Category: Business Advice

Laptop with flowers

12 ways to increase profit margins (and thrive in business)

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Your profit margin is how much money you actually get to walk away with after a transaction is complete (revenue – costs = profit). It makes sense then, that businesses who want to grow, focus on increasing this margin. The bigger the margin you have, the more you will thrive and be able to power through challenges like the economic climate that we find ourselves in today.

So how do you do it? How do you increase your profit and master your margins?

  1. Identify what is not working – before you can fix something, you need to know what’s broken. Take an objective look at your business and your processes and identify the gaps.
  2. Streamline your processes – the faster you can provide a service, the faster you can generate revenue and increase your profit margin. Where can you speed up your processes to trim costs without impacting quality? I.e using cloud accounting software.
  3. Discover any areas where there is waste – where does your business spend money? Are you losing money through inefficiency or waste? Can you reduce your expenses?
  4. Market those higher-end services – what services sell best and deliver the highest profit? Prioritise these in your marketing and focus your efforts on pushing these more.
  5. Aim for incremental growth – try not to get ahead of yourself. Set yourself small goals and you’ll find that you’ll make consistent, and more importantly, sustainable progress.
  6. Focus on building your team – a happy, motivated, and productive team, one that supports your growth goals, can make a world of difference to your profit margin.
  7. Be innovative in your strategy – if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s how to strategically innovate our service. What are you not offering your target audience that they really need? What can you replace in the service that you’re offering now?
  8. Cross-promote to increase your credibility – if you get a good response from running webinars or writing content, think about ways you can cross-promote with someone influential in certain topics. Not only does this increase your credibility, but it capitalises on the other person’s time, money, and resources too.
  9. Identify other pillars for revenue – is there a service that brings in the majority of your revenue? If there is, try to see what other areas you can focus on to build another revenue-generating pillar. You don’t want your strategy to be dependent on a single pillar (what if that pillar fell down?). Your aim should be to strengthen another area or two and this will increase your margin too.
  10. Create a loyalty programme with your clients – your clients know, like, and trust you, and they are your best advocates. They are your free sales team, so help them spend more with you and tell others about your services. How can you create a loyalty programme to reward them?
  11. Raise your fees – if you haven’t had a rate increase recently, you have an easy way of increasing your profit! Just make sure to approach this right, conveying your increase in value rather than your profit margin.
  12. Outsource certain tasks – a great way of increasing your profit margin is to outsource some lower-value tasks to freelancers or contracted workers. You can use them only when demand is high or part-time.
Alarm clock

How to be productive when you feel restless or run down

Posted on | by Jade Donno

The changes and stresses caused by the pandemic are taking their toll on all of us. It’s been almost a year now of being stuck indoors, working from home, juggling priorities, and potentially having to home school the children at the same time. I don’t know about you, but is it any wonder that we feel tired and run down?

This ‘new normal’ has a lot of us feeling run down, but at the same time, restless. It’s a horrible combination and it’s affecting our productivity. To help you get back some control and normalcy in your life, here is a quick guide.

Identify if your body needs a reset

Yes, sometimes, we can all procrastinate; we can all feel a bit fed up and tired every now and then. This is normal. What isn’t normal, is if you’re feeling this way every day. If you’re feeling any or all of the following as soon as you wake up and throughout the day, every day of the week, these are signs that your body is run down and in need of a reset:

  • Your energy is low
  • You’re not eating very well or healthily
  • You’re having digestion issues
  • You’ve got cravings (typically for high-sugar snacks)
  • You’re moody, anxious or irritable (more than normal for you)
  • You’re not happy with your weight
  • You feel like you need to make a change

How to reset your body so that you can be productive again

Make time for self-care – this should be your absolute priority when you feel run down, exhausted or restless. It may be really difficult to prioritise yourself when you feel so overwhelmed, but be tough with yourself and do it anyway. Without properly managing your physical and mental health, you simply can’t perform at your best. Get more sleep, exercise more, eat healthier, and dedicate some time to activities that ground you (e.g. meditation, journaling, meal planning etc).

Shift your mindset – productivity should be any ‘task’ that requires your time, energy, and attention. This includes any ‘chores’ that need to be done in the house and even exercise. Schedule these into your day and you’ll find that you’ll feel much better and more accomplished when you come to the end of them.

