Do you feel you are working long hours and working really hard, but still can’t seem to get ahead money wise?
Do you leave your financials up to your accountant, and don’t really understand them?
Imagine knowing exactly how to make more money in your business and more money for you without working any harder or longer!
It may be hard to believe that you could love that jumble of numbers, especially if you believe Math was not your greatest subject in school.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. It took me three attempts to get my maths “O” level to a grade C. It was not until I took Economics as an “A” level that my interest in both business and psychology took hold. Now, I have save and create more money for Business Owners through focusing on numbers first, rather than beginning on the marketing side of their business.
In Business, most of the figures we do are for the Inland Revenue. But the secrets that the numbers hold can add value for the Business Owner and enable the business to be run smarter.
Seven suggestions to get you started:
- Work out your margins on every product and service in your business. Include a portion of the cost to run the business as well as the cost to sell each item. As you sell products to cover costs and make money, most of you will put your prices up after this exercise. Include everything.
- Understand your customers. Work out ‘who’s who’. Calculate who your worst 20% of your customers are, especially any negative earners (see 3). Work out how you can bring all your negative earners, back up to the profit zone.
- Investigate and ‘know’ your costs. Be like Columbo (remember him?) Put everything into your products, services, or overheads. This will help you after your focus has changed to that of net profit, not Turnover.
- Learn to understand your financials. As the meerkat says, “simples”, but we know it’s not. So start simple, get someone to teach you and don’t leave it to your accountant. Once you understand them you will love them! Get the numbers running so that each month you can see what you’re getting and what you need to get. Make it as simple at first.
- Identify the top components of your business that need to be measured. Liken their function to that of the gauges in a car’s dashboard. This identification and measuring process will enable you to keep your business running at maximum efficiency and highlight challenges before they slow it down. Work with your Success Formulae Coach to pinpoint what these components should be.
- Graph your figures. This is a great way to see trends, actual figures vs last year’s budget. Pictures are often easier to understand than figures. They are also a great way to get the team fired up about doing better each month. This also focus everyone on reality.
- Review every three months, for good results, every month for bad, and change after two. Once we have agreed what the best way of your earning greater profits are, make sure that you are taking the actions. Two months with no better results, and you should check your action plan- have you slipped into old habits?
Take some time with your Business Coach (and if you don’t have one, give me a call to get you going in the right direction) to identify what key areas of the financial side of your business you should be focusing.
With this greater financial understanding and implementation of management systems you will achieve greater profits and greater peace of mind in your business.
