The post How to judge your business success appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

This includes the pulse or heart rate, body temperature, respiration rate, and blood pressure. Taken together, these help indicate the state of the patient’s essential body functions.

If any – or all – offer some cause for concern, the doctor can start diagnosing the patient more thoroughly, before suggesting a course of action…

And now we’ve arrived at the part where you’re wondering why we’re discussing basic medical practice.

Well, this idea of ‘vital signs’ is something that can be comfortably extended to your business.

Your company’s financial health should be examined regularly to make sure there are no underlying maladies that will only grow worse if left untreated.

Knowing What to Look For

These financial ‘vital signs’ have many names, some of which may be familiar to you. They include: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); business metrics; critical success factors; and moneymaking statistics.

No matter the label attached, they are all essentially the same thing: a means of tracking the performance and success of your business.

Just as a soaring temperature or irregular heartbeat will make a physician want to dig deeper in diagnosing their patient, there are a few things you should keep an eye out for when it comes to the health of your business.

For instance, revenue is a clear indicator as to the financial performance of your company. By monitoring your income in comparison to your expenses, you will have an understanding of how much you are making (or not, for that matter), and why.

And when it comes to revenue, consider the various streams. In particular, online sales are simple to measure by implementing sales software, allowing you to spot trends and take action before it’s too late.

Or perhaps you could track the referrals that bring you new business. This will help you determine whether or not your marketing endeavours have been worthwhile, and if your current clients are actively recommending you to their network.

Once you have those customers, think about retention. How many clients are returning to your business over time after first working together or selling them on a discount or offer? Are you maintaining a loyal customer-base, or are you struggling to retain them? The answer will give you an insight into your company’s customer service capabilities.

Take the Pulse of Your Business

These are just some of the Key Performance Indicators – or vital signs – that you ought to look out for as you measure the performance and success of your business.

Understanding how your business is doing at any given moment is crucial to helping you make informed and effective decisions as its leader.

Tracking financial and non-financial metrics can help keep your business healthy. And as with your body, spotting any worrying trends early will make it a great deal easier to remedy than if you leave them untreated.

And it can be tough when you dig deep and track these metrics, only to discover that your business is living on borrowed time. When that happens, you must be ready to evaluate the alternatives; and quite often those alternatives can mean making difficult decisions, such as letting people go, selling the business, or filing for bankruptcy.

Start Tracking Today

Putting a plan in place to track key business metrics is fundamental to the growth and success of your company.

By staying on top of your KPIs, you will be in a much better position as you work with an up-to-date and accurate budget. And by doing so, you will be able to grow and invest in new resources, personnel, or locations, without putting your business under financial strain.

If you’d like to discuss setting up a system to track your key business metrics, please contact us.

The post Is your business ill? appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

Long days, longer nights, and no-one to talk to when the going gets tough – it can feel isolating and demoralizing.

But there is a solution: speak and share with other business owners.

Many small business owners actively fear working with other businesses, worried that they may take advantage of them rather than offering guidance and advice.

However, the rewards can be terrific. By tapping into your local network of fellow entrepreneurs, you have the opportunity to become more knowledgeable, understanding, and efficient.

Why Should I Reach Out?

There’s no two ways about it; being a small business owner is stressful.

All the responsibility, all the decisions, the planning, strategy, and execution; it all falls squarely at your feet. And it can be quite overwhelming.

That’s why having a mentor – or joining a local group of small business owners – can help alleviate some of that stress. They give you a sounding board with whom you can discuss your problems and share your successes.

And this isn’t a new concept by any stretch of the imagination.

Take a beat and think about the franchises you see just about every single day. Starbucks, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts; they all share financial data and marketing information with the other stores within their franchise in order to better understand the overall market.

Won’t This Threaten My Business?

You might look upon this arrangement as a threat to your business. Sharing confidential information with a perceived competitor will understandably make you uncomfortable, and it will impact your business.

But, if done right, that impact will be positive, not negative.

By working with your peers, you will improve your understanding of the local marketplace, boost your efficiency and delivery, and oversee a better standard of customer service. This will only serve to drive more business and increase profits.

Where to Start?

