One of the best ways to trim expenses is to look at those recurring monthly business expenses. Here are 5 ares to check:
1- Communications- Prices are constantly dropping for telephone and cell phone plans. Evaluate yours by calling the company and seeing what better rates you can get.
2- Insurance- Once your insurance is up for renewal, make sure you are getting quotes from several companies to get the competitive rates you need. Check to make sure you are not over or under covered. Can you get discounts if you combine policies?
3- Advertising- Try to focus on referrals and public relations exposure instead of costly advertising campaigns. Joining your local chamber is a great way to network and get your name out there for a reasonable cost.
4- Office supplies, printing and postage- This can be one of your most costly areas. Try to digitize as much as possible in order to cut down on paper and other products. Email instead of mailing. Use regular shipping instead of costly overnight shipping.
5- Rent and utilities- Review your space and see if it is possible to downsize. Consider relocation to another area where rent is cheaper. Turn off utilities when not using them. Power down your computer at night. Change your bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Do you need an operational review?
In today's times, the old saying "don't leave money on the table" seems a waste of time to say, but many businesses are in fact doing this. Inefficient operations drain your profits a little at the time, and some business do not even realize this is a problem. Make small improvements in the following areas can help stop this problem.
1- Outdated technology. For many small companies, the intimidation of technology often hinders them from making more of a profit. The more a company moves to a digital office, the more efficient the company will be. There are easy programs out there that will help you analyze your business to see where you are losing or making money.
2- Not having a strategic plan. Some questions to answer are: Why are you in business? What do you want to become? Who are your core clients? What will it take to achieve your firms vision? Determine how you will implement these questions into your business.
3- Partner issues. Do not accept non-conformance or mediocrity issues from your partners or employees. They drain more profits than they provide.
4- Serving the unprofitable clients. Determine which clients are making a profit. Cut the clients that are draining your company.
5- Not enough new business. Question your marketing efforts. Determine which ones are making you money and cut the ones that are not.
6- Poor engagement management. Pricing, productivity, cost to serve the client, and client management are the four key activities to engagement management. Make sure you are focusing on each of these areas.
7- Fixation on hourly billing. Learn how to bill on the value of the work to your client. Before you give them a price, ask them what they think a fair price for the work might be. You might be surprised how much they are willing to pay.
8- Poor or weak billing and collection process. Not collecting money of course has a direct impact on your cash flow.
9- Not keeping score. It is important to visually see how you are comparing to others.
1- Outdated technology. For many small companies, the intimidation of technology often hinders them from making more of a profit. The more a company moves to a digital office, the more efficient the company will be. There are easy programs out there that will help you analyze your business to see where you are losing or making money.
2- Not having a strategic plan. Some questions to answer are: Why are you in business? What do you want to become? Who are your core clients? What will it take to achieve your firms vision? Determine how you will implement these questions into your business.
3- Partner issues. Do not accept non-conformance or mediocrity issues from your partners or employees. They drain more profits than they provide.
4- Serving the unprofitable clients. Determine which clients are making a profit. Cut the clients that are draining your company.
5- Not enough new business. Question your marketing efforts. Determine which ones are making you money and cut the ones that are not.
6- Poor engagement management. Pricing, productivity, cost to serve the client, and client management are the four key activities to engagement management. Make sure you are focusing on each of these areas.
7- Fixation on hourly billing. Learn how to bill on the value of the work to your client. Before you give them a price, ask them what they think a fair price for the work might be. You might be surprised how much they are willing to pay.
8- Poor or weak billing and collection process. Not collecting money of course has a direct impact on your cash flow.
9- Not keeping score. It is important to visually see how you are comparing to others.
NeatReceipts
Are you the type of person to shove receipts into shoe boxes and hand them over to your accountant at the end of the year? I have the perfect tool for you. NeatReceipts is a tool that allows you to scan your receipts, business cards, or other documents into an electronic form. From there, you can download the information into QuickBooks or Quicken.
Along with the NeatReceipts software, you receive a scanner that uses OCR (optical character recognition) that translates the data into organized and usable data. While it is not 100% accurate, it saves a lot of time and key entry for entering your receipts. The scanner was made for portability, so i weighs very little and fits easily into your laptop bag. It connects to your computer via a USB cable, and directly charges from your computer.
You can organize your receipts by vendor or expense category. Once your receipts are scanned, you can export them into various programs such as excel or Quickbooks, or even Outlook for business cards.
Along with the NeatReceipts software, you receive a scanner that uses OCR (optical character recognition) that translates the data into organized and usable data. While it is not 100% accurate, it saves a lot of time and key entry for entering your receipts. The scanner was made for portability, so i weighs very little and fits easily into your laptop bag. It connects to your computer via a USB cable, and directly charges from your computer.
You can organize your receipts by vendor or expense category. Once your receipts are scanned, you can export them into various programs such as excel or Quickbooks, or even Outlook for business cards.
Negotiation Tips to Get Better Deals
We are constantly negotiating whether it be for personal or business reasons. Here are some quick tips to improve your negotiation skills:
1- Use a checklist. Have a clear mission and purpose for the negotiation. Have a clear outline of the problems as you see them. Know what you want and what will happen next.
2- Be quiet and listen!
3- Try to determine what your opponent wants.
4- Don't try to show people how smart you are. Don't create a distance by making your self different from them.
5- Don't assume you have to give up something to make the deal happen. You want prospects focused on what you can give them as a service and why you are there to help their business.
6- Don't give up easily.
1- Use a checklist. Have a clear mission and purpose for the negotiation. Have a clear outline of the problems as you see them. Know what you want and what will happen next.
2- Be quiet and listen!
3- Try to determine what your opponent wants.
4- Don't try to show people how smart you are. Don't create a distance by making your self different from them.
5- Don't assume you have to give up something to make the deal happen. You want prospects focused on what you can give them as a service and why you are there to help their business.
6- Don't give up easily.
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