Prioritise and time-manage – first, start a time diary to figure out where your time is actually being spent. Do this for a week and it will help you be more mindful about how you spend your time. Once you have done this, you can establish an ideal schedule for yourself. Maybe you work best early in the morning, so start early and finish early. Once you have a schedule, prioritise your tasks. What are the tasks that are urgent AND important? What tasks will give you the most bang for your buck? Do these first.

Focus and take regular breaks – sitting down and focusing for long periods of time are not good for us. After all, our concentration is limited! To stay productive, try to use focus periods. Try the Pomodoro Technique where you work for 25-minute blocks followed by a 5-minute break. This will help you maximise your focus time and will force you to take repeated breaks. This technique is a good one for when you feel run down or tired as 20-25 minute blocks are easier to tackle than thinking you have the whole day to get through!

Avoid distractions and things that deplete your energy – distractions kill our productivity. It’s true – every distraction (no matter how small), causes us to spend the next 20 minutes trying to get back into the task we were doing in the first place. Turn off your phone notifications while you work and create an office space at home that is away from family members so that you can focus. It’s also a good idea to identify what drains your energy. Maybe it’s scrolling on social media or listening to friends rant about their situation or all the negativity that’s on the news. Whatever it is, avoid it so that you can use what little energy you do have on what matters.

Engage with people and get help if you need it – even if your team is working virtually right now, engage with them. Tell them that you’re struggling and converse with them. Conversations can boost mood and productivity so try to socialise even if you don’t feel like it. Sometimes, just sharing your worries or hearing that others feel the same is enough for you to feel better, but if it’s not, consider seeking further help. Whether it’s a business coach or a therapist, they can help you develop a plan and take back control again.

Don’t be too hard on yourself

We have all gone through or are going through this, as we speak. It’s a difficult time and a truly unique time, so don’t be too hard on yourself. If you’re feeling restless and run down and worried about work and your productivity, the first thing you need to do is take care of yourself and talk to someone. This is the most important thing to do. The rest comes later. Only when you feel better can you start to work better, so prioritise you.

money

10 ways to improve your business cash flow

Posted on | by Jade Donno

For a business to grow sustainably (and to successfully make it through the financial bumps in the road), cash flow needs to be a priority. And not just when times are tough and cash is tight. Making sure that you’re maintaining an optimal level of cash on hand at all times; this is essential to success.

So how do you do this? To improve your cash flow in the immediate but also for the long-term, here are 10 essentials.

Know your break-even figure

You need to know what number you need to reach each month to cover all of your outgoings. Once you know this, you can make better spending decisions and keep your cash flow at its optimal level.

Create a budget and stick to it 

While profit is important, you also need to focus on spending. Create a budget to ensure that you’re making more on each sale than you’re spending – this can help you be more mindful about where your money is going and it can help you make impactful changes.

Build a cash reserve

Set aside any excess money you make every month into a business savings account. Financial experts recommend keeping 3-6 months’ operating expenses in a cash reserve, but you can decide how much you want to keep available.

Automate your bookkeeping 

Using software such as Xero and QuickBooks can help you improve your cash flow. You can send out invoices immediately, get your clients to pay via Direct Debit, reconcile payments easily, and generate reports with a click of a button.

Offer discounts for early payments

If you have certain clients who pay late and miss payments, offer them a 2-5% discount if they pay early. Not only does this incentivise them to pay, but it also ensures that you don’t suffer from dips in your cash flow too. Win-win.

Negotiate extended payment deadlines with vendors 

It’s good to set up extended payment deadlines in the event that you can’t pay what you owe vendors right away. For example, you could negotiate a 60-day turnaround for all payments or include a clause in the agreement that allows later payments a certain number of times in the year. While it may not be needed, it is good to be prepared in case you ever need to use this option.

Consider financing (when it makes sense)

Your focus should be building up a cash reserve for emergency situations like the Coronavirus crisis. This means that, in a situation where you have unexpected expenses or you need a large sum, you should consider short- or long-term financing options instead.

Consider leasing supplies, equipment, and real estate instead of buying

While leasing may end up being more expensive than buying in the long run, choosing to lease supplies, equipment, and real estate for a certain amount of time will help you to maintain a steady cash stream for day-to-day operations.

