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May 2023 We have a couple of anniversaries May is "talk to your accountant month"; here is why May is a double birthday month at Profits Plus. The first Small Business Conversations podcast was 16 years ago. Yes, we have been podcasting since long before most people had heard their first podcast. The first time I was invited to speak at a trade show was on May 14, some 35 years ago. We had a vendor who provided their dealers with VHS video tapes for employee product education. We took the tapes and created what became an integral part of our staff education program. We developed a way of engaging our staff; assessing their learning; and being able to show our customers we had a very good knowledge of the products and services we offered. The news for May 2023 definitely has value to every small business owner. May is "talk to your accountant month" and is appropriately timed and named. We hear many people have a tradition of gathering the necessary documents in January and delivering them to the accountant. If your tax return is to be submitted on April 15, you likely get a call in the first week of April to visit the accountant and discuss the return. Similarly, if you file an extension, you have that visit within a week or so of that deadline. Why are you meeting then? There is nothing to change on the return. Instead, if you meet with the accountant in May, you have 1/3 of the year already completed. May is an excellent time to talk about what has happened; whether or not you are pleased with the first four months; what do you need to change or continue doing to make the rest of the year produce what you want it to produce? Article of the Month - Return on investment and knowing how your business is performing Earlier today I went to one of my favorite stores to do a bit of shopping. The owner and I were visiting when I was asked if I could guess how much inventory was in the business. While my guess was wrong, I did know what their annual sales were by way of a previous conversation. Easily said, there is a big imbalance between the two. What about your business? Where you sell products or services or both, you should be asking yourself at least twice a year, what is the investment you have in your business doing for you. What is the rate of return on the money you have in the business. The article for May is discussing this; why you should know the answer to this question and how to do the calculation to know what the answer is. Who is visiting Small Business Conversations this month? Devon Clements We are proud to say that with the May 2023 edition of Small Business Conversations we are starting the 16th year of the podcast. When we received an award for our podcast last year, we were told that the average podcast does not last more than 10 episodes; much less 16 years. Here is who we have to visit with us for May 2023. We get much of our news from business feeds we have found to be consistently bringing ideas and comments that help us to continually adapt. One of those feeds comes from a marketing firm from Kansas City named J. Schmid. We read an article by Devon Clements that discussed "voicing" and how the message from a business should be more than the product or service you offer. We were fascinated by what Devon wrote. And he will be joining us for the May 2023 edition of Small Business Conversations with your host, Tom Shay. Book of the month - Reworked Not that we always agree with them, but we love a book that offers contrarian thinking. We could take every suggestion from this book and start each sentence with, "you don't need to..." Contrarian thinking reminds me of a comment my Dad would frequently make; "if there are five of us in a discussion and we all agree, there are four too many people in the conversation".
When we first began creating the profitsplus.org calculators there was a bit of discussion about including this month's calculator - inventory turn rate at retail. The reason for the discussion is that we don't like this calculation and have never used it in our businesses. We also find this calculation to be false because when anything is sold at a discount the answer for "inventory turn at retail" changes. Your "inventory turn at cost" does not change. This calculator did make it on the profitsplus.org website because we had been told that the "big businesses" use this methodology. 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. Several 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. Internet Tool for Your Business
As we mention Independent Retailer Month in July, our staff incentive idea of the month is one that promotes a bond between independently owned local businesses. Perhaps your community has a new eaterie. You could welcome them to your community by ordering take out and feeding your crew. Doing so introduces your staff to the new business and tells the new business you are glad they are a part of your town. You can make this a complete package by having the meal be a reward for any of the number of challenges you put before your staff. We have shared many ideas for employee challenges over the years. 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.
