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Tag: Planning

  • Habits – The Big Secret to Marketing Success

    Habits – The Big Secret to Marketing Success

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    What do you think you need more than anything else to attract more of your ideal clients?

    Many people will say, "better information to show me how to do what works."

    Others will say, "more motivation and drive to implement what I already know."

    Another common answer is , "more time to fit marketing activities into my schedule."

    And lots of people will say, "I need better goals and more clarity about what I want to achieve."

    In writing this ezine / blog for the past 20 years I've talked about the importance of all of those.

    But I'm finally understanding a factor that is much more important: good habits.

    Over the past year, I've been a big advocate of the writings of James Clear. He writes a blog about success and habits. And he just came out with his first book, Atomic Habits, which is fantastic.

    Even though James isn't a marketing expert, I'm convinced he's right when he says that the ultimate determinant of success is building positive habits.

    This idea is simple but true: Self-employed professionals who establish regular marketing habits have a much better chance of succeeding than those who don't.

    And the crazy thing is that the four items – information, motivation, time, and goals – I mentioned above don't actually make a huge difference.

    Information. These days, we have access to more information about marketing than ever before in history. And much of it is free and instantly available through a Google or YouTube search.

    The problem is that most of us have not established a regular habit of studying what we need to know to become better marketers. The information is useless unless we become proficient at implementing it.

    And even if we pay good money for courses and programs, much of it goes to waste. I just learned recently online that 97% of people who buy a course online never complete it.

    Motivation. If we measured motivation by intention, we are all motivated. Don't we all want and need to grow our businesses? But we keep getting distracted and don't follow through on our intentions. Again, the issue is poor habits.

    Time. If only we had more of it. But unsuccessful marketers have just as much of it as the most successful ones. The key is that they dedicate more time to implementing regular marketing habits.

    Goals. Nothing wrong with goals except that they are only a starting point for success. And they can get us stuck in the future, instead of doing what needs to be done today – the routine marketing habits that we perform every day or week.

    "A habit or system beats a goal every time." – James Clear

    The research is in and the conclusion is clear.

    Establishing positive and consistent marketing habits have a bigger impact on marketing success than anything else.

    We may have great information, high motivation, lots of time, and clear goals, but unless marketing activities are performed regularly and habitually, the chances of success are slim to none.

    The question you should be asking is, "How do I start establishing better marketing habits?"

    James's Atomic Habits goes to great lengths to share a multitude of ways to become an expert habit practitioner. So I highly suggest you get his book. It could be the most valuable 'marketing' book you'll ever read.

    But let me also give you my perspective on what it takes to establish new marketing habits.

    The C – SPAT Model

    This is a model I came up with for one of my marketing programs.

    Coaching or Context. A coach declares the game, how it is played and how to win at it. And this creates the context in which you play the game. It helps if you have an outside source that can hold you accountable to play by the rules necessary to succeed.

    This principle is why when you're working with a coach or in a program that you suddenly find it's easier to take action and form positive habits. The context of the game helps shape your behaviors.

    Notice that all professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants go through rigorous training in the form of a professional school and internship. And in this context, professional habits and protocols are established.

    As independent professionals, we'd all prefer to do things on our own, charting our own direction. That's nice, except that it doesn't always work very well, does it?

    Study. A big part of the game is study and learning the body of knowledge necessary to perform effectively. Again, the information required to be an effective marketer is readily available, but you need some assistance in sorting the wheat from the chaff and studying what is most useful.

    Planning. All successful marketing needs a plan. The alternative is implementing random marketing activities with little structure and direction. So it's not how much you know, but how you put what you know into action.

    Action. Success doesn't come from being busy or doing a lot of things, but in doing the right things at the right time. This is where establishing regular marketing habits comes in.

    To some, it might be writing an article once or twice a week. For others, it may mean setting up more meetings with networking contacts. Or it could be booking regular speaking engagements.

    The secret to making this work is to leverage the first three steps of the model – Coaching, Study, and Planning, into marketing Actions that you perform as consistently as possible.

    Tracking. What gets measured gets done. And when we fail to measure, habits don't tend to stick. When we measure and track habits, the chances increase dramatically that they are performed consistently.

    It can take some time to establish positive habits. You know that's happened when you don't even have to think about it anymore; you just sit down and write that article every Monday or make five calls to prospects every week.

    And when you're in action like this, you create a feedback loop, learning what works the best and what doesn't. This enables you to fine-tune and adjust over time until your marketing habits become more established.

