Forgotten Revenue Streams
Three streams that should be considered as part of a revenue plan.
One day in 1993 it seemed as if I suddenly took a left turn when I wanted to go right and ended up in the world of community and economic development.
I’d only been out of college for a few years and had tried different jobs while working for two different temporary agencies because like a lot of us, despite the college degree I had spent four years pushing for, I had no idea what I wanted to actually do.
On a side note — I purposely worked for temporary agencies so I could try out different companies, industries, and jobs.
What I didn’t know at the time is that the unexpected turn would really lead me to pursuing my lifelong passion about helping business owners, entrepreneurs, company leaders and the community in general make my little corner of the world better.
Over the time I spent working day in and day out in my new world, I learned all kinds of things such as how to build a street, what are storm drains for, how affordable housing really gets developed and what it really takes to grow, manage, and steward a business.
I noted over the years though that both for-profit and non-profit businesses often forgot about a few revenue streams that could help them. While these may not solve all the problems a business can have and they do take work, sometimes considerable work, they can help with much needed revenue and cash flow.
These few forgotten revenue streams are:
Earned Revenue — If you have a nonprofit corporation there is such a thing as earned revenue (that is you are selling something instead of getting donations, grants, etc.) that you may want to look into. This revenue can be either taxable or non-taxable depending on its mission fit. Since I am not an authority I can not give financial or tax advice except to say check the IRS regulations and with your tax advisors prior to implementing.
Government contracts — The government does not just contract with construction companies for roads. Government entities contract with thousands of companies to provide just about everything you can think up across most industries. This does take work because you have to slow down enough to take the time to respond to the request for proposal but it can be really beneficial to a small business concern.
Grants — This is still more related to the non-profit side but in recent years there is starting to be an uptick for grants that go to for-profit companies and entrepreneurs. A grant can if utilized with a plan help you to grow your company at critical junctures. Searching for and applying for this type of funding is time consuming so you must develop a strategy. One word of caution, do not think of these as quick fixes or how you are going to fully fund your company as it is not a good strategy.
All three of these if utilized with a funding plan that considers revenue needed and how to get it to make your company go, impact, and expand can be good revenue streams to consider as part of your strategy.
