Simple Business Advice: Focused Recommendations that Will Make You a Better Business Owner
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About this ebook
You won't agree with everything in this book. That's part of the beauty of advice—you can take it or leave it. But by considering the advice in this book you will either see something in a new way, or simply be forced to reaffirm what you already thought. Either way, you will think critically about how you run your business, what you do, and why. You'll be a better small business owner as a result.
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Simple Business Advice - Matthew Smith
Table of Contents
Title
Author's Note
All About Money
Know Your Numbers
Review Your Profit and Loss Statement Weekly
Pay Partners Instantly
Shop By Value, Not Price
Be Intentional With Revenue Diversity
Send and Follow Up on Invoices Promptly
Think in Terms of ROI
Establish Basic Financial Goals and Measure Them Daily
Develop Minimums for Your Business
Be Profit-Minded
Marketing Matters
Get Comfortable Promoting Your Business
Tap into the Power of SEO
Establish a Realistic Marketing Budget
Trademark What’s Worth Protecting
Don’t Stop Networking
Publicize Your Clients’ Successes
Be Involved with Your Community, but Don’t Give Back
Aggregating Third-Party Content on Social Media Is Mostly Useless
Finding Balance
Delegate
Work to Live, Don’t Live to Work
Don’t Let Perfect
Be the Enemy of Done
Ruthlessly Defend Your Time
Take Regular Vacations
Stop Kidding Yourself About Work-Life Balance
Make Simple Rules for Working at Home
Respond to Email Quickly, but Don’t Trick Yourself
Find a Good Lawyer, Build a Relationship
Customer Relations
Answer the Phone
Texting Isn’t for Serious Business
Create, Use, and Evolve Your Contract Template
Never Do Spec Work
You Can Only Be So Flexible with Customers
Provide Answers, Not Just Responses
Team Matters
Celebrate Milestones
Be the Best Boss You Can Be
Care for Your Team, but Do What’s Best for the Company as a Whole
Decision By Committee Is an Amateur Mistake
Knowing Yourself
Don’t Confuse Motion for Progress
Don’t Pretend You Can Proofread Your Own Writing. Few Can.
Start the Conversation with an Apology When You Mess Up
Understand What Motivates You
Be Realistic About How Busy You Are
Do What You Say
Manage Your Burnout Risk
Practice The Shower Principle
Maintain a Hobby
Find Your Hustle
Perform a Self-Analysis After Every Meeting
Do Less, and Do Better
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All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information please address Maven Publishing USA at info@maven-books.com.
Copyright © 2017 by Matthew Smith
Cover design and illustrations by Todd Simpson
Published by Maven Publishing USA.
First Edition
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases or author interviews and appearances please contact Maven Publishing at info@ maven-books.com.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9985078-1-1
Author’s Note
You won’t agree with everything in this book. That’s part of the beauty of advice; you can take it or leave it. But by considering my advice, you will either see something in a new way or simply be forced to reaffirm what you already thought. Either way, you will think critically about how you run your business: what you do and why you do it. You’ll be a better small business owner as a result, and that’s the true goal of this book. Advice is easy to come by because most people have an opinion on most topics, but brief, actionable advice that’s practical, thought-provoking, and easy to implement isn’t so plentiful.
Working with small business owners around the country—in various industries and with different approaches—has provided me with a unique perspective regarding the strengths and struggles that most small business owners face. I hope that by distilling that diverse experience and years of insights into practical advice, I’m able to help small business owners like you.
Each of the following chapters is short and focuses on a single topic. There’s no specific order to the chapters, nor is there any meaningful connection between them. So, skipping around or reading just a few chapters at a time won’t diminish your experience in any way. Some chapters also include comments from other business owners and entrepreneurs. In some cases, their opinions match with mine. But sometimes they don’t. There are also a few guest-written chapters sprinkled in here and there. My goal with the guest chapters and comments is to provide alternative points of view, more for you to think about, and a richer reading experience.
Simple Business Advice started as a column in Businessing Magazine in 2014. I loved the idea of providing short, actionable advice and opinion for small business owners and entrepreneurs. The articles have been quite popular with readers, and people who know me always say they can hear my voice when reading them. So, given that feedback, I decided to expand the idea and write this book. I hope you find it informative, useful, and maybe even a little entertaining.
One disclaimer: I am far from perfect. In fact, I can’t even follow my own advice 100% of the time. Many of the chapters are based on things I’ve observed in other business owners, while some are based on my own weaknesses or areas where I’ve found improvement to have a great impact on success. I hope you find fresh ideas and encouragement in my advice.
All About Money
| 1 |
Know Your Numbers
Ever watch Shark Tank? I love that show. During the first couple of seasons, there were a lot of business owners who were mercilessly rebuked for not being able to answer simple questions about the financial health and costs of their company. In later seasons, business owners have learned to be ready and have their numbers in mind before their pitch.
Ready for some fun? Let’s put you on the spot. Answer these questions right now.
How many customers will you have this year?
What percentage of your business is repeat customers?
What’s your projected revenue for this year?
On that revenue, what will your net profit be?
What is your most profitable product or service?
These are very basic questions that every business owner should be able to answer without looking at anything. I don’t expect you to have these exact figures ready to recite, but you should have pretty close approximations in your head at all times. If you don’t, I’d say you need to get a better pulse on the financial health of your business. My suggestion? Fix it. Today.
And, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.
If you were able to answer these questions without cheating (like opening QuickBooks), congratulations! Keep it up!
| 2 |
Review Your Profit and Loss Statement Weekly
Are you familiar with the profit and loss (P&L) statement? Many of the small business owners I know really haven’t spent much time understanding critical financial reports like the P&L.
Review your P&L statement every week. Seriously, every week. For larger companies or those with more transactions, you may want to look more often. But never less.
Start by looking at your net income, the last line on the P&L. There are two things to consider. First, is the net income positive (in the black) or negative (in the red)? Obviously, you’re looking for a positive number here. Second, keep a mental (or written) note as to what the net income typically is. Having a typical
net income number gives you a quick way to spot trends. Is the number going up each time you check in? Is it going down? Or is there a temporary spike?
In order to easily compare numbers, you need to select the date range for the report. I recommend starting with a month-to-date report and a monthly report. Along with a year-to-date (YTD) report, those should provide a quick look at how things are changing each month, how the current month is stacking up, and how the YTD compares to the previous one. Compare the net income from month to month and year to year to find trends and identify seasonal patterns.
When you spot an atypical net income, you need to take a closer look. Dig deeper, looking at spending across various categories, and be aware of how overhead categories are trending. Are you spending too much on company events, office supplies, or meals and entertainment? Watch what happens with payroll and related taxes over time. Are revenues up or down, and how has that affected the bottom line?
You probably already track your bank balances and maintain certain