    So, stop putting so much attention on searching for the "perfect" marketing strategy, getting motivated, finding more time, and setting goals.

    Instead, use the C – SPAT approach to establishing positive marketing habits.

    Cheers, Robert

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    Source by Robert Middleton

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  • "Negotiator – Embrace Right Buy-In – Cure Stupid Hidden Disasters" – Negotiation Tip of the Week

    "Negotiator – Embrace Right Buy-In – Cure Stupid Hidden Disasters" – Negotiation Tip of the Week

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    A good negotiator knows, when you embrace the right buy-in, you cure hidden disasters before they can occur.

    For almost a year, they secretly planned the rollout. They touted it as a facelift that would change the name and position of the association. Doing so would give it a fresh look and appearance for the 21st century. But when the rollout occurred, the backlash was severe. All the money, time, expenses, and efforts that went into the new face of the association went down a drain of despair. The question that buzzed throughout the association was, how could this have happened? The response was when you embrace the right buy-in, you stop hidden disasters. And this disaster was easily avoidable.

    First, as a negotiator, what do you think went wrong? What buy-in do you seek when thinking about the obstacles you might face in your negotiations? To the degree you obtain the right buy-in, you have a better chance for a successful outcome. To the degree you get the right buy-in at the right time, your chances of a successful outcome increases substantially.

    Problem:

    Secrecy – In the opening situation, the president of that association assembled a team of prominent members – all were members of the association. Their expertise stretched across the spectrum of branding, marketing, and social media. None were members of the vanguard that had watched over the association for decades. And the omittance of that group’s input was a silent blinking red light that foretold the death of the project.

    Negotiating in secret environments can be beneficial. It can prevent unwanted distractions from slowing the progress of the negotiation. It also serves to gather the buy-in of stakeholders that might torpedo the negotiation. Thus, secrecy can be a form of control – it can also be the deliverer of disaster if not used right.

    Forgotten power players – The name of the association had stood for four decades. And some of the revered founding members were still active in the association. When the new name was revealed, that vanguard was the catalyst that caused the committee’s efforts, and the new name, to meet a swift death. Had the committee consulted this vanguard, the committee would have known its efforts were doomed. They could have avoided a hidden disaster.

    Consideration:

    Had the committee charged with creating a new name involved the vanguard of the association and brought them along during the planning stage, at minimum, the new name would have stood a greater chance of becoming implemented successfully. At worse, the committee would have known that the new name was in trouble. Losses could have been averted at an earlier point and resources could have been spared.

    The challenge a negotiator faces when employing secrecy is making sure the right people are involved. If they’re not involved, hidden disasters may lie in wait.

    Always take into consideration who might be involved in a negotiation even if they’re not physically or visually involved in it. Seek those individuals that might have a stake in the outcome of the negotiation no matter how small you think their stake might be. There’ll be times when you won’t know the power source behind some people’s means – that’s something else to consider. There’ll also be times when smaller stakeholders will combine forces, which will present a more powerful force for you to contend with.

    Conclusion:

    Getting the right buy-in is a vital component of every negotiation – even when it’s just you and the other negotiator. Doing so when you have multiple participants is even more vital to the negotiation’s success. Therefore, when you assess the impact of the buy-in component during your negotiation planning stage, consider its impact thoroughly… and everything will be right with the world.

    Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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    Source by Greg Williams

    Views: 0

  • Secrets to A Winning Mindset

    Secrets to A Winning Mindset

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    To succeed in life requires a lot of courage because there is almost

    nothing in this world that is 100% risk-free. Winning or losing comes

    from the mind that is why a winning mindset is crucial to achieving

    set goals irrespective of the difficulties or challenges encountered.

    No matter how small your goals are or how lofty your dreams may be,

    you cannot achieve much without a winning mindset, which is the force

    that generates the power and enthusiasm that drives you.

    When you see successful people, they not only have a winning attitude

    but also possess the winning mindset. Giving up is not among the

    traits of winners and following through to the end is never the habit

    of losers. To get to the pinnacle of success, you must have a winning

    mindset that results from positive thinking and perspective to issues.

    Tips to Having a Winning Mindset

    Do you see successful people and wish to follow in their footsteps?

    Are you searching for ways to develop a positive mindset? Do you want

    to nurture your mind with the winning attitude? Here are the tips to

    help you have a winning mindset.