Seek advice from an accountant 

The best way to improve your cash flow is to seek expert advice. Whether it’s getting an accountant to advise you on spending and saving or hiring them to completely manage your financial matters, they will help you make the right financial decisions. After all, you have to spend money to make money!

Improve your inventory

What is your inventory turnover? Surprisingly, there could be a lot of cash tied up in your inventory so check your inventory regularly. Are you buying too much? If so, sell it at a discount and start buying less of it. This is something that your accountant can help you figure out.

While it’s obviously very important to improve your cash flow right now (thanks Coronavirus), it is also essential for your business to have a healthy cash flow all year round. Keeping a robust cash flow takes vigilance, but it will help protect your business during turbulent times, not to mention, it will also help you sleep soundly.

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How do I land the right clients for my business?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

While sometimes it’s necessary to take on clients at a lower price than we want – especially when we are building a portfolio – it is not a strategy that will help us grow our business in the long term. What will help us grow the business that we want and in the direction that we want, is to win the right types of clients at the right price. Clients who value our service and will pay what it is worth.

Are you struggling to land clients at the right price? Chances are, it might be something that you are doing (or not doing), so here is how to rectify that.

Dos

If you’re not currently doing the following during your sales process, start implementing these now.

  • Do – make it easy for the prospect to book a call

This is such a simple thing to do, yet it has a massive negative impact on your ability to win more clients if you don’t. Make it easy for your prospects to book a call with you and they will.

  • Do – understand the emotional drivers of the prospect at the start of the fact-find

95% of our purchase decision-making takes place subconsciously, so by identifying what the emotional drivers are for your prospect, the better you can empathise with them and position your firm as their solution.

  • Do – set up a follow-up meeting

You don’t want to leave your prospect wondering if they’ll hear from you. Email them letting them know what they need to do and when they need to respond by if they want to proceed, or the next action if not.

  • Do – sign them up and onboard them (or put them back into the sales funnel)

Many accountants don’t put unconverted leads back in their sales funnel and that is a big mistake. We need to nurture leads into customers over time, and these are contacts who are interested and see the value of your service! You need to stay in front of these warm leads until they are ready to buy.

Don’ts

If you’re currently doing the following during your sales process, stop it!

  • Don’t – skip the pre-qualification meeting

The aim of the pre-qualification meeting is to fully vet the opportunity and make sure that it ticks all of your boxes. Don’t be tempted to skip it! Get the prospect to fill out a questionnaire and charge for an initial meeting. This will help you to determine fit and to evaluate whether there is a real opportunity.

  • Don’t – do the new business meeting if the prospect hasn’t sent you the information you need

You can’t show the prospect that you fully understand their needs and challenges if they haven’t sent you the information you need, so don’t go ahead with the meeting. You need this information to convert them, so don’t waste everyone’s time if you don’t have it.

  • Don’t – take too long to get a quote to the client

If you take too long to get a quote to the client, you run the risk of losing them altogether. Don’t do this. Avoid frustrating the prospect by providing them with a quote swiftly after you have buttered them up.

  • Don’t – use the proposal document as options to the client

The client wants to move forward at this stage, so don’t confuse them or set them back in the process. They should have already met with you and discussed all potential solutions, so the proposal document is where you’re pitching the final idea.

Get paid what you are worth

Growing a practice sustainably isn’t just about winning more clients. It’s about winning good clients; the types of clients that you love to work with and who see the value from your service and are more than willing to pay you for it. To start landing clients at the right price, make sure that you start doing the Dos and avoiding the Don’ts above.

goals + Habits = success

Goals + habits = SUCCESS

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Two sports teams both have the goal to win the game at hand, but only one can. This shows that just having a goal doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to achieve it. To win or achieve your goal, you need to have the right positive habits day in and day out. In the case of the sports team, it’s the one that trains regularly, eats healthy every day, and has the right mindset to keep going when times are tough.

To help you understand why many of us don’t achieve the goals that we set out to, this article explains why daily habits are the key to getting us to where we want to be.

Goals are great for short term accountability…

Have you hit a weight loss goal but then gained that weight back on not long after? Have you resolved to quit something or to start something only to revert back after a few weeks? Have you ever trained to run a marathon but then never run much after that?

