6 Ideas for Diversifying Revenue Streams for Your SME or Startup

Building your startup or small-to-medium enterprise (SME) from the ground up can be an exciting but also nerve-wracking endeavor. Navigating the challenges of securing funding, scaling your operations, and staying ahead in a competitive market requires determination, innovation, and a well-defined strategy. And because you’re likely to face various headwinds and challenges, it’s important to prepare for anything, building up your business on a stable and diverse foundation to ensure its success.

Diversifying revenue streams makes a lot of sense for SMEs and startups. For one, your business won’t have to rely on just one source of income, helping you mitigate risks and improve your cash flow. Next, it expands your market, allowing you to tap into new customer segments to which you can offer your products and services. Moreover, with additional revenue, you can build up a comfortable cushion in case another disaster that affects your business comes along. Finally, diversification challenges you to innovate and grow as a business, which is critical, especially in a highly competitive marketplace.

With various revenue streams you can explore, it’s important to get a business banking solution that allows you to manage them all efficiently. This is why you should consider creating a Maya Business Manager account. This all-in-one dashboard allows you to take total control of your business banking online transactions, including all the funds coming from your different revenue streams.

To help your business with its revenue diversification ideas, here are a few suggestions:

1. Offer Complementary Products or Services

What can you upsell to customers besides your business’s bread and butter? The answer will differ from business to business. For instance, if you run a cozy coffee shop, one of the obvious complementary products would be baked pastries. And if, on the other hand, you’re in the business of selling baking supplies, maybe you can have a section in your store where you also sell books about baking and cookery. Offering products or services that naturally pair with your existing offerings can boost sales and customer satisfaction. This cross-selling strategy can be a game-changer.

2. Expand Your Reach through E-commerce and Hybrid Retail Models

The Internet has opened up a world of opportunities for businesses of all sizes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, especially, e-commerce dominated the retail sector, with everyone taking the government-mandated lockdowns seriously. Even after the worst of the pandemic had passed, many stores continued to earn through their websites and customized apps.

It was excellent timing for businesses since financial technology (fintech) companies like Maya Business started offering SME business banking products and innovative payment solutions for seamless and smooth cashless transactions. With digital business banking, the Philippines’ e-commerce industry was in full swing, generating revenues of up to 17 billion USD.

For businesses with physical stores, a hybrid approach is a great alternative strategy. It involves the customer ordering through the company’s e-commerce site or app, and then picking up their purchases at the brick-and-mortar store. With this hybrid retail model, customers are given options on how they make their purchases.

3. Add a Subscription Service If It's Applicable

While not all businesses may fit the subscription model, it could be a stable and lucrative source of income for others. A subscription-based approach can provide a steady stream of income while enhancing customer loyalty. If your business can offer exclusive content, products, or services on a subscription basis, you're likely tapping into a goldmine that can bring repeated business for years to come.

For example, do you own a restaurant that specializes in healthy meals? If you do, then why not diversify into a weekly meal delivery service? With this model, you can offer your loyal customers incredible value by not having to worry about what they should cook during the busy weekdays. Meanwhile, fashion businesses can explore the trending clothing subscription scheme. In this clothing rental approach, customers can pick out their designer or high-end outfits for special occasions or everyday work. The number of outfits they can pick will depend on their subscription fee.

For collecting subscription fees, you can efficiently bill your subscribers using Payment Links. You don’t even need a website to handle the transactions. All you have to do is send payment links to your customers using their preferred messaging app. Then, you can designate your Maya Business Deposit as your primary settlement account. With Maya’s small business banking solutions, your business can provide better customer satisfaction.

4. Consider Getting into Affiliate Marketing

Are you having trouble with marketing your brand and products? Do you have a limited marketing budget but want to reach a wider audience? If the answer is yes, then affiliate marketing could be worth looking into. This strategy is like having an army of salespeople promoting your products or services, and you only pay them when they bring in customers. Moreover, it’s a low-risk, high-reward strategy that can be a game-changer for many businesses.

In this era of influencer marketing, you can tap into relevant influencers who can authentically vouch for your brand. Provide each influencer with an affiliate link, and use your Maya Disbursement account to pay their commissions. Using Maya’s online business banking solutions, you can pay your influencers on time and with great ease.

5. Innovate Using Existing Assets

Sometimes, the seeds of diversification are Already right under your nose; you just need to repurpose or expand your existing assets and expertise. Consider looking at these resources in a new light to discover hidden revenue streams.

Restaurants, for instance, can repurpose their typical inputs like food ingredients to come up with brand-new dishes. This saves on supplies while offering customers new products to try. Likewise, fashion houses can reuse leftover fabrics to manufacture their eco-friendly clothing or accessories line, which can attract a new generation of consumers who care about sustainability and the environment.

6. Offer Consulting Services

If you're an SME or start-up owner with specialized knowledge, why not share this knowledge and be a thought leader in your industry? Offering consulting services can turn your expertise into a lucrative revenue stream. In fact, businesses are often willing to pay for expert guidance.

Start by identifying areas where your knowledge is in demand. Next, create a clear value proposition for your consulting services, and you're on your way. For restaurateurs, you can use your years of experience in the industry to guide newly minted restaurant owners who are just launching their own restaurant brands. Meanwhile, fashion boutique owners can offer their styling services to celebrities or corporate clients for a retainer or hourly fee.

Diversify Your Revenue Streams with Maya 1-2-3 Grow Bundle

Ensure your business’s stability and success by diversifying your revenue streams and registering for a free Maya Business Manager account. With a Maya Business account, you can start building a strong and stable business foundation with Maya Business banking solutions.

Successfully creating a Maya Business Manager account automatically lets you unlock the benefits of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow business growth bundle. As part of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle, you can take advantage of the benefits of using Maya Business Deposit as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Using a separate Maya Business Deposit account exclusively for your business, you can easily funnel sales from different revenue channels—online and offline. Moreover, you can enjoy the convenience of remotely doing small business banking online and paying off suppliers, agents, and employees on time.

This special offer also lets you enjoy an MDR discount of 1% on all QR Ph payments for 3 months upon onboarding. This translates to PHP 14,600 in savings for every PHP 1 million worth of QR Ph sales. Finally, signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, allowing your business to have more resources for creating more revenue streams. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments. The more you use Maya, the better the loan offer. Sign up for a Maya Business Manager account to activate Maya Disbursements and enjoy the many benefits of Maya 1-2-3 Grow.