    1. Have an It-Is-Possible Belief

    There is a great connection between what you believe and the result

    you get from your efforts. The best way to start creating a winning

    mindset is to have a positive belief and be addicted to that thought.

    By having an ‘it-is-possible’ mindset, you are setting your mind above

    all limitations and obstacles on the path to achieving your goals.

    When this thought gets into your subconscious mind, it will become

    effortless to see possibility in having things go your way.

    2. Set Goals and Have a Detailed Plan

    Remember that every success has an equal chance of failure. As a

    result, do not attempt anything without setting a goal and creating a

    detailed plan to achieve your goal. Identify factors that could cause

    your failure and plug every necessary hole and take advantage of the

    factors that can drive your goals to success. Be meticulous in planning.

    3. Spare No Efforts / Never Think About Quitting

    To have a winning mindset, be ready to go all out and leave no stone

    unturned. Do not spare any efforts and you must be prepared to see

    your goals achieved regardless of how long you need to labor or how

    much pain you must endure. You must not think of quitting – it is the

    habit of losers.

    4. Declare Your Anticipated Result to Yourself

    There is a strong force behind positive confession. Make a declaration

    (speak out) of the result you are expecting to yourself every time.

    Let this positive thought fill your head then get into your heart; let

    it take over your mind and finally get into your subconscious mind.

    Doing this will embolden you with positive energies and a winning

    mindset that will push you beyond your limit to achieve your dream or

    set goals.

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    Source by Carl Mathis

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  • Great Customer Experience Begins With A Contact Center Audit & Assessment

    Great Customer Experience Begins With A Contact Center Audit & Assessment

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    The first step in the “Government Contact Center Operations Audit, Assessment & Benchmarking” is the execution of a contact center benchmarking audit.

    Who needs to conduct an annual operations audit and assessments? Anyone who needs to understand how to improve their customer’s digital experience and the organization’s service delivery performance. Whether they manage a team, offer organizational help to team managers or are an industry body in search of industry benchmarking, an assessment tool can help you figure out how to improve your government customer experience delivery, reduce operational costs and increase employee engagement.

    Through the completion of the operations audit, you can ensure that the organization has a good understanding of the current state of the operation. The audit allows you to examine the operations maturity and performance in contrast to ‘best practice’ centers globally.

    This creates the baseline and context against which the operations can be viewed and assessed. The execution of the audit by surfacing issues and/or concerns is an essential step in ensuring the success of the contact center operations.

    Government contact center operations audit categories include:

    1. Technology Review – All digital channels, operating technology (i.e. CRM) and telephony within the center, the effectiveness of technology, it’s utilization, scalability, interoperability, new technology opportunities including specifically any required telephony upgrade and return on investment (ROI) calculations.

    2. Operations Management – Process improvement opportunities, workflow process opportunities, automation opportunities, change management, employee and customer satisfaction, measurement and reporting.

    3. Compliance Management – Awareness and understanding of applicable rules, regulations, and standards. Policies, processes, and procedures for ensuring the operation is and can document compliance.

    4. Operational Alignment of the contact center to the business goals, especially related to desired patient journey both within and outside of the normal center operating hours, and presenting suggested approaches and results.

    5. Human Capital Management – Recruiting, Hiring, Job Descriptions, Skills Mapping, Workforce Management, and Optimization, Forecasting, Scheduling, Training, Coaching, Succession Planning, and Quality Assurance.

    In assessing the operations, the approach involves a review of its existing processes and practices, communications and technology, and, of course, the most important element: staffing. The outcome of the project is an agency report. This report always assesses current operational objectives, involves peer-to-peer benchmarking and identifies the gap between the “as is” vs. the “to-be” environment to achieve the agency’s vision. The report offers recommendations toward optimizing operational objectives, setting relevant operational priorities to close identified gaps and deploying an efficient innovative cloud-based technology

    Outcome: After the completion of the audit and assessment, you should expect a clear direction, in the shape of detailed reports to empower you to deliver better customer experience and give you a precise idea of where your organization stands in the world map if you also include a benchmarking tool.

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    Source by Rosetta Carrington Lue

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  • Why You Must Not Marry

    Why You Must Not Marry

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    People have gotten into marriage for the wrong reasons and mind set, they cloud their mind with superficial reasons leaving the important issues why they should not marry in the first place untouched. Below are ten reasons why you must not marry. please read along and be blessed.