If you run an independent small business (i.e. not a franchise) then it can be tough to know where to start when reaching out to fellow entrepreneurs.

Becoming active on social media (Twitter and LinkedIn in particular) is certainly a good idea. This gives you access to a whole host of like-minded individuals, many of whom won’t be swimming in the same waters, and are therefore less likely to appear threatening to your business activities.

But the fact is, nothing beats face-to-face networking.

Search online for local organizations, groups of similar business owners, or an association to join in order to meet and develop valuable business relationships with your peers.

Here are a few in our neck of the woods worth checking out:

Roseville, CA

• Roseville Granite Bay Business Network
• Women In Networking (WIN) Roseville
• Miscellaneous Small Business Meetups – Roseville (Meetup.com)

Sacramento, CA

• Sacramento Business Social Network Group
• Sunrise Business Builders
• Sacramento Area Business Connection

U-Link Network also has a number of local groups meetings listed on their website.

If you can’t find one nearby or relevant to your industry, consider setting up your own. It can be as informal as meeting for a coffee every few months, but just as valuable as an established organization.

And be sure to complement these meetings by fostering professional relationships with business advisers and mentors.

Put Yourself Out There

As your business grows and develops, and you begin to better understand your own key financial data and moneymaking statistics, you will find that you actively want to compare yourself to your peers.

It’s only natural to seek to benchmark yourself against others. In fact, it can become a crucial part of the overall success of your business.

By simply being active in your local business community, you will open up the doors to new and prosperous relationships, promising leads, and a wealth of advice and experience.

And by improving your knowledge of the local market, it will push you to be a better business leader.

Put yourself out there and make it happen.

If you’d like a helping hand in getting started, contact us today to speak with one of our friendly advisers.

The post Don’t Be Afraid to Work Together appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

No matter your reason for taking the leap as an entrepreneur, you will encounter a number of concerns as you progress. It’s important that you know how to recognize and handle these concerns so as to avoid derailing your business.

In dealing with many small and medium-sized businesses over the years, we have been able to distill some of these concerns down to four of the most common questions.

At some point in your business journey, you will find yourself asking a variation of the following:

1. How will I achieve what I want in my personal life?
2. How will my business help me achieve my goals?
3. Do I really have control over business performance and numbers?
4. How do I get more from my business?

In this post, we will help you navigate these concerns and emerge from the other side a better business owner.

How will I achieve what I want in my personal life?

Running your own business should be about achieving personal freedom.

Freedom to work on what you want, when you want. Finding joy in the day-to-day is the ultimate goal for many entrepreneurs.

So, to get to the heart of what you truly want out of your business – and how it impacts both your personal and professional life – ask yourself the following:

• Why did I start my business?
• How is my business organized?
• Do I feel I am on track with my goals?
• What keeps me up at night?
• What do I do in my spare time?

Once you have a handle on why you’re in business for yourself, and where your passions lie out with your business, you can start working on balancing the two. Otherwise, the business will consume you.

How will my business help me achieve my goals?

In order to achieve your personal and professional goals via your business, you must be the one in charge.

Now, this might seem a little strange given that you own your business; who else would be in charge?

But the truth is, your business can quickly take on a life of its own if you let it.

You must be the one in control, rather than taking a back seat and letting the business drive you. If you’re achieving success almost by accident, then you and your business are driving blind without a strategy or a roadmap.

Your goals will go unfulfilled if you don’t treat your business as more than just as means of making ends meet.

Do I really have control over business performance and numbers?

We know it can feel like you don’t; that your numbers can spiral out of control amidst the day-to-day of running your business.

But you can and you must take control of those numbers, and by extension, the performance of your business.

You should:

• Know exactly what your numbers are for the month
• Have complete clarity on which products or services are selling well (or not)
• Understand what’s in your financial statements, and what those numbers mean
• Know how much tax you’re going to pay, well ahead of the due date

When you do, you can actually look forward to meeting with your accountant!

How do I get more from my business?

When you have a handle on your goals, you’re building a business geared towards meeting those goals, and you’re accurately tracking your numbers at least monthly, you will get more from your business.

It’s really that simple!

