Management & Beyond

I imagine it is exciting for you to have a small business because now you are your own boss. 

You get to take time off whenever you need, you get to make business decisions and you have allot of pride in the business you have built.

Good for you!  You should be proud of yourself.

Most people just sit around and daydream about owning their own business, but you when out and did it!

Great job.

Make sure that you are aware of all aspects of running your business.

There is much more to running a business such as the financial posture of the business, cash flow, operations, sales, marketing and the dreaded, tax man.

Don’t forget about the tax man in the form of payroll taxes, sales tax and quarter taxes.

It’s OK, don’t get nervous.  All business, small, medium and large have to face these operating issues.

Some do it well and some do it poorly.

I always recommend paying attention to the financial aspect of your business as this is the most imporant piece of any business.

Look at Starbuck’s.  They have been growing at a 25% rate, per quarter, since 1992.

Now look at them.  Today they announced they will close 600 stores in the coming year because they now realize that too many stores costs too much money.

My point here is to manage your business accordingly where you keep on eye on your finances.

How do you do that?

Simple.  Most accounting software packages have tool inside of them to guide you everyday, every week or every month.

QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software packages out there and are very easy to use.

Successfully operating a business is easier than you think.  Just pay attention to the financial side of the business and everything else will fall into place.

I have seen over 300 small businesses over my ten years of consulting where all of the businesses had the same issue.

Lack of financial management. 

Most people would say that these are tough econimic times for small business, where some of that is true to some degree.

Small business, as well as most business, small or large, survive off of what we call consumer disposable income.

Simply put, disposable income is the money consumers have to spend after they have paid for the essentials of life.

This is called discretionary income.  These are the things we need to pay for such as our mortages, health insurance, gas, etc.

Disposable income are those things we can afford to “not” purchase such as a latte from Starbuck’s, vacations, movies, etc.

It was announced today that Starbuck’s will close 600 of its stores in the coming year.  That is bad planning on Starbuck’s part.

All business is subjected to the rise and fall of dispoable income where I strongly reccomend writing a business plan for your business.

Whether your business is small, medium, or large like Starbuck’s, you need a plan.

Even though you have been in business for years or are just starting out in business, you need a plan.

A business plans allows you to manage exepenses, develop strategic marketing plans, and more imprtantly, a business plan will help you survive these tough economic times.

Don’t worry, things will get better, they just will.  But, you have to be able to survice unitl things get better.