    1. You must not marry out of lust. People have married out of lust but later found out that all that glitters is not gold. The beauty or ugliness of people is not to be measured from without but from what issues from the inside of them. The content of an individual is to be weighed above his or her container.

    2. You must not marry out of sympathy or pity. Feeling guilty or sympathy for any reason about someone’s misfortunes and deciding to marry them as a consolation is a wrong decision. For every Jack there is a Jill. God is able to give them a help that meet their situation. He gives a guide to the blind, a nurse to the feeble and a comforter to the heart broken.

    3. Do not be manipulated through match making. Nobody knows you like your God and his timing and choice is best for you. He knows your temperaments, strength and weakness. God know the help whom He had created to meet your specification. Indeed nobody knows the product like the manufacturer. God must be involved in the choice we make.

    4. You must not be pressurized to marry. Pressure comes from peers and family. Non in this group can absolutely quantify the pain and heart breaks their loved ones experience in marriage, they can only imagine. Imaginations are not good enough to right wrongs in a bad relationship. When the problems become overwhelming they will abandon you.

    5. Do not be prophesied into marriage. Any prophecy is subject to your confirmation. You are not responsible for what God had not told you. God is not a respecter of any man. He is able to tell you what He told someone about you. Learn to hear God yourself.

    6. You must not rush into marriage. Give it some time. Time reveals secrets, time is a healer of wounds, and time will reassure you of your decision.

    7. You are not convinced. Marriage is a journey of a life time. You need to be convinced beyond all doubts that you are ready to go the mile. To save your self the heartache, you must take into cognizance that a broken engagement is better than a broken marriage. Take time to do your checks and be convinced.

    8. He or she doesn’t respect you. By respect I also mean not valuing your self worth. A relationship like that has a tendency of abuse and violation of your rights, privileges and that of your relatives. You have no business with someone whom you cannot respect or does not respect you.

    9. He or she does not share your religious beliefs. Your religious believe is the center and the pivot that your entire life revolves around. Agreeing to marry some persons with a divergent view is seeking calmness in a chaotic atmosphere. Two people cannot walk together except they agree on core issues like their faith and believes.

    10. Identity issues. We are identified by our looks, vocation, character and associations. You must be able to have the foresight of looking into the future to see if you will want to be identified with this person in years to come. Marriage gives you identity because the two of you becomes one.

    I am sure these will serve as a check list for someone out there that is getting into a relationship or is planning to take his or her relationship to the next level (marriage). Do the check list and let God give you the peace.

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    Source by Dan Williams

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  • 5 Tips for Improving Performance in Small Sales Teams

    5 Tips for Improving Performance in Small Sales Teams

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    In my years of experience in sales and sales management, I have observed many small and medium sized sales teams. Often, they struggle to perform at capacity and hit their goals and it's frequently a sales management issue. Sometimes it's because the CEO or business owner is the de facto sales manager and is wearing many hats. They are often just too busy running their business or spread too thin. Sometimes they're the technical experts in their field and their expertise and time is being used to improve products, systems or services. It's sometimes because a top performing sales person was promoted into a sales management role and their strength lies in salesmanship and delivering revenue to the business personally rather than in a broad sense. Below are five things you can do to improve sales management in your company now.

    1. Planning
    Many business owners have at best a rudimentary sales plan. If they do have one, often times it consists of higher and higher sales goals, without accounting for what will drive that new business. Will a new product line be added, a new market be opened or new additions made to the sales team? Will the company be able to support the added expense while markets are opened and new sales people trained? How much risk will the company bear? A good but simple sales plan takes this into consideration. Takeaway: Make a better sales plan with concrete steps to get to the desired goal.

    2. Modernize
    There are many new technologies that make it easier to interact with prospects. Among them are CRM systems, collaboration tools, the cloud, dialers, email tracking, prospect and customer information systems. Existing systems are being upgraded all the time with the newest capabilities. All are designed to more efficiently and effectively reach more buyers, disseminate information, warm them up and help make sales. Social media platforms allow a business to extend its reach inexpensively and makes your business more visible to search engines such as Google.com. Takeaway: Evaluate new technologies on a regular basis to make sure you are keeping up and modernize as needed.

    3. Training
    Training sales people serves three purposes. The first is that it provides them an opportunity to hone and refresh their skills. The second is that it reminds them that performance is important and that expectations for them performing well are high. The third is that it shows a willingness to invest in them and that they are part of the long term plan for the organization. Takeaway: Make sure you offer training to your sales people every year (a sharp ax cuts better than a dull one).