If you can relate to one of the questions above, it’s probably due to one of these 5 reasons:

  1. Goals are temporary – they are great for an initial push but people tend to revert to habits.
  2. Goals can negatively affect motivation – if you don’t reach them within a specific timeframe, they can make you feel bad.
  3. Goals limit you – not many people surpass their goal as they are satisfied once they’ve hit it.
  4. Goals demand discipline – discipline can be hard to maintain over a long period, so when people lose it, they tend to give up all together.
  5. Goals can be unrealistic – if the initial goal is unrealistic, this can lead to a loss of motivation and negatively affect performance.

While goals are great for short term accountability and for that initial push to improve performance, on their own, they don’t help you to sustain this performance.

…habits are what help us sustain performance in the long term

Just like the long-term success of a sports team, it’s having the right habits that is key; having the right habits to support their goals.

When it comes to business, if you want to grow sustainably, you need the right mindset and the right habits to sustain your performance over time. So how do you do this?

  1. You need to set your goals – when setting both personal and professional goals, don’t forget to use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
  2. You need to shift your mindset – know your ‘why’ for setting this goal/s and think of this goal as a marathon and not a sprint. You won’t achieve it overnight so be okay with doing a little each day.
  3. You need to develop the right daily habits – split your one big goal into short term goals (e.g. monthly and weekly goals) and focus on hitting these. Plan these activities into your schedule and link them with existing habits already as this will make it much easier for you to get them done.

Start achieving what you set out to

If you set yourself goals AND put in place the necessary habits you will need to achieve them (just focusing on getting a little done each day), soon these will build and you’ll see your business moving forward.

Remember the sports team. You might win one game or hit your goal once, but the key to long-term success is having the right mindset and daily habits.

Spinning top and planet

How to pivot your business so that you stay in business

Posted on | by Jade Donno

As we keep plunging deeper into a global recession, it can be tempting to panic and dither with decisions, but that’s not going to help. In fact, it’s the businesses which move quickly that will survive and thrive during this time.

So how can you be one of those businesses? One that actually grows during a recession?

In short, you have to adapt (and make quick decisions!). Here is how to pivot your business to make sure you stay in business.

A 7-step guide to pivot your business

Get into the right mindset for decision-making

You won’t make good decisions for the future of your business if you are in a scared, stressed or anxious state. Take time out, prioritise self-care and deep thinking time, and you’ll make far more creative decisions for it.

Think about what you can change for the good

You may need to adapt your business to survive, so think about what you can change to become relevant. Can you change your product or service? Can you change your intended marketplace for your product or service? Can you change how you deliver your product or service?

Do your research

The answers are out there, so do your research. Ask and listen to your clients – what are they telling you they need? From your own experience, what is your business or friends and family wanting or needing to buy and why? How are habits and hobbies changing as people stay home more? What is social media telling you that people are doing or thinking about?

Conduct a STEEPLED analysis to look ahead

Try to think about what this ‘new normal’ will look like. Use the STEEPLED analysis and think about what each factor will mean for you and your business (e.g. follow each example with a ‘so what’ for your business):

S – Social – e.g. more people are staying/working at home.

T – Technology – e.g. more older generations are adopting technology to stay in touch.

E – Environment – e.g. people can see it recovering.

E – Ethics – e.g. can’t be seen to be profiteering.

P – Political – e.g. will this change Brexit, Tory government etc?

L – Legal and regulatory – e.g. how will rules, protocols change?

E – Economic – e.g. what happens with a recession?

D – Demographic – e.g. higher than the average death rate.

Evaluate your potential options

Once you have done your research about the current market and you’re in the right mindset to adapt your business, you now need to evaluate your options. For each option, think about:

  • How connected is it to your ‘why’ or ‘purpose?’
  • How easy is it to implement?
  • What will change or stay the same?
  • If you chose to move forward with this, what would you and your business have to do?

Conduct a risk analysis

Once you have chosen what option you are pursuing, conduct a risk analysis:

  • Consider some ‘what if’ scenarios – e.g. what if schools close again and people have to work and provide childcare?
  • Review your risks – e.g. operational, reputational, project delivery, political, environmental, financial etc.
  • Rank these risks – are they high, medium or low risk?
  • Review their impact – what would be the impact on the business if this risk happened?
  • Outline your red lines – which risks can you accept or avoid? Which risks need to be managed?

