The four biggest concerns you will face…as a business owner

Welcome

The four biggest concerns you will face….

1. Achieving what you want in your personal life 2. Building a business to meet those goals 3. Having control over business performance and

numbers 4. Getting more from your business

1. Achieve what you want in your personal life

Do you know what you want?

Some questions to ask yourself:� Why did you start this business?� How is your business organized?� Do you feel you are on track with your goals? � What keeps you up at night?� What do you do in your spare time?

2. Build a business that enables you to meet those goals

Your business is only a vehicle to help you accomplish what you want on a personal level.  

Do you control your business?    

Or are you simply:• Trying to make ends meet • Taking a back seat and letting the

business drive you • Achieving success almost by

accident

Have you let your personal goals take a backseat while the business runs you?

3. Have control over business performance and numbers

Your numbers are not set in stone….

Imagine…• Knowing exactly what your numbers are for

the month • Having complete clarity on which products

or services are selling well (or not) • Understanding what’s in your accounts and

what they mean • Knowing what tax you’re going to pay, many

months ahead of the due date • Actually looking forward to meeting

with your accountant!

Xero is the platform that helps us deliver all of this to you. 

4. Get more from your business (with less effort on your part)

When you’re aware of your goals, building a business that meets those goals, and tracking your numbers every month (or more often), you’ll get more out of your business.

You can then: • Build scalability • Take vacations! • Hire employees (if you want to) • Outsource • Take a day off now and then • Spend time getting more customers • Action some of those ideas you don’t have

time for right now 

“Yes, at least one of these concerns me”

But why aren’t you doing anything about it?  (This is not an accusation, but a question!)

Because there are things you don’t know. 

1. You’re not quite sure what you really want (perhaps you’re too tired or worn out to even believe you could achieve it) 

2. Your business runs you, not the other way around (you’re reacting daily to what’s urgent) 

3. You don’t have control over your business performance and numbers  (they confuse you, and you feel there are more important things to do with your time) 

4. The business takes constant effort (you have no idea how you could walk away even if you wanted to)

You’re not quite sure what you really want (perhaps you’re too tired or worn out toeven believe you could achieve it)

Your business runs you, not the other way around (you’re reacting daily to what’s urgent) 

You don’t have control over your business performance and numbers (they confuse you, and there are more important

things to do with your time) 

The business takes constant effort(you have no idea how you could walk awayeven if you wanted to)

If even one of these concerns is keeping you awake at night, it’s time to address them.  

Here’s our approach to solving those problems:

1. Personal Goal setting 2. Business Planning and strategy 3. Monitor and Manage Financial and other

KPI’s 4. Profitability and Cash Flow improvement

1. Personal Goal setting

Defining (redefining) personal success

Remember our questions…• Why did you go into business in the first

place? • When you first started your business what were

your goals at that time? • How have those goals changed? • Has the business taken on a life of its own that

doesn’t resemble those goals and dreams you had in the first place? 

Setting aside time to answer these questions with honesty and focus (and some objective help) is the only way you will see change. 

What we do:• Personal goal questionnaire • One on one meeting  • Report to show you what you want to

achieve (and what’s missing) • Recommendations to help get there • A specific plan of action with dates

and responsibilities!

2. Business planning and strategy

Be willing to question everything and test what you think you know. Here’s how:

Ask the naive question  

“If we weren't already doing it this way, is this the way we would start?" 

– Peter Drucker 

 “Be the House”

Try anything Forget "best practices" and be willing tofind "next practices." 

Look around: Go outside your industry to look for new ideas and innovations. 

Believe in yourself, your team and your mission. 

Build it deep into your culture and make it part of who you are.  

What we do: Work through all of these areas with you.

• Ask naive questions • Help you to “Be the House”  • Find "next practices” 

It’s up to you to then…• Believe in yourself, your team and

your mission • Build it deep into your culture and

make it part of who you are. 

3. Monitor and Manage Financial and other KPI’s

The Hockey Game Analogy!

Key performance indicatorsThese are the: • Important (key) • Indicators (numbers) • That tell you how your business is

performing (performance)

The traditional indicator of profitability is your income statement.  

• It’s results-based • It’s also a ‘trailing indicator’ (your

data could be over a year old)

If this is how you monitor the business, it’s like watching a hockey game by only looking at the scoreboard.   

Look at the activity within the game!

You are extremely busy – let’s be efficient with your time!

What we do: We strive to keep things as simple aspossible.  

Flying blind: Simply reviewing your historical financial statements and making important decision on the basis of financial history

Or……..

Operate like the big companies: Budgeting, forecasting and planning is always the centerpiece of the financial management system for the largest and best companies in the world.

-Example: IBM or General Electric have thousands of employees involved in budgeting and forecasting.

-But planning staffs are expensive: Small to medium sized businesses cannot afford to hire full-time planners… but this is where we come in.

1) Operating Budget/Forecast

Organizations construct their budget at the beginning of the year and perform ongoing performance reviews along with a Rolling cash forecast process.

Performance Review w/ Budget vs. Actual Comparison

Rolling Forecast

2) Strategic Planning

Help leadership get a better understanding of long term risks and

opportunities, yielding better strategic decisions and contingency plans.

Sensitivity/Scenario Analysis Break-even

Business Valuation

3) External Estimate

When organizations need to demonstrate their estimated financial

future to:

Lenders Investors

Business Partners Board of Directors

4) Decision Analysis

Many organizations make large investments, acquisitions, or bid on

large contracts. These decisions need to be evaluated in an organized and

effective way.

Quickly build intelligent financial projections

You cannot focus on improving 10 or20 things at once.    The best progress is attained by focusing on just a few items at a time– but the right items, for your company.   No generic indicators or reports! 

4. Profitability and Cash Flow improvement

What we do: Get your accounts and numberson Xero so they are instantly trackable –by us and you!

It’s the Process not the Product that Adds ValueThere is only one place to start

for any business that is serious about making better decisions…………….

Starting the year with a line-by-line Budget Setting Process

Conducting monthly or quarterly Performance Reviews

Staying on top of cash flows with a Monthly Rolling Cash Forecast

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, as it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”- Jim Collins, Good to Great

How can Checkbox help you become great?  

 

Conscious choice:  Will you workwith us?  

Discipline:  Meet, review, andcheck in! We’ll help! 

You’re no longer alone in this fight. 

Thanks for your timeWe appreciate you listening

Want to find out more?Website: www.checkboxaccounting.com/

Email: info@CPAcorporation.com

Phone: (916) 782-8500