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Now is when you talk to your accountant Since the 1980's when I was first asked to write a column for a trade magazine, I have cataloged the articles on my computer. Over the years I have written more than 500 articles that have appeared in some 75 trade magazines. Today, the articles are cataloged on the Profits Plus website. Each month we highlight an article. However, as I write more than there are months in the year, we have built quite a backlog of material. As of today, if I did not write another article there would still be enough material to cover the article of the month column through April 2032.
If you would like to read ahead, here is a link to the article index.
Speaking of the 1980's, it was May 14, 1988 when I was first asked to speak at a trade show in Baltimore. Gee, that was 33 years ago! And another anniversary was celebrated during the April Small Business Conversations as we began our 12th year of broadcasting. We're having chocolate cake to celebrate. The cake is referred to as "Peavler's cake" as it was a recipe from the lady who managed the first store that my Dad owned.
May is, "talk to your accountant month". However, this May your accountant is busy because of the delayed tax return deadline for 2021. The event has not moved so let's talk about it as if it were a normal year.
What happens with most businesses? Sometime in February all of the necessary paperwork is gathered and delivered in a file or box to the accountant. As most returns are traditionally due on April 15, we expect a phone call from the accountant sometime in March to, "Come on over and let's look at the numbers".
While you need the tax return to sign and send to the IRS, you don't really need this meeting in March. Bottom line; what are you going to change as a result of this meeting? The answer is "nothing". And, are you really going to understand that accounting gibberish as the accountant goes page by page through your return?
Here is why we think the "talk to your accountant month" is appropriate in May. Pretend this is a normal year and your tax return has already been completed and submitted. Now we get through April and complete the monthly bookkeeping. One third of the year is completed.
This, the month of May, would be a good time to visit with the accountant. Only this time the conversation is going to be, "let's look at the first third of this year and compare it to the first third of last year. What do we need to focus on during the last eight months of this year?"
That my friends, is why May is "talk to your accountant month".
Article of the Month - Keys to motivate employees As we post the article of the month, Keys to motivate employees", I think about a song by Paul Simon - "Kodachrome". There is a line in the song, "when I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all".
As the article states, I found little that had a strong relevancy to owning a small business. However, one thing did hit home with me and that is the subject of this month's article. I hope you will find the information useful as I did.
Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? - Dick Calio discusses updating your information system With every challenge comes an opportunity. Dick Calio is going to talk to every business that has some form of electronic point of sale system and/or customer database. We all have observed the changes in our customers since March 2020. What have we changed in the way we do business since then? If your answer is nothing, then you are missing some great opportunities to grow your business.
And that is what Dick Calio will be talking about in the May Small Business Conversations program. We hope you will join us.
Book of the Month - Do the work Our book of the month has a close tie to the message and guest in the April Small Business Conversations. During the program, Dr. Frank Wood, psychologist, addressed the issue of paralysis that can set in with a situation like the pandemic.
We were all suddenly forced to drastically change our routines. Today, many individuals are struggling to return to their normal routine or to take advantage of the changed business landscape.
Steven Pressfield's book, "Do the work", provides guidance in helping an individual to take that most important first step in getting something done. Perhaps you have started a project but not gotten the project to completion. Maybe you have struggled with not knowing where to start. This could be a book that could help you and your business.
Internet Tool for Your Business - "We will sell more if we lower our price"; a frequently heard statement and one that is presumed to be true.
The appropriate question is, "Will we make more money if we lower our price because we are assuming we will sell more?"
And, this is the free online calculator from Profits Plus that will correctly answer that question for you. This is not a decision made from emotion or some old saying; it is simple math that our calculator will provide the answer for.
Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scene, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information.
Staff Incentive for Your Business - A healthy staff Do you have an employee or two who are sick more often than everyone else? Surely, they would be more productive and valuable to your business if they weren't having to miss work because of doctor appointments, being home in bed, or worse yet, in the hospital.
What if you were to help them and your business by focusing on a healthy workplace? If you have a refrigerator in the back as we did, what if you were to stock it with healthy drinks and water instead of colas? How about healthy snacks, fruits and vegetables instead of the snacks commonly found in vending machines?
Perhaps you have a customer who is a fitness expert who could teach you a series of simple exercises that could be done before you open your business each day. Or stretching exercises to help when you have that moment, as many of us do, when we run into that "lack of energy" wall.
Think about the message you are giving to your employees when you do this and are saying, "I care about your well being".
We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.
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MAY 2024
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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
Small Business
The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.
Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?
Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.
Small Business
We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.
Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.
Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.
And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.
The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."
Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.
As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.
Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.