    4. Lead Generation
    All businesses need sales and most small and medium sized businesses are subject to the feast / famine paradigm. When they're busy, the first thing that gets pushed aside is prospecting for new business. Until business slows down. Then there's a flurry of sales activity and soon business is back where it should be. For a while. Most small businesses don't have bandwidth to prospect effectively in a consistent way.

    Lists should be highly targeted and refreshed regularly. Technology should be used and a proven process followed. The technology should reinforce the process rather than detract from it. Top management should enforce the use of the technology and following of the process. Utilize social media and blogging to widen your reach inexpensively. Finally, no one can be an expert on everything so get help from the professionals when needed. Takeaway: Make prospecting part of the company routine and culture and call in the experts when needed!

    5. Measurement
    You get what you measure is the old adage and it's mostly true. The challenge is top management often has a hard time pinning down the exact actions, activities and behaviors they are trying to encourage and measure. Here's a practical example. Maybe top management believes that offering free webinars will increase sales since it worked well in the past. So the goal is to run well attended webinars.

    How will these webinars be promoted to prospects and clients? Will a set of emails be sent, starting a few weeks before the first webinar? Then a prospect list with email addresses will need to be purchased and loaded and a compelling email invitation created.

    Will prospects be called and told about the webinars? Then phone numbers will be necessary, a script will need to be created and a person designated to make the calls. To track call results, an activity report should be created and run on a regular basis to test the messaging, to make sure the calls are being made and to analyze the prospect responses. Will the report be grouped by prospect type (or industry or state or city or source)? Then that data will need to be captured or imported for each prospect.

    Finally, reports should measure the success of each webinar, so that results can be tabulated. How many people registered and attended are important to measure, as well as what happened to the prospect once the webinar was complete to determine the ROI. Takeaway: Create reports that measure actions, activities and behaviors that drive sales success, run them regularly and share the results.

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    Source by Jerry Crowley

    Views: 0

  • 4 Daily Habits Of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

    4 Daily Habits Of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

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    Entrepreneurship is hard. It needs unswerving discipline, and confidence in yourself and your business. Lots of people lack the opportunity to enjoy it. But for the few who are determined and ready to put in the hard work, entrepreneurship is the most fulfilling job, identity and lifestyle in the world.

    Let’s look at 4 daily habits of successful entrepreneurs.

    1. They stick to a routine

    A day has 24 hours only and as an entrepreneur, time is the most valuable thing in the world. To get the maximum potential out of every day, successful entrepreneurs follow a strict schedule.

    For instance, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, schedules his whole day in five-minute blocks and he breaks up his week, where on Mondays and Thursdays he focuses on SpaceX and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he pays attention to Tesla. He splits Fridays between both companies.

    2. They read a lot

    Most successful entrepreneurs make learning a regular daily habit. For instance, Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, reads 50 books a year. As an entrepreneur, you need to learn as the world is continually changing, and the most impactful entrepreneurs create their profiles by improving their knowledge.

    If your background is in design and strategy, as an entrepreneur you must have engineering and computer science knowledge to contribute meaningfully to your ventures. Examine your future goals and establish what skills and capabilities may hinder you, then start learning today to be ready for those roadblocks. For engineers and designers, that obstacle may be management, finance or project planning. Yours may surprise you!

    3. They exercise daily

    Yes, exercise keeps your body fit and the mind sharp, and it has a great impact on an entrepreneur’s long-term achievement. The reason is that it relieves stress and helps maintain a healthy work-life balance. Many successful entrepreneurs attribute their success to exercising and keeping fit. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, increases his productivity with daily exercise.

    Don’t make excuses! Fitness and mental calmness are essential for a happy lifestyle. They’re the building blocks to your productivity for days, weeks and months. Find a sport, activity, or practice suitable for you and make it habitual by being responsible.

    4. They stay positive

    As an entrepreneur, you’ll face many challenges, but what makes you succeed is a positive and creative mindset. Every day. Being able to see things from a positive dimension means you can see interesting and unique opportunities others can’t see.

    If you can’t remain positive, it’s time for a change. For instance, Steve Jobs started his mornings by repeating a simple mantra: “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” If he answered this question with a “No,” then he knew it was time to make a change.

