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May 2022
Talk to your accountant this month May is, "Talk to your accountant month". We're not sure who came up with this idea but at least the timing is pretty good. For many businesses, the annual conversation with the accountant happens in March or April when the accountant calls to say your business and personal tax return is ready to be submitted. Have you ever thought how many other businesses are trying to meet with the accountant in this same time period? With this being your annual visit, how much time do you think you are going to get? And as it is your previous year's tax return you are discussing, the reality is there is nothing that you can change on the return. Without insulting your accountant, is that accountant still busy getting other returns or extensions completed by April 15? The idea of a May conversation makes more sense. While the accountant is working on completing tax return extensions, that April 15 deadline has past. However, you should have your financial statements for April completed. That is a third of the year. Instead of talking about what happened last year, the two of you can be talking about what you can do in your business in the last eight months of this year. It is proactive instead of reactive. One additional thought. While there is a tax code, there are a lot of items related to a tax return that are "subject to interpretation". We have seen accountants that take a very liberal and open view of the tax code. And, we have seen accountants with a very strict and conservative view of what the IRS code says. Which way does your accountant lean? Bottom line? You and your accountant have a lot to talk about. And here is an article to get you started thinking about that conversation. We are not playing on the same team
Article of the Month - Bank loan During the earlier years of my career, I would take on an occasional job of helping someone with their business; you would call that consulting although I am not fond of that title. This month's article is about one of those experiences and a person who did not understand the purpose of a business plan and the relationship to any bank loans they would apply for. This article has multiple lessons within it. Which of the lessons are important? All of them as they relate to your business.
Book of the Month - The four tendencies Another good self review book. You look at things from an outer and an inner perspective. What are your expectations? From this the author, Gretchen Rubin, illustrates four tendencies to determine if you are an upholder, questioner, obliger or rebel. So why would you want to know which of the four you are? Want to be confident you can make better decisions? Have you had challenges with deadlines? Could you use less stress? Would engaging better with people make you a better leader in your business and personal life? And, that is why this is our book of the month.
Internet Tool for Your Business - Price Rounding Calculator How do you determine the price for something you sell? While this has been a question we have asked many times over the years, it is a question to which we have also provided guidance in answering. As with many things in a person's life, we remember the first testimonial we received to this lesson and the calculator we have created on the Profits Plus website. The lesson was taught in April some 20+ years ago in Orlando. The first week of November that same year we ran into an attendee in the north hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This person said, "After the event in April I went home and started changing prices. I calculated how much more profit I would make in my four stores as a result of these changes; it will be $89,000. So that lesson was some 24 years ago. He now has eleven stores. Do the math. How much profit is that? More importantly, what can this free tool and lesson do for you and your business? And yes, with a bit of interpretation it works in a service business. 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 - Be bold and give them a shot at decisions What if instead of owning your business you were the manager of a location for a chain business? How would we measure your success as a manager? Well, one measurement would be profit. Another measurement would be your ability to develop staff members for management. Specifically, were any of your employees growing their skills to become a manager of their own location? Now let's look at your business. Are you like a lot of owners that are overwhelmed with responsibilities? Let's put these two situations together. Are you developing people that you can pass responsibilities to? Or, are you one of those owners who think no one can do the job as well as you can? If you are the manager for some company that we talked about, you aren't doing so well because your district manager sees you don't trust any of the employees to do anything. One last component to finish our point. "If I leave it to them, they may make a mistake". You don't make mistakes? The only day I didn't make a mistake in our business was the day I wasn't there! The bottom line; incentivize your employees by letting them feel important in your business. Getting to make decisions says, "my boss appreciates my work and trusts me". 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.
