Looking for keys to growth in your business?
The primary cause of business stress & failure is the lack of ongoing business planning.
Running a business without a plan is like going on a road trip to Wellington and ending up in Coromandel. Planning is ongoing, not a one-off and should be part of your working ON your business strategy.
Staying in the trenches can help you be a great leader but every boat needs a CAPTAIN who knows where they are going, constantly reviews the weather pattern and is agile with the plan to get to the destination.
It is not acceptable to say I’ll start planning in the new year. When the new year comes you would have lost a good run to the start of that year. If you need capital the banks work more favourably with businesses that plan ahead.
You don’t know what you don’t know. Clients we work with are disciplined through having agreed action plans and accountability – that is our role. Surround yourself with Experienced Business Advisors and a community that can spot the blinds spots and help you achieve your business growth for the coming year.
Now is the time to get started for the new year not in the new year.
Catherine Cooke | Founder and Leading Business Advisor
Book a free business planning session with any of our experienced business advisors.
Christine Rankin
Business Advisor – Leadership Expert
Christine has lead small teams to running organisations with 100s of staff. Now armed with a lifetime of experience in business, she knows leadership starts at the top. Help your business thrive by making sure you have leadership structures and processes in place.
“Your success is my passion”.
Peter Cooke
Business Advisor – CX Expert
Peter’s career has spanned many industries and countries over the past 35 years. Experience gained across the banking, utility, telecommunications and insurance sectors has seen Peter develop extensive senior management and leadership skills.
“I see solutions – not problems”.
Catherine Cooke (nee Sherwood)
Founder and Leading Business Advisor
Catherine is a passionate and entrepreneurial-minded business woman. She has consistent success in start-ups; building, growing and improving the profitability as well as lifting performance to increase the value of existing companies and exit/succession strategies.
“Your passion, your business”.
Spotlight – Introducing Wine Time
Best Corporate Gift Idea Ever!
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Special occasion? This is the ultimate gift idea – Upload your business logo, any text on your personalised wine and order. Our personalised wines look beautiful, taste beautiful & the process is easy! Excellent for Birthdays, Christmas, Corporate Gifts to Customers with massive WOW-FACTOR.
Provider Tips and News
Budgeting as an SME – Walker Wayland
Small business budgets are empowering. They give you the knowledge and insight to eliminate wasteful spending and get to profitability faster.
When setting a business budget, you need good numbers. Don’t guess at what’s coming in and what’s going out. You could be making assumptions that just aren’t true. Take the time to look into your accounts and dig out the real figures. It might sound like hard work but it’s worth it.
The numbers that matter when setting a budget
So what are the key figures to consider when setting a budget? Rather than looking over large sets of numbers than can blur into one, keep in mind the following financial reports:
- – Profit & Loss report
- – Balance sheet
- – Trial balance
Profit & Loss report
This report tells you at a glance whether you’re making money or losing it. To do that, you’ll subtract your expenses from your income. To help you get started, talk to your Walker Wayland Accountant.
Income (revenue)
How much money are you generating from sales of your products or services? It helps to break these into:
- – recurring income – regular and reliable revenue from client retainers and contract work
- – expected income – a forecast of what your business is likely to earn
Expenses (costs)
How much money are you spending on business costs such as staff, raw materials and marketing? As with income, it helps to break these into:
- – recurring expenditure – your monthly payments for rent, utilities, payroll and so on
It can be easy to overlook some of the costs of doing business. To help capture them all, consider the following issues:
- – Depreciation – business assets, such as computers and equipment, lose value as they get older, and should be counted as a cost
- – Overheads – make sure you don’t overlook fixed costs such as rent or energy (eg, electricity, gas, transport fuel)
- – Payroll – the total cost of employing your staff including insurance, taxes and benefits
- – Debt repayments – regular outgoings to repay loans or other business investments
If you have more revenue coming in than costs going out, you’re making a profit. If it’s the other way around, you’re making a loss. A loss is okay in certain situations but losses aren’t sustainable over the long term.
Read the Full Article for more information on Balance Sheets and Trial Balance.
Content provided by Provider to The Engine, Walker Wayland.
How do I delegate my to-do list? – Strictly Savvy
Want to get some tasks off your to-do list, but not sure HOW to delegate when you’ve always done it yourself?
We hear this time and time again from people desperate to free up time in their day, but not sure where to start!
It’s normal to want to hold on to the things on your to-do list.
Maybe you feel like you’re the only one who can do it right, it would take too long to train someone new, or that someone else is going to take much longer to complete the task for you.
Ultimately, handing things over to a VA or team member comes down to trust, training and communication. Ready to learn how?
First off, why should you be delegating?
It’s simple, the more low-level, repetitive tasks that you can get off your to-do list, the more time you’re going to have to focus on big picture, high-level, revenue generating tasks within your business.
Maybe there’s tasks you’re doing often that just really don’t light your fire, are hampering your productivity, or you’re just straight up not good at (that’s ok to admit!).
What could you be doing if you weren’t having to focus time and energy on these tasks? You could:
- – Spend more time marketing your business to attract new customers
- – Finally get started on that project to take your business to the next level
- – Attend networking events
- – Upskill, take classes or watch seminars
- – Get out of the office for a much-needed break!
What kind of things should you delegate?
Repetitive tasks. Things that are either the same or very similar every time you do them, and need to be done regularly. These small tasks often take up a lot of your time in the long run, and they are easy to delegate to your team.
Low-level tasks. Similar and often crossed over with repetitive tasks, things that are simply draining your time and stopping you from getting more important things done (think filing, research, document formatting).
Things that could be done better by a VA or team member. Remember how we said above that there’s probably some things that you just aren’t good at? Being a business owner or manager doesn’t mean that you will be the most skilled team member at any given task (no one is good at everything!).
Delegate these tasks to someone with the relevant skills, and don’t let your ego get in the way.
Things that bore you. If there’s things on your to-do list that you dread doing, that make the day drag on, or that you avoid altogether – delegate them! Free that time up for things that you love doing.
And here’s something very important to keep in mind: If you find a mistake or that the task hasn’t been actioned correctly at any point, you must let the VA or team member know. DO NOT fix it and not say anything. Trust that your team member wants to do a good job, they really do! So let them know when something isn’t right so they can fix it and do it correctly next time, otherwise you’ll just end up frustrated.
Read the Full Article for more tips on delegating and how to make it happen.
Content provided by Provider to The Engine, Strictly Savvy.