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    Source by Jon Allo

    Views: 0

  • Small Business Owners: Accounting Is for Profit Planning, Not Just Tax Preparation

    Small Business Owners: Accounting Is for Profit Planning, Not Just Tax Preparation

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    One might be led to believe that profit is the main objective in a business but in reality it is the cash flowing in and out of a business which keeps the doors open. The concept of profit is somewhat narrow and only looks at expenses and income at a certain point in time. Cash flow, on the other hand, is more dynamic in the sense that it is concerned with the movement of money in and out of a business. It is concerned with the time at which the movement of the money takes place. Profits do not necessarily coincide with their associated cash inflows and outflows. The net result is that cash receipts often lag cash payments and while profits may be reported, the business may experience a short-term cash shortage. For this reason, it is essential to forecast cash flows as well as project likely profits. In these terms, it is important to know how to convert your accrual profit to your cash flow profit. You need to be able to maintain enough cash on hand to run the business, but not so much as to forfeit possible earnings from other uses.

    Why accounting is needed

    Help you to operate better as a business owner

    1. Make timely decisions

      • Know when to hire a team of employees
      • Know how to price your products
      • Know how to label your expense items
      • Helps you to determine whether to expand or not
      • Helps with operations projected costs
    2. Stop Fraud and Theft

      • Control the biggest problem is internal theft
      • Reconcile your books and inventory control of equipment
    3. Raising Capital (help you to explain financials to stakeholders)

      • Loans
      • Investors

    What are the Best Practices in Accounting for Small Businesses to address your common ‘pain points’?

    1. Hire or consult with CPA or accountant

      1. What is the best way and how often to contact
      2. What experience do you have in my industry?
      3. Identify what is my break-even point?
      4. Can the accountant assess the overall value of my business
      5. Can you help me grow my business with profit planning techniques
      6. How can you help me to prepare for tax season
      7. What are some special considerations for my particular industry?

    To succeed, your company must be profitable. All your business objectives boil down to this one simple fact. But turning a profit is easier said than done. In order to boost your bottom line, you need to know what’s going on financially at all times. You also need to be committed to tracking and understanding your KPIs.

    What are the common Profitability Metrics to Track in Business — key performance indicators (KPI)

    Whether you decide to hire an expert or do it yourself, there are some metrics that you should absolutely need to keep tabs on at all times:

    • Outstanding Accounts Payable: Outstanding accounts payable (A/P) shows the balance of cash you currently owe to your suppliers.
    • Average Cash Burn: Average cash burn is the rate at which your business’ cash balance is going down on average each month over a specified time period. A negative burn is a good sign because it indicates your business is generating cash and growing its cash reserves.
    • Cash Runaway: If your business is operating at a loss, cash runway helps you estimate how many months you can continue before your business exhausts its cash reserves. Similar to your cash burn, a negative runway is a good sign that your business is growing its cash reserves.
    • Gross Margin: Gross margin is a percentage that demonstrates the total revenue of your business after subtracting the costs associated with creating and selling your business’ products. It is a helpful metric to identify how your revenue compares to your costs, allowing you to make changes accordingly.
    • Customer Acquisition Cost: By knowing how much you spend on average to acquire a new customer, you can tell exactly how many customers you need to generate a profit.
    • Customer Lifetime Value: You need to know your LTV so that you can predict your future revenues and estimate the total number of customers you need to grow your profits.
    • Break-Even Point:How much do I need to generate in sales for my company to make a profit?Knowing this number will show you what you need to do to turn a profit (e.g., acquire more customers, increase prices, or lower operating expenses).
    • Net Profit: This is the single most important number you need to know for your business to be a financial success. If you aren’t making a profit, your company isn’t going to survive for long.
    • Total revenues comparison with last year/last month. By tracking and comparing your total revenues over time, you’ll be able to make sound business decisions and set better financial goals.
    • Average revenue per employee. It’s important to know this number so that you can set realistic productivity goals and recognize ways to streamline your business operations.

    The following checklist lays out a recommended timeline to take care of the accounting functions that will keep you attuned to the operations of your business and streamline your tax preparation. The accuracy and timeliness of the numbers entered will affect the key performance indicators that drive business decisions that need to be made, on a daily, monthly and annual basis towards profits.

    Daily Accounting Tasks

    1. Review your daily Cash flow position so you don’t ‘grow broke’.

    Since cash is the fuel for your business, you never want to be running near empty. Start your day by checking how much cash you have on hand.