Put together your business plan

Last but not least, if you’re going to pivot your business towards success, you need to have a plan. So what is your “to-be?” What are your new goals and achievements? Once you have these, you need to outline:

  • How you will measure your progress.
  • How much investment you will need.
  • Who you will need to support you with this.
  • Who in your current circle of people is critical or now not needed.
  • Your first steps to making this happen.

Don’t wait any longer, act now.

You need to decide now, what you want to happen with your business. The longer you leave it to make a decision with what to do with your business, the more chance you won’t have a business going forward.

As we said previously, it’s the businesses who make good and quick decisions who will survive and even grow during the recession. Be one of those.

Girl holding a wad of money

How can I increase my profit margin?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

As author Dough Hall correctly put it, “if your profit margins aren’t rising, chances are your company isn’t thriving.” Makes sense when you think about it. If your profit margin is the actual money you get to walk away with after a transaction (your revenue minus your costs), you want to be continually improving this number.

To help you increase your profit margin, especially at a time where you’re unable to increase demand, here are 10 strategies that you can start with.

Raise your fees

This is the most obvious way to increase your profit margin as the more money you make on each sale, the wider your margin. If you haven’t raised your prices in a while, consider doing so.

Reduce operating expenses 

Think about how you can streamline your operations to reduce costs. Can you lower your overheads by reducing wasteful spending? Would you benefit from automating administrative tasks?

Upsell services to existing clients

Your clients already know and trust you, so they are going to be significantly more receptive to other offers that you have. Upsell your other services that they could benefit from and you’ll see this is a great way to improve your profit margin.

Increase the productivity of your staff

Increasing the output of your staff is a great strategy to increase your profits. From setting the right targets and motivating them to training your staff and helping them develop the right skills, you can do a lot to boost their performance.

Identify and fix bottlenecks

In which areas are processes too slow? In what areas is there waste in your business? Bottlenecks cost you money and decrease your bottom line so comb through your processes and see what needs to be improved. Examples of waste are not utilising talent, waiting for work from others, and poor communication channels.

Invest in savvier practice management software 

While cloud-based systems and software cost initially, they can save a lot of time and money when it comes to those administrative and manual tasks. If you train the right staff on the right software, things like client enquiries, relationship management, email management, invoicing, and social media scheduling become a lot less painful.

Improve inventory turnover 

Markdowns are known profit-killers, so avoid them at all costs. One way to do this is to better manage areas like inventory. Review your inventory turnover and make better decisions around purchasing, sales and marketing, and you’ll reduce the need for markdowns.

Increase the perceived value of your brand 

You need a strong brand, one that centres around the emotional and lifestyle values of your target audience. If you have a brand that connects with your audience and you position yourself as the go-to-expert, you can charge a premium for your services.

Improve your bottom line

You don’t have to make drastic changes to increase your profit margin and it’s not all down to increasing your demand either.

The best way to continuously improve this number is to make effective tweaks to your business over time. They may seem like small changes in the moment, but these all build up and pave the way for wider profit margins!

laptop with title on

How to prepare your virtual teams for the long haul

Posted on | by Jade Donno

The pandemic may have forced hundreds of businesses to convert from co-located teams to 100% virtual teams in a matter of days, but that was just temporary, right? That’s what many of us thought. For a while there, it was just about getting through the next couple of weeks and then months, but now, another lockdown is here and it’s time to face reality. It looks like working as a virtual team is for the foreseeable future, and again, we are without a playbook for when things will return to normal.

So how do we do it? How do we accept the new reality and start preparing our virtual teams for the long haul?

Step 1: Identify the most critical team problems

At first many people were working remotely for the first time, and in a time of crisis. Most businesses focussed on “making do” until they could return to normal, but to prepare for the long haul, you need to review any issues you have and identify necessary changes.

What poses immediate, serious threats to team survival? Are the team’s objectives still relevant or at odds with reality? Is your team culture and cohesion as strong as it should be? Are team members struggling due to a lack of psychological safety?

Step 2: Address these issues

To ensure that your team members are working as productively as they do in the office and in line with the current reality, you need to immediately address the issues that you identify in step 1.

For example, if the biggest issue is that your team’s objectives or work are no longer relevant to the current reality, re-prioritise their work to something that matches the new overall goal of the business. If it’s cohesion that’s a problem, try mixing personal chat threads with business ones and run a quarterly non-work-related workshop where everyone can bond on a deeper level.

