Yesterday I sat down with a fellow “Fast-tracker” (someone who is participating in our Business Fast-track Program), and kicked off the start of our journey down the Fast-track.
During our 2 hour 1:1, we discovered the following areas that needed some TLC and how Hannans could assist:
- Lack of bookkeeping and accounting processes. Whilst reviewing, we found that the accounts had not been reconciled in over 5 months. This meant that the client did not have a handle on their profitability and how much money they were making. As a time poor business owner, in most cases, your last priority is bookkeeping. So I completely understood their position. I let them know that, for the size of their business, we can manage all their bookkeeping & end of year accounts for $132/month (including GST). He was shocked to find that it ONLY cost that much. Better yet – by outsourcing the work to a professional, he knew that the accounts were being prepared properly.
- Inefficient processes. We discovered that not only was the business running Xero online accounting, but they also had a separate invoicing system. This meant that there was a lot of double handling. “I just don’t know how to use Xero” – was their comment. Good news there too, we are more then happy to assist with FREE Xero training (up to 1 hour) to help our small businesses really get their value out of Xero.
- Not knowing what their break-even point is. Without knowing your break-even point – how do you know how much money you need to make to pay your bills or afford your personal drawings? By understanding your break-even point – you are also understanding your business direct costs and overheads. As part of the Fast-track program – we help give businesses the tools to calculate their break-even AND to also run “what-if” analysis. For example, “If I increase my prices – how much more money will I make?”, ” If I find a cheaper supplier, what difference will it make to my bottom line?”. There is so much valuable information you can extract from such an analysis – information that will really help you to manage your business
- No business plan. From the famous words of Winston Churchill – “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Do you have a business plan for your business? Well this business didn’t have one either (see how I assumed that your answer was no). Good news is, Hannans have developed a business plan generator that enables us to create a business plan in under 30 minutes. The business plan helps businesses to outline; their vision statement, their goals, target market, identify opportunities, assess their environmental risks, plan your marketing strategy – and many other important planning tools.
- Create an action plan. After 1hour and 25minutes, we were able to uncover what the “pain points” and “goals” of the business were. We then wrapped up the meeting creating an action plan of all the items that we discussed. This enabled the business to walk away with a clear and structured plan of how we can start to manage and address these issues. Over the next 6 months, we will now start to TICK of each of these action items together. The result – Efficient business systems, timely & cost effective accounting systems, increased revenue and profit, & a clear plan forward on how the business will achieve their long term goal to get “off the tools”.
Stay tuned and we will keep you updated on our progress over the next 6 months as move forward on the Fast Track.
If you are interested in more information about our Fast-Track program click here to find out more information.