    Weekly Accounting Tasks

    2. Record Transactions

    Record each transaction (billing customers, receiving cash from customers, paying vendors, etc.) in the proper account daily or weekly, depending on volume. Although recording transactions manually or in Excel sheets is acceptable, it is probably easier to use accounting software like QuickBooks. The benefits and control far outweigh the cost.

    3. Document and File Receipts

    Keep copies of all invoices sent, all cash receipts (cash, check and credit card deposits) and all cash payments (cash, check, credit card statements, etc.).

    Start a vendors file, sorted alphabetically, (Sears under “S”, CVS under “C,”etc.) for easy access. Create a payroll file sorted by payroll date and a bank statement file sorted by month. A common habit is to toss all paper receipts into a box and try to decipher them at tax time, but unless you have a small volume of transactions, it’s better to have separate files for assorted receipts kept organized as they come in. Many accounting software systems let you scan paper receipts and avoid physical files altogether

    4. Review Unpaid Bills from Vendors

    Every business should have an “unpaid vendors” folder. Keep a record of each of your vendors that includes billing dates, amounts due and payment due date. If vendors offer discounts for early payment, you may want to take advantage of that if you have the cash available.

    5. Pay Vendors, Sign Checks

    Track your accounts payable and have funds earmarked to pay your suppliers on time to avoid any late fees and maintain favorable relationships with them. If you are able to extend payment dates to net 60 or net 90, the better. Whether you make payments online or drop a check in the mail, keep copies of invoices sent and received using accounting software.

    6. Prepare and Send Invoices

    Be sure to include payment terms. Most invoices are due within 30 days, noted as “Net 30” at the bottom of your invoice. Without a due date, you will have more trouble forecasting revenue for the month. To make sure you get paid on time, always use an invoice form that contains the right details such as payment terms, itemized charges, and your payment address.

    7. Review Projected Cash Flow

    Managing your cash flow is critical, especially in the first year of your business. Forecasting how much cash you will need in the coming weeks/months will help you reserve enough money to pay bills, including your employees and suppliers. Plus, you can make more informed business decisions about how to spend it.

    All you need is a simple statement showing your current cash position, expected cash receipts during the next week/month and expected cash payments during the next week/month.

    8. Executive Dashboard (weekly review)

    This dashboard gives you a ‘snapshot’ of your operations on a weekly basis.

    It consist of Cash on Hand, Cash burn rate, Account Receivables, Accounts Payable, Items sold, Inventory on Hand, inventory turns, outstanding issues in the business, and gross profit margin, new sales wins, customer losses, customer service performance, on time delivery rate and product quality performance.

    Monthly Accounting Tasks

    9. Balance Your Business Checkbook

    Just as you reconcile your personal checking account, you need to know that your cash business transaction entries are accurate each month and that you are working with the correct cash position. Reconciling your cash makes it easier to discover and correct any errors or omissions-by you or by the bank-in time to correct them.

    10. Review Past-Due (“Aged”) Receivables

    Be sure to include an “aging” column to separate “open invoices” with the number of days a bill is past due. This gives you a quick view of outstanding customer payments. The beginning of the month is a good time to send out overdue reminder statements to customers, clients and anyone else who owes you money.

    At the end of your fiscal year, you will be looking at this account again to determine what receivables you will need to send to collections or write off for a deduction

    11. Analyze Inventory Status

    If you have inventory, set aside time to reorder products that sell quickly and identify others that are moving slowly and may have to be marked down or, ultimately, written off. By checking regularly (and comparing to prior months’ numbers), it’s easier to make adjustments so you are neither short nor overloaded.

    12. Process or Review Payroll and Approve Tax Payments

    While you have an established schedule to pay your employees (usually semi-monthly), you need to meet payroll tax requirements based on federal, state and local laws at different times, so be sure to withhold, report and deposit the applicable income tax, social security, Medicare and disability taxes to the appropriate agencies on the required dates.

    Review the payroll summary before payments are disbursed to avoid having to make corrections during the next payroll period. A payroll service provider can do all this to save you time and ensure accuracy at a reasonable cost.

    13. Review Actual Profit and Loss vs. Budget and vs. Prior Years

    Each month, take the time to review your budgeted expenses and compare them to what you have actually spent. Are you spending above or below budget? Discuss the variances and take action as needed

    Your profit and loss statement (also known as an income statement), both for the current month and year to date, tells you how much you earned and how much you spent. Measure it against your budget every month (or quarter). Comparing your actual numbers to your planned numbers highlights where you may be spending too much or not enough, so that you can make changes.

