Never stop investigating ways to improve all areas of your business. The astute businessperson will seek information to assist him or her in making the changes necessary to stay profitable in a competitive business world.
Here are some ideas that could improve your profits:
- Do your homework. Before you start a new business, be sure the community can support such a business. Some areas are not large enough to warrant certain specialty shops. A bicycle shop, for example, may take a population base of 50,000 people to make it profitable. A grocery store, on the other hand, can be profitable in a town of only a few thousand.
- Carefully review business proposals. Business deals and special franchises which sound too good to be true usually are. We will gladly assist you in reviewing any business purchase or business proposal.
- Enlist the services of professionals. Accountants, bankers, insurance agents and lawyers can help you solve your business problems. These professionals handle a variety of business problems every day. They make excellent sounding boards for proposed transactions.
- Check reasons for incorporating. Don’t incorporate your business without first checking the long-range tax and nontax considerations. There are many small corporations that would have been better off operating in some other legal form.
- Make payroll deposits on time. Some businesses receive penalties for late payroll tax deposits. To avoid such problems, don’t sign payroll checks unless the first check in the stack is the payroll deposit to your bank. This may have you paying deposits earlier than required, but you will not be receiving penalties.
- Listen to your customers. You are not only selling products or services, you are selling customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers return to spend more money and are likely to refer new customers to you.
- Strive to retain customers. It is estimated to cost ten times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain a current customer through good customer service.
- Don’t make yourself indispensable. If your company runs well now in your absence, it will run well in the event of your disability or death. If you are currently indispensable, start training people now. One of the most rewarding forms of retirement is to own your own company and to be absent as much as you like.
Give us a call for an initial conference. You should interview us, as you would any professional, to determine if we will be a good long-term match for you and your business. If we don’t have the answer to your problems, we will assist you in locating someone who does. We always welcome your questions.