How Well Do You Know Your Business?


Basic Financial
Do you know the total annual sales of your business (without looking it up)? Is that good?
What are your busy months and how much of your sales are made in this period?
Do you know the minimum sales amount you need to generate each month cover all your expenses?

  • Fixed
    Rent, salaries, utilities, communications (phone, fax, internet connection, web hosting), dues, subscriptions, association memberships, office supplies, travel, meals, entertainment, marketing expenses, professional fees (accountant, payroll processing, etc.), postage, depreciation


  • Variable
    Cost of sales (product, supplies, hourly wages), sales commissions, overtime, freight, interest on loans or lines of credit, subcontractor costs. automobile, airfare, other travel, taxes

Which products or services are most profitable?
Do you prepare a written budget? If so, do you know what’s in it?
Do you know what your profit was for 2006 (without looking it up)?

Personnel
How much do your employees care about your business’s success, or your customer’s satisfaction?
Who are your key employees? How long will they remain in your employ?
How much time is spent training your employees and who trains them?
Do you have written employee policies? Do you have written job descriptions?
Are the activities required to perform your business documented in a procedure manual?
Do you perform periodic employee evaluations?

Operations
Are you happy with the efficiency of your operations?
What is the capacity (maximum volume) of your operation? (Dollars or units)
How much time is spent at full capacity?
How much production does the owner generate?
How efficient is production performed by employees compared to owner?
How many employees do you need for slow hours/days/ months?
How many during busy hours/ days/ months?

Marketing
How much do you spend on marketing each year?
Which marketing efforts generate to most business?
How much do you spend for each campaign to get a dollar of sales? (sales/cost)
How many repeat customers do you have? Why high or low?
Where do your customers come from and how did they find you?
How do your customers rate you products/services? How do you know?
What marketing efforts will you add/change/increase/discontinue in 2007?
How do your products/services compare to your competition? (price/quality)

General
What changes would you like to make to your business?
When and how will these changes be implemented?
What are you waiting for? It’s already happened - pigs can fly now!