Another happy customer : Thanks Pauline!!
Although I am good with numbers, there is not always time to do such an indepth analysis as Tracey did. Tracey’s evaluation made it patently clear as to what my sales targets need to be, and also the areas of my business that had become financially bloated from a cost perspective. Well done Tracey.
Is your business financially bloated?
January 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A few “not so easily impressed” Pricing for Profit workshop participant feedback.
January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
1. Today has shown me that all of us in the office tend to just get on with getting stuff done on a day-to-day basis and we don’t sit down and take the time that we need to budget, look at how much things are costing us and how much we are earning from it. I think without that information what’s the point of putting so much time and effort in the day-to-day stuff done when we aren’t getting accurate information about what we are actually getting from it – so today was a good reminder to take a step back and take a look and track our costs in more detail.
2: I came here believing that I didn’t really know what was going on in my business and now I really know that I don’t know what is going on in my business! It has confirmed that if I don’t do something in this area in terms of understanding the figures, the cash flow, and all those things that come together, unless I start to work towards that, the goals that I have for next year simply won’t happen. I’ll still be running that hamster wheel in the same way and that’s not good enough. I might as well close my doors tomorrow if I don’t take action. I have to take it up to the next level and this is very much been on my mind that this is what I need to do. So after having met Tracey and todays workshop, I now know this is one of the steps that I need to take.
3: Today was great! It really highlighted and confirmed a lot of the things I’ve been working on and brought them home. It also gave me more information on certain things that I need to put into place. I know now that I can increase the cost of a few of my services to even out my costs so I’ll be in a better position.
4: Probably the biggest thing that I learned is how important it really is to look at things on a regular basis. Monthly reviews instead of looking at the end of the year and wondering what do all of these figures mean. So monthly reviews are on the action plan.
How do I identify and communicate effective targets to my staff?
December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Communicating effective targets to your staff helps everyone work towards your 'happy day'!
Identifying and communicating effective targets to your staff is the key to making the profit that you want in your business. Accountants often talk about a ‘break-even point’, something I call your ‘happy day’. This is the day of the month when you know that for the rest of the month, you are making a profit. You have earned enough to cover all your costs and you are past the ‘break-even point’. That’s why I call it your ‘happy day’.
By working out when your ‘happy day’ is, how much you need to earn to break-even and then blast into profit, you will be able to effectively identify and communicate targets to your staff allowing you to make the profit that you want in your business.
How do service based industries earn passive income?
December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Your knowledge can produce a passive income stream for your business
When we offer a service we are continually living in the ‘hour-for-money’ mindset. But as a service provider it is possible to generate income in other ways. As service based providers we are basically selling our knowledge and expertise. The key to service based industries earning a passive income is to package your knowledge and expertise in your specific business and turn it into a product.
Sit down, put it ‘on paper’ and develop a system that allows people to do for themselves what you essentially do for them. Make it an easy, step-by-step system that may include things like:
- Your top 10 tips
- The key to success in your area
- How-to guides and workbooks
The product should be something that people can buy while you sleep. They should be able to purchase it through your website and it will enable them to do what you do on a DIY basis. The key is to make your product a content driven, quick and easy solution to their problem. Give them direction in terms of what you do in your business, the flow of what you do to help people and make it DIY.
Once you have generated that product, you can generate the passive income that you want for your service based business.
Take a look at a few of my products to see what I mean and get some ideas flowing.
How do I ensure my business is cost efficient?
November 28, 2011 By 2 Comments
Understanding whether your business is cost efficient is obviously the key to ensuring you are making your goal profit.
Firstly, you need to understand that there are two types of costs. The first are variable costs: costs that increase and decrease as we sell our product or service. For example, in a service based industry a variable cost, a cost that increases and decreases as you make more sales, is the cost of your subcontractors. If you’re a product based industry, an example would be the cost of the product that you buy and freight which will increase and decrease as you make more sales.
The second type are fixed costs. These are items such as your rent. No matter how high or low your sales are your rent will remain the same month to month. You need to consider the efficiency of your fixed costs and how these fixed costs are either feeding or draining the profit in your business.
Understanding these two elements is the key to understanding and making sure your business is cost efficient.
