Wednesday, March 26, 2014

SHOW YOURSELF THE MONEY


THE NUMBER ONE PITFALL for far too many small business owners is that they do not pay enough attention to the financial side of their business. They seem to feel that as long as there is cash in their checking account, they are doing well, and they don't look beyond that. These are the owners who are usually surprised when they go to the bank to get financing, or to set up a line of credit, and find out that they are not doing as well as they thought. Or particularly awful, they get surprised at the end of the year when they must scramble to come up with the money to pay their taxes.

A lack of attention to financial details can encourage the not-so-honest employee to take advantage of their employer and find ways to steal money or other assets from the company.

Finally, it is very difficult to position a company as a competitor in the marketplace if the owner does not have a good feel for the pricing structure needed to stay competitive, yet still cover their costs and generate a good profitable return.

For all these reasons all members of Richard Borough’s Master-Mind Alliance® are constantly being asked to talk about how the money is going. How much is in the bank? How much is in receivables? How much is owed and to whom? How’s the plan to reduce the debt coming along? How much cash flow is projected? Is it time to adjust prices, either raise them or lower them? And other questions of this nature.

We see helping our members keep a weather eye on the MONEY as a big part of our focus, because when the money’s right, lots of good things are possible.
OUR INTENTIONS ARE CLEAR

We want all our Master-Mind Alliance® members to make significant business operational leaps forward - and therefore to enjoy:

» More Money
» More Worry Free Time Off
» Bigger Goals
» Greater Accomplishment
» More Confidence And More Certainty
» Delirious Contentment
» Crystal Clarity About The Future They Want

When undertaking improvements in your business, the first step is to appreciate your challenges. This means asking yourself questions like the following. What areas of my business do I want to evaluate so I can make them work better? What key processes affect performance? Where do I suspect there might be room for improvement? Common areas for examination include marketing, cost control, customer service, social media presence, and human resources. Once you understand your challenges, you can begin to implements new process and on it goes.

IMPLEMENTING NEW PROCESSES

Here are some key principles to follow at the implementation stage:
  • Set clear and realistic goals and targets
  • Consider other areas of your business that might be affected by the changes you plan to make
  • Establish a time frame for achieving goals
  • Put the plan in writing
  • Communicate the plan to everyone who needs to know about it
What’s the lesson? Simple: We need to be thoughtful, thorough and flexible in all our planning activities as we drive our enterprise and our lives toward the future.

Life and business success requires that we do. And of course this is easy to say and often hard to do, but rarely impossible if you get a decent input, make a really good start, then follow-through to victory.
HOW THE GOOD GET GOOD
THEN EVEN BETTER

Whether your business is a one-person operation or a 100 employee operation, the name of the keep-making-money-so-you-can-continue-being-in-business-game is … improvement, gradual continuous improvement.

Companies do not stumble, falter and fail because of what the world does to them or because of how the world changes around them. They stumble, falter and fail because of what they do to themselves. Or more precisely, they encounter often fatal difficulties because of what those in charge do - or do not do – or do, but in the wrong way.

Big Fat Truth: Your business must never be stuck in status quo land. Your business must be on an upward track - or it’ll quickly be on its way down.

Making improvements in your business is a conscious choice. This choice requires both the right psychological mind set - and the right methodology. You must know where you are. You must know where you want to get to next. And you must choose the area of business to improve that will give you the biggest most appropriate impact.

So of course the question is HOW. What’s the methodology? What works? How can I make gradual continuous improvement in my business?

Attend a meeting of RICHARD BOROUGH’S MASTER-MIND ALLIANCE® and find out. We’ll outline and discuss the DONE Business Solution® - Improvement Process – all the Elements and Steps.