5 strategies to improving your bottom line this financial year!
Posted 29 Jun '16
Posted 29 Jun '16
Is it to work for yourself, have more freedom (HA!) or because you love what you do and know you’re the best at it? Whatever your reason may be, at the end of the day to continue doing what you love doing or being your own boss you need to be bringing in the $$!
We know what you’re thinking… Another blog post about cash being king (shut… up… Empire). However we aren’t writing this because we are predictable accountants only concerned with the buck. As business owners, accountants and people that deal with financial management on a daily basis we know that in order for your business to thrive and survive you need to get those financial factors on point – make consistent sales, manage overheads, price accordingly and monitor cash flows.
As it’s the start of the new financial year and we know you are keen to start making some positive changes, let’s look at
NUMBER ONE
The first step to positive change is to always review & reflect.
Review your past year’s results with your accountant and work with them to ensure that you understand the numbers (don’t just file the financial report away)! Also review your marketing campaigns and activities, sales and products to discover your ROI, best sellers, service/products etc. Know where your business is coming from and find out where new opportunities exist!
By reviewing you can determine what is making money, what is costing too much money and where you can improve.
NUMBER TWO
Review your payment terms, supplier agreements and accounts payable processes.
Ensure your payment terms suit your business operations, find out the average number of days it takes a client to pay vs average number of days you pay your suppliers. Workshop some strategies to ensure that you are managing your cash position most effectively. It’s always good to challenge the ….”that’s what we have always done..” way of business.
NUMBER THREE
Track. Track. Track. You may think you know where your business comes from or how many leads you need to convert but without having hard numbers, it is always just dirty rumours.
There is no point paying $150 a month to Sensis for a Yellowpages listing if none of your calls are coming from the ad. But how do you know? Tracking. Ask your customers how they found out about you, know how many hits you are getting to your website and if it is through paid advertising or organically. If you advertise in the paper, ensure you know what calls you are getting from there by offering a specific deal or simply asking your clients. If it’s not bringing you in leads or the leads are not converting or qualified, then say goodbye to it! Just by paying attention to where your work comes from can save you $1000’s a year in unnecessary advertising costs.
NUMBER FOUR
Optimise your systems and processes.
By working out faster, easier and more effective ways of running your business systems and the day to day operations, you can save money and reduce overheads. Your business may have grown and outdated itself so it’s always good to ask the question “Is there a better way we can do things?” Don’t be afraid to ask your staff for input or help in this area either. There are also lots of experts in the industry (Ooops…shameless plug for our business feature this month!) who can provide that outside in approach to really help shape and identify areas for improvement.
NUMBER FIVE
Invest in your people and yourself. Never. Stop. Learning.
Whether you have a team of 20 or are a one-man-band – investing in training courses, personal and professional development, or new skills/qualifications, all contribute to helping you be a better business owner and give you more knowledge in improving your service, your product and your overall business management. All strategies to help you improve your bottom line.
So we think it’s time to set you a little Empire challenge! Take some time with a coffee, blank piece of paper and a pinch of inspiration from this blog and write down 3 points for each of the 5 strategies identified above that apply to your business and send them through to us! admin@empireaccountants.com.au
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