Do you have the Profits and Cash Flow you Need?
What a Profit Leak is and why most business lose money unnecessarily
So many of the small businesses I’ve worked with over the last 25 years have been winning the sales they need, but not bringing in the cash and profits they deserve. Is that you as well?
Does your business require you work hard, 6 or even 7 days a week, yet you still find cash difficult to come by!
You know you can win more business, but more business means more work, and you are already working flat out – all of the time.
There is no time for you, no time for the family, and no cash to make life easier.
Just how long can you keep doing this?
Why is this happening to you? You and your team are no doubt very good at your job. You do good work - that’s why the work keeps coming i
So why is there no cash, no profits or free time? You didn’t start your business for this grind.
I’m sure you hoped for a prosperous, profitable business, one that rewarded your effort with both a comfortable level of cash in the bank, time with your family and the ability to take holidays when, and where you wanted.
I’ve seen this problem so often, clients with dashed dreams and drudgery, battling profit leaks they don’t know they had.
Are profit leaks a problem you may have in your business? Profit leaks are like a leaking tap. Sometimes the leaking tap is pretty obvious. A particular line or activity is obviously costing you money. If you can see it, you can do something about it.
But what about the times when you don't know profits are leaking; when you don’t see the problem. You don't know until you get the quarterly, or half yearly or, even worse, the annual figures revealing there are few, or no, profits left in your business. Because by then it is too late. The profits and your cash have drained away.
Sure, you might then plug the leak, but what is gone is gone.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
So maybe you need to be a profits leak detective to find out if there is a leak, hidden leaks, and to do something about it
The system I’ve developed over many years, working with clients, learning from their mistakes, and successes, will help you too.
Of course I don't know your business as well you do; nobody does and it would be impertinent of me to suggest otherwise. What we do bring is knowledge of particular techniques and principles that can be applied widely to small businesses. I have successfully worked with businesses across a wide range of industries, from tourism to real estate, IT, engineering and manufacturing. And every time I have been able to identify some opportunities for improvement which had a positive impact on the business.
Many years of practical experience in business, from senior management positions in big companies to hands-on direct management experience running a small business - enables me to bring you a deep understanding of how business operates and the pressures you face.
And I specialise in working with small and medium businesses because I understand the issues they face, the need to have greater control over their business and to improve their quality of life.
And how they make decisions.
In essence, decisions are so often made “in the dark”, not in the light of the actual situation. They are uninformed decisions.
Think about this: all action is determined by decisions and that the quality of decision making is a direct function of the knowledge you apply to it.
Without the right knowledge it is pretty hard to take appropriate and timely action.
My approach is to try and throw some light on the dark recesses of businesses where the profit leaking demons lurk. That light comes from good information, knowledge of what is happening in your business, where the profits are being made, or not being made, where there are hidden costs, and unrecovered costs; informed decision making.
It is not just financial indicators that you should report on. There are others that reflect productivity, efficiency and risk. And there are some key performance indicators (KPIs) that every business should report on, while others will be more specific to different types of industries or businesses.
Informed decision making is the building block for successful businesses.
The road to success is paved with good information, such as your profitability, value added per employee, customer satisfaction, your 10 most profitable customers, your 10 least profitable customers, the profitability of old products compared to new customers.
If you want help with plugging your Profit Leaks click here
PS As the old saying goes, “sink or swim”. You don’t have to wait until your business has gone down the gurgler because profits have been draining away. You can find the leaks, and plug them - NOW!
