Top Five Financial Strategies to Control Your Business
Top Financial strategies to control your business
Numbers are a lot less scary when you get close to them. With a few proven techniques, you can not only feel comfortable with your financial reports but look forward to the time savings and increased profitability they bring to your business.
Plan
Where are you now and where do you want to go? Have an annual financial goal and ideally several milestones and strategies that you regularly check-in with to know if you are on track or not. Utilize proven techniques like SMART, Stretch, and 10X goals. Find whatever works for you but make sure you keep them front and center. And always tie your weekly actions to these goals.
Organize
Keep a running list of the tasks you must perform so you don’t re-create the wheel each time. Know which account in your chart of accounts your recurring vendors belong to so you can predict month to month and year to year. Even if you have never reconciled or don’t know what that means (!) there are easy ways to download and manipulate data to get the answers you need. Do your year-end self a favor and work to get things in shape little by little throughout the year.
These strategies mean different things for businesses at different levels. Organizing could look like hiring a bookkeeper for one company and could mean a strategy audit of financial books for another.
Document
Regardless of who does it, make sure your processes are known. Create manuals to make training easier and maintain consistency. There is no need to rely on memory and human error. Accounting can be a creative process so find trustworthy people to touch your numbers but always practice oversight. Choose one method and stick with it. Regularly check back in with your finances. It will make your life and your books more manageable.
Compare
How did you end the month or quarter compared to what you were expecting? Why did things happen or not happen the way you had hoped? Determine if you must reduce expenses, generate more income, or adjust your future expectations. Just like planning, if you don’t choose a direction and aim for it you could end up anywhere.
Test and Measure
Figure out the most important questions and track the answers regularly. Do you need to reduce expenses or improve your margin? Do you make more money and spend less time on one service over another? Knowing the profitability of products and services allows you to make strategic decisions to achieve more. You won’t improve quality and profitability if you don’t ask the questions and track the answers.
In a nutshell
Don’t be afraid to mess up. You must start somewhere and sometime, and you can’t wait until things are perfect to begin. Work little by little to gain more understanding. If something doesn’t work, there is a perfect opportunity to find out why and change it. And there is always room to learn more, do better, and spend more energy fulfilling your vision and mission.
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