You can then look forward to scaling your business, hiring employees (if you want), outsourcing work, spending time working on your business rather than in it, taking a day off now and again, and even taking a vacation.

Let’s Address Those Concerns

If any of those concerns are keeping you up at night, then here’s how we can help:

1. Personal Goal Setting

We can help you get to the very heart of the reason why you went into business in the first place. We will determine what your goals were, and how they have changed (if they have at all).

If your business has taken on a life of its own, we’ll find out why, and how far you are from achieving the goals you had when you started.

By taking you through a personal goal questionnaire and a one-on-one meeting with one of our advisers, we can develop a report that will show you what you want to achieve, what’s missing, and how you can go about accomplishing your goals.

We’ll then help you devise a specific plan of action – one with dates, milestones, and clear responsibilities.

2. Business Planning & Strategy

We want to help you take control of your business. No more autopilot, no more backseat driving.

Together we will develop a business plan and strategy that will have you questioning everything, and testing what you think you know.

We won’t focus solely on ‘best practices’; rather, we will help you find your industry’s ‘next practices’.

What’s more, we want to instil a belief in you, your team, and your mission that will see you carry out this plan to fruition.

3. Monitor KPIs

It’s no use merely glancing at your income statement in order to monitor your business. That’s a bit like watching a hockey game by only looking at the final scoreboard. To get the bigger picture, you must look at the activity within the game.

We will help you map and monitor your progress by focusing on a few Key Performance Indicators.

These will be tailored to your business, meaning no generic indicators or reports. Only valuable and actionable information.

4. Profitability & Cash Flow Improvement

Finally, we will help you get to grips with your profitability and cash flow by getting you up and running on cloud accounting software.

Everything will be real-time and instantly trackable by both you and us, meaning we can spot any potential cash flow issues, so that you can take action ahead of time.

How Can Checkbox Help You Become Great?

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote:

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, as it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

We can guide you to greatness. We only ask for your conscious choice to work together, and your discipline to meet, review, and check in.

You can grow a great business. Let us help. Contact us today to get started.

The post The Four Biggest Questions You’ll Ask Yourself as a Business Owner appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

SBA loans are partially guaranteed by The U.S. Small Business Administration. They offer a variety of loan programs for very specific purposes, from Small Business loans and Microloans to Real Estate & Equipment loans and Disaster loans.

Depending on where you are with your business, and if you fulfill their criteria, you can borrow money from the SBA for a number of different reasons. These include:

• Purchase of real estate
• Building renovation
• Equipment purchase
• Inventory purchase
• Business acquisition
• Expansion of an existing business
• Business startup
• Refinancing of an existing debt; or
• Supply working capital

SBA loans typically have lower interest rates and fees than the more conventional loans from big banks and other financial institutions. Longer repayment terms can also be negotiated, with the interest rate fixed for a predetermined period of time.

However, you will still need a solid business plan to get a loan from the SBA, so be prepared before you apply.  Can we help? Contact us at Checkbox.

Next month we take a look at the benefits of buying vs leasing business assets. Stay tuned!

The post The Benefits of SBA Loans appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

If you are trying to grow your company, you know it takes two things: time and money.  Your time is limited to the number of hours you, personally, can invest.  Then you need money to hire people – essentially buying more time.  How can you generate enough money to buy peoples’ time without getting outside investors involved, and losing equity in your company?

When you need to bring money in right away, there are two ways to do it:  offer equity or assume debt.  By offering equity, you gain immediate funding, but you lose future profits and some control of your company.  Assuming debt may be a better “investment” for you.  Opening a line of credit or getting a loan from a bank may cost less long term than sacrificing a percentage of your company.  Taking out a loan so that you can bring on an employee, for example, might be a better choice for your company if you can pay the loan off quickly with the profits that employee will bring in.

You will also need to pedal your wares.  Sell yourself.  Sell, sell, sell.  Get your name and your product out there as quickly as you can.  Sell to your family, your friends and their friends.  Ask people who already trust you to take a chance on you.  Set up coffee meetings and lunches, and network your way to success.  When you sell enough, hire someone, and make them do the same.  Networking can go a long way as you try to get your product out there.  Using social media can give you a huge advantage.  You can reach more people in less time, and since your time is money, social media is a game changer.  Use it strategically.  Spend a little extra and put out ads.  Use social media to create stronger networks, and to develop trust in relationships that you will come to depend on as you grow.