    If you have not prepared a budget, compare your current year-to-date P&L with the same prior-period year-to-date P&L to identify variances and make adjustments.

    14. Review Month-End Balance Sheet vs. Prior Period

    By comparing your balance sheet at one date-June 30, 2015, for example-to a balance sheet from an earlier date (December 31, 2014), you get a picture of how you are managing assets and liabilities. The key is to look for what is significantly up and/or down and understand why. For example, if your accounts receivable are up, is it due to increased recent sales or because of slower payments from customers?

    Quarterly Accounting Tasks

    15. Prepare/Review Revised Annual P&L Estimate

    It’s time to evaluate how much money you are actually making, whether your net assets are going up or down, the difference between revenues and expenses, what caused those changes, how you are spending profits, as well as identifying trouble spots, and making adjustments to improve sales and margins.

    16. Review Quarterly Payroll Reports and Make Payments

    You have been reviewing your semi-monthly payroll reports. However, the IRS and most states require quarterly payroll reports and any remaining quarterly payments. Again, it’s best if your payroll service provider completes these reports and files them. Your job is to review to make sure they appear reasonable.

    17. Review Sales Tax and Make Quarterly Payments

    If your company operates in a state that requires sales tax, make sure you comply to avoid serious penalties. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) can help you determine your state tax obligations.

    18. Compute Estimated Income Tax and Make Payment

    The IRS and states that have income taxes require you to pay estimated income taxes. Review your year-to-date P&L to see if you owe any estimated taxes for that quarter. Your tax accountant can assist if necessary.

    Annual Accounting Tasks

    19. Review Past-Due Receivables

    Now it’s time to check significant past due receivables and decide whether you think customers will eventually pay, whether to send past due bills to a collection agency or whether to write them off for a deduction.

    20. Review Your Inventory

    Review your current inventory to determine the value of items not sold. Any write-down of inventory translates to a deduction on your year-end taxes. If you do not write down unsellable inventory, you are overstating your inventory balance and paying additional taxes that you don’t owe.

    21. Fill out IRS Forms W-2 and 1099-MISC

    The IRS has a January 31 deadline that requires you to report the annual earnings of your full-time employees (W-2s) and most independent contractors (1099s). This deadline includes mailing copies of the tax forms to the people who worked for you. Note: A 1099 form is not required for any contractors who earned less than $600. Consider saving time and avoiding errors with an e-filing service.

    22. Review full-year financial reports for tax reporting

    • Get organized

      • Collect and store important documents (use apps and calendars for help)

        • Create email folders to store bank statement and receipts
        • Store contracts and agreements
        • Track miles and vehicle expenses
        • Store all required documents for your business type.


      • Tax Preparation

        • Tax preparation is a historical view and not a profit planning event
        • Capture all relevant events
        • Identify all deduction categories
        • Capture all meals

          • Meetings —-whatever was discussed/calendar

            • Try not to go over industry average industry cost for meals.

    At tax time, carefully review your company’s full-year financial reports before giving them to your accountant. Before you sign your return, be sure to review it for accuracy based on your full-year financial reports. Remember if IRS audits due to underpayment, they will deal with you not your accountant for any additional taxes, penalty and interest.

    If you don’t have the bandwidth to do all this yourself, a great strategy is to partner with a monthly accounting service. Outsourcing your accounting to an expert will simplify your life and give you more time to focus on running your business operations.

    A monthly accountant will provide you with a profit and loss sheet, balance statement, and accurate account reconciliation every month, ensuring that you have the financial information you need to make the best choices for your company.

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    Source by Vinson Primas

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  • New GDO country profiles available

    New GDO country profiles available

    Countries across the six WHO regions are participating in the Global Dementia Observatory (GDO), a data and knowledge exchange platform. The GDO provides easy access to country-level key dementia data and functions as the monitoring mechanism of the Global dementia action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017-2025.

    GDO country profiles offer a baseline summary of countries’ progress on dementia actions outlined in the global dementia action plan. They provide an easy read snapshot of the more comprehensive data submitted by Member States across three key domains related to dementia: policies, service delivery, and information and research. GDO country profiles can be used to inform policy, service planning and health and social care systems decisions for dementia. Additional country profiles will be added as data becomes available.

     

    View GDO country profiles

    Access the GDO

    Read the GDO Reference Guide

    New GDO country profiles available
    Read More
    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-04-2020-GDO-country-profiles

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