When you find a customer who knows the value in using sharp knives, and you have convinced them to hire you to sharpen their knives, it's important to maximize the amount of revenue you earn.

When you sharpen two or three knives for a customer, you will make money, but you will have to attract more customers to find success with your business. More customers means more marketing, more delivery trips, and generally more work. When you sharpen five or more knives for each of your customers, you will see higher profit margins and exert less effort to reach your revenue goals. 

My favorite way to maximize the number of knives I sharpen for each customer is to offer a price incentive based on the number of knives the customer gives me to sharpen. I drop my price by $1.00 per knife when a customer gives me five or more knives to sharpen. As a result, 8/10 of my customers give me five or more knives to sharpen each time they do business with me. 

If you offer a delivery sharpening service and you charge a delivery fee, you may consider waving or reducing your delivery fee if customers give you more knives to sharpen. 

You can also try offering an incentive that isn't based on a discount. An idea for this is a loyalty program with a free gift at the end of the year. For instance, you could give a free cutting board to any customer who has 50 or more knives sharpened throughout the course of the year. This type of incentive will not only help maximize the amount of knives customers have sharpened each sharpening session, but also maximize the number if of times the customer hires you throughout the year. Toward the end of the year, you can start sending out emails to the tune of "Only 10 knives to go to receive your free cutting board!" 

Finding creative ways to maximize the number of knife you sharpen for each of your customers is a critical part of keeping your operational costs low and your workload light. Sharpening six knives for one customer is far superior than sharpening three knives each for two customers. Your goal should be to get your customers to dig deep in their kitchens, garages, pockets, and drawers to find every knife they own for you to sharpen.