To keep our bodies healthy, we are to monitor our food intake, our exercise levels, our sleep patterns, and more. When something is off-kilter with our health, it throws off the balance, often resulting in illness, fatigue, and anxiety. The health of a business also requires a delicate balance. Let’s take a look at the elements that play a vital role in the health of your business.
Money Management
If we eat too many calories for our body type and don’t exert ourselves with cardiovascular exercise, our skin stretches to carry those extra pounds on our frame. Cash flow must be monitored in similar fashion. Too often, a small business owner will see the sales numbers and think that’s pure profit. Not so. One must take into account the cost of doing business – the expenses behind making that sale. There’s quite a long laundry list from taxes to insurance.
A quarterly audit should be made to check to see that revenue and expenses have a healthy ratio. When sales are up, impulsive purchases are often made, and then there’s little in the coffers to keep the business going when sales are down. The pre-tax net profit shows you how much of the revenue you get to keep from what you earned in sales. That number is often disappointing to business owners, but keep in mind that on average, depending on the business, that profit margin hovers around 7% annually. Doctor’s orders? Plan your spending wisely and put money aside for savings.
Resource Management
Inventory costs money. You may not think of it as being inventory if it’s not an actual product on the shelf, but purchases are still being made for your business. With an online business, you are paying for your Internet connection, a computer, web-based storage space, and more.
If you are working from home, you are paying for your office and the services necessary for that part of your house. Another resource we forget to put a price on is time. Depending on revenue, every hour you put into running your business may not show up on your paycheck. Surveys show that 1 out of 10 entrepreneurs work more than 70 hours a week. Monitor your time and consider ways you can maximize how many hours you spend. Doctor’s orders? Learn ways to streamline your resources and make good use of your time.
Personnel Management
Should you have either an assistant or a team of people, these folks need training and care. New team members need an orientation so that they can get up to speed more quickly. Those who have been in place for awhile need occasional training to keep them at their best. Employees work more efficiently with feedback on their performance so they’ll know how to do what they do even better. To keep your team humming along happily, an occasional bonus or raise or holiday gift recharges employee satisfaction.
Plus, you need to care. Ask about their day. Find out if Johnny Boy is running the bases during his softball games. See if Susie Q is still out-swimming everyone else on the team. Of course, you must keep a dividing line between being in the know and meddling, but asking employees questions like that gives them the sense that you care about their lives beyond 8 to 5. Doctor’s orders? Take good care of your people and they’ll take better care of your business.
Having a healthy balance of the details of your business helps everything run more smoothly. Do what it takes to perform well and to achieve success. We can help you with the health of your business. How? Learn to flex your muscles with Online Sales Pro. This lead generation software can get your business in tip-top shape when it comes to leads, inbound marketing, and sales. Doctor’s orders? Manage your business even better by using a complete system that’s intuitive, clean, and loaded with features.