Exchange goods and services if you need to.  Bartering can be an effective tool in today’s market.  Don’t just exchange for good and services that you need.  Stay open to exchanges that you can use to network or sell your own product.  While you may not be able to use something like a spa treatment or a haircut, offering that service to someone else can be great for networking.

The post Keep Your Equity: Expanding Your Business Without Outside Investors appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

Creating a budget can be a tricky task.  Allocating money to different areas of your life or business takes time and effort, and occasionally some
deep introspection into your personal spending habits.  Sticking to a budget can be just as tedious, particularly if you don’t have a great system for remembering how much money is budgeted for what.  But creating and following a budget is a critical practice if you want to achieve success.

Very few people achieve success in life or in business without a plan.  Budgeting is exactly that: a plan – for your money.  When you have a plan, it’s far easier to reach your goals than going at it blindly.  How you create your budget depends on your goals.  If you are working toward a large purchase or investment, make sure your budget reflects the need for bigger savings.  Work your budget out and adjust it to fit your goals.

Once your budget is in place, it’s important to find a strategy for staying on budget that works for you.  That is where the Envelope System comes into play.  The Envelope System separates the elements of the budget.  Money goes into each “envelope” for each part of the budget.  Energy costs, for example, would go into one envelope, while entertainment money would go into another, and a house payment in another.  Create (and follow!) rules for each envelope – determine which ones you can borrow from, and create one called “left over” that holds any money that’s left over after bills are paid.  This should be the first one you borrow from, if you ever need to borrow.  At the end of the month, any money in the left over envelope should be put into savings.  Start over each month, and make minor adjustments if they need to be made.  Make your budget work for you.

You don’t have to deal in cash to make the Envelope System work for you.  You can keep it digital if you prefer.  You just need to keep track of where you spend and what you spend it on, and update your “envelopes” daily.  Opening several bank accounts can be helpful as well.  We are seeing, more and more often, that people have different checking accounts for gas, groceries, entertainment, and bills.  They have multiple savings accounts – for retirement, a new home, home improvement, vacations, and new cars.  Check with your bank regularly to see if they offer any incentives if you open a new account.  Oftentimes, banks will offer financial incentives for opening new accounts.  If your bank does offer incentives, wait until the time is right to open additional accounts and take advantage of the offers.

If you need help creating a budget for your company, or finding the right strategy to reach your goals, contact us at CPA Corporation.

The post The Envelope System: How to Create a Budget to Reach Your Goals appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

A suggestion is an idea that will benefit the business by solving a problem, reducing costs, improving operations or procedures, enhancing customer service, eliminating waste or spoilage, or making it a better or safer place to work.

One of the most efficient and economical ways to gather new ideas is through the use of the people who know your operations intimately – your employees. Listening to and acting upon sensible employee suggestions presents the opportunity to improve profitability (many employee suggestions relate to wasteful practices and irrational policies) and at the same time increase the level of trust and teamwork within your business.

At a time when businesses are paying consultants and advisors to find newer, better, and faster ways of doing things, sometimes the obvious slips right by because they fail to draw on inside knowledge.

Drawing on internal knowledge is easy! During monthly, quarterly or yearly employee reviews, you can use this time to also accept reviews and ideas from employees, especially if they have limited daily interaction with their manager’s boss. We always let the employee go first because they are sometimes excited about sharing their ideas and this gives us further insight into how they are doing their job. Sometimes it is not even as formal as using this suggestion form below, especially if you are a small company, however some people need the structure of the document we provide below!

Sometimes employees, especially new employees, will not actively volunteer relevant information because they are concerned about the process or if their manager will like their suggestion. If you treat that all suggestions as important and even hold a quarterly or yearly employee meeting to discuss suggestions, your innovation level and ultimately your growth and profit will begin to increase because each employee will begin to take ownership in their idea.

The post Getting Your Employees to Grow YOUR Company: Tool #4 appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.