Create a Theme for a Prosperous and Meaningful New Year

It’s almost 2014, and at this time of year, it’s natural for us to pause and reflect on where we’ve been and where we want to go.  For business owners, it’s especially important to raise our minds above the daily fires for a moment, take in some fresh air, and elevate our perspective.  Creating an annual theme is an easy and fun vehicle to do just that.  

Deciding on a theme for the year will give you a focus and a new perspective on your work and your routines.   It can be highly rejuvenating to look at things through the lens of your new theme. 

Ideas for themes are limited only by your imagination.  Some possible themes include:

• Organizing, detoxing, or cleansing.   Consider cleaning out your garage (or your office), upgrading your systems, re-designing your filing system, or going on a cleanse or a vacation or a retreat that will leave you feeling clutter- and worry-free. 
• Growth.  You might want to consider a growth-related theme, such as productivity or profitability.  You might also want to develop a new skill such as learning a new language, developing your computer skills, or taking a philosophy class at your local junior college. 
• Abstract themes, such as abundance, creativity, or diversity.  At the risk of sounding a little fluffy, an esoteric theme might be just what you need in 2014.  A theme with abundance will allow you to think big, be abundantly generous with others, and search for large contracts.   A theme with diversity will challenge you to be more open-minded.  You may also want to consider forgiveness, gratitude, humility, or service. 
• Relationships.  Your year might be dedicated to meeting new associates and building business relationships.  Your action item might be to spend more time networking, participating in groups, or going to your industry conference.
• A new service.  Perhaps you’re launching a new service and need to focus on developing this new line of business. 
• Giving back.  On a personal note, you might value volunteering and decide to organize your year around a couple of volunteer opportunities. 
• Exploring.  If you’ve retired or the business is starting to run smoothly without your day-to-day input, it might be time for that trip around the world.

As you choose you goals for 2014, make sure the majority of them support your theme for the year.  Themes can bring an overarching focus to our practices and our lives. 

What’s your theme?  Let us know what your theme is and we’ll share ours!

What to Do When Calling the Help Line Doesn’t Help

Have you ever called a help line and at the end of the call had a bigger problem than before you called?  Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon. 
Navigating the help line process can be a challenge for anyone’s patience.   Here are a couple of tips you can try to make the process a little less painful. 

Repeat Business

If you get someone that does a good job of solving your problem, ask them if you can contact them directly.  You will begin to establish a rapport, and you’ll have an inside ally you can turn to.  They’ll also begin to know your issues, the product you’re calling about, and how you use it. 

Fly First Class

Sometimes, it’s just worth it to pay for a higher level of access.  You can check that out yourself, or you may have expert vendors you can tap to access their higher-level resources.  By paying for a higher level of service, you can get priority service and access to more highly trained personnel.

Learn the Language

How you communicate your request to the help line personnel can make all the difference in the world when it comes to saving time.  To speed up the process, have the following things handy:

·      If an error message is involved, take a screen print or write down the exact wording or error code, if any. 
·      If software is involved, be ready to let your technician know the operating system you’re on, what browser you’re using if the Internet is relevant, and other details that will isolate the problem. 
·      If software is involved, they may ask you what version you have.  You can find that by choosing File, Help from the menu, or they can walk you through it.   

Call Off-Peak

For shorter wait times, try to call when no one else in calling.  For hardware and software support, this may mean avoiding Mondays and rush hours.  For questions to the IRS, it may mean calling earlier in the season. 

Hire an Expert

Some of your vendors may have access to a higher level of support based on their connection with the company.  For example, certain QuickBooks ProAdvisors have access to an elite group of support technicians and get priority services as well.  Accountants have a special line in to the IRS. 

You may be able to save money and especially time by delegating these help line calls to those privileged vendors.  

Try these tips to improve both the speed and accuracy of your help line calls. 

Optimize Your Revenue Mix for More Profits in 2014

Many small business owners focus on generating more revenue every year, and that’s a great objective.  But not all revenue is created equally.  If you sell more than one product or service in your business, then you can benefit from looking at your revenue mix. 

Although it’s fun to watch our revenues grow, it’s the profit number that really matters.  If your expenses grow faster than your profits, then you have a lot of activity going on, but you don’t get to keep as much of what you make, which is what really matters.

An insightful exercise to try is to take a look at your revenue mix.  Then you can ask “what if?” to optimize your profits. 

Your Revenue Mix

Let’s say you offer three different services: Services X, Y, and Z. Your revenue pie looks like this:

X:  $1.4 million or 70% of the total
Y:  $0.3 million or 15% of the total
Z:  $0.3 million or 15% of the total
Total:  $2.0 million

In this example, Service X is clearly the service making you the most revenue in your business.  But is it making you the most profits? 

The profit you receive from each of these service lines is as follows:

X:  $160K
Y: $20K loss
Z:  $60K
Total:  $200K

While Service X is generating the most profit volume for your business, it’s actually Service Z that’s the most profitable.  Earning $160K on $1.4 million yields 11.4% return on Service X, but earning $60K on $300K yields nearly double the return at 20%.  Service Z generates the most return.   And if possible, Service Y may need to be discontinued or turned around. 

Optimizing Profits

Your strategy for a more optimum revenue mix might be to sell as much of Service Z as possible, while eliminating or fixing the problem around Service Y. 

It’s fun to experiment with different revenue mixes.  And of course, there are many more variables besides profit, such as: 

·      Which service do you prefer to work on?
·      Are you able to sell more of the most profitable service or are there marketing limitations?
·      Is one service a loss leader for the others?
·      Are you able to adjust price on the lower margin services to increase your profits? 

There are many more questions to ask and strategies to consider to make you more money, which is why we love our job! 

A New Year, A New Mix

We hope you’ll spend some time analyzing your revenue mix and having fun asking yourself “what if?”   If we can help you expedite the process or add our perspective, please reach out anytime.