitha. "It has been amazingly successful because it has made it easier for our partners to attract people. Sometimes they like the ability to sell things but some of them just want to get customers through the door to be able to sell on their terms. It has made it really simple for them."

John Grange, a business adviser with Business Link, the government-backed adviser, said: "It is essential to do a review of your products because we have been through a period of change and recession and believing you can just hang on and then go back to how it was in 2007 is very dangerous.

"The world has changed and so your business will have to change. You can't stand still in a changing environment and expect to succeed."

Grange said it was important not just to look at your products and services but also at whether they are still profitable. He said: "It may be that offerings that were the most profitable are no longer that. There is no point in having a good market share in a loss-making product. You might have to look at your pricing structure and your costs."

Grange said it was also vital to look at whether you need to change the way your products are being delivered to the customer, citing the example of theatre tickets, which formerly had to be bought in person from the box office but now could be bought online from anywhere.

He said that as part of reviewing your products, it was a good idea to talk not only to your customers but also to non-customers.

Julie Maxted has taken the opportunity of a review of her products to turn her business on its head. Maxted, 47, started her pet and home minding business, The Pets, Homes and Gardens Company, in Horsham, West Sussex, in 2002 and has since been joined by her husband Peter, 51.

The couple were often asked by people how to start a business like theirs and so two years ago they decided to offer their business as a product, by creating a "business in a box" to enable people to set up on their own just like they had.

After spending two years developing the idea, they have just launched their business in a box, which they plan to sell for a one-off fee of £6,995 plus Vat. This includes a manual, a website, two days of training and the right to set up a similar business in a specified region.

Maxted, who intends to continue running her own pet and house minding business for the time being, said: "Over the years a lot of people have told me they would love to do something like this. But it is quite daunting for people if they have never run their own business before. They are buying a licensed business opportunity."

How to get it right

- Consider introducing a cheaper range to appeal to more cost-conscious customers but make sure it does not damage the image of your business.

- Be wary of marking down prices of existing products to attract customers. Once lowered, prices are very difficult to put back up.

- Don't continue to sell products or services purely for sentimental reasons. If they are not in demand, or they don't make a profit, ditch them.

- Get a clean sheet of paper and write down the ideal product range for the market you are serving. Then work out how to adjust your range to mirror this.

- Don't make decisions in isolation - ask your customers what they think of your product range and what they would like to see more of.

- Work out the profitability of your products. It may no longer be enough to justify stocking them.

- Review the way you sell your products and services. Can they be ordered or delivered online? Is selling them wholesale still the best way, for example, or should you be trying to build a brand of your own?