Step 3: Focus on long-term care

Step 3 is the most important step in preparing your virtual team for the long haul, as without it, issues will just arise again as people start to struggle. As we said previously, people are trying to work through this crisis so you need to focus on their long term care. You need to be thinking about how you can keep them healthy and avoid these relapses.

A few ways that you can switch on your long-term care mode is to:

  • Always give clear and concise goals and work briefs.
  • Help team members know their role within the team and how this relates to the overall business goal.
  • Foster psychological safety.
  • Hold regular one-on-ones with team members to make sure they are healthy and to prevent burning them out.
  • Communicate as much as possible and make sure that each individual knows what is expected of them.

Think ongoing attention and preventative care

To prepare your virtual teams for the long haul, you need to regularly check-in on the health of your team members. If you do this, then you can identify any issues or symptoms of a struggle early; both of which will help you to give them the attention and care that they need to prevent these from escalating into bigger issues down the line.

It really is that simple: identify issues, address these issues, and make a routine to provide the support needed to prevent these issues from arising again.

United Kingdom flag

Whats happening with Brexit?

Posted on | by Jade Donno

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, UK Chief negotiator David Frost and EU negotiator Michel Barnier continue to offer differing messages to the public about Brexit, some are positive, some ambivalent and occasionally negative remarks about the negotiations. It is hard to see through the comments made and whether we can take them at face value as, after all, there is a negotiation going on.

Whatever the outcome there are significant changes ahead for travel and trade.

Travel

If you are traveling to the EU from the UK after the 1 January 2021 then check out the Government website “Visit Europe from 1 January 2021”. This page tells you how to prepare if you’re planning on traveling to Europe from 1 January 2021. It will be updated if anything changes.

See: https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021

Trading

.Gov website

If you haven’t made your business preparations, check out the Brexit transition website: https://www.gov.uk/transition

If you trade with the EU and have not yet made preparations then here is a summary of actions to take:

We must all be prepared for changes in the way we travel and trade with Europe. Even if there is a free trade deal the key thing to remember is that there will be a UK border which will mean paperwork and border checks.

Businesses that trade with the EU must get familiar with customs declarations as these will be essential for accounting for VAT.

Depending on what contracts a business has with its customers in Europe, it may have to factor in that goods could take longer to get there, meaning extra costs and administration.

In the short term, there will probably be delays at the border, so it is important businesses map out supply chains and think about how to do things as efficiently as practicable post-transition.

Overall with still no deal on the table, specifics are still very up in the air. We will make sure to keep you updated once we know more information.

I'ts okay to say no

IT IS OKAY TO SAY NO!

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Are you saying yes to every piece of business coming your way?

Do you hear yourself saying ‘I wish I’d never agreed to this?

Are you losing money on small jobs that aren’t worth your time?

If you answered yes to any of the above, this blog is for you.

The art of saying NO.

It can be difficult to say no to work. Especially if you are running a small business. However, qualifying leads and setting expectations is vital to move your business forward. Don’t undervalue yourself and don’t take on work that will disrupt your businesses ‘flow’.

The lesson of saying no has been a long one for our Director Paul. He is a yes man. However saying yes to everything has often put us out of pocket and disrupted our business structure, leading to confusion in the practice. Last year we implemented a very strict and lengthy onboarding process for new clients. Starting with a phone or zoom call to see if we are the best fit for the business enquiring. This then eliminates anyone that doesn’t fit into our business model and indeed if we don’t fit into theirs.

Pauls Experience

“With the help of my business coach Heather and nearly 30 years experience I am finally starting to understand the importance of no. This lesson was tested to the full this week.

I have for many years worked with Sage and in particular Sage50, unfortunately the Sage50 platform is not a true cloud product. When opening 1 Accounts, one of our unique selling points was that all of our clients are using cloud based accounting software to keep their records. Using cloud based software allows us to give up to date help and advice to clients that we (and the client) can access from anywhere. This has without a doubt helped us through this pandemic as we have been able to affectively work from home and give our clients the same level of service.

This week I had to turn down a client I acted for many years ago. Despite being a great business and nice people, they do not want to move from desktop sage 50 to Xero. It was with a heavy heart that I wished them well and did not take them on.

Was this a mad decision?

Definitely not. Our service works because all of the data is live and on hand. Our business model is based around this. Our client service would not be as good, and my team would have become frustrated with software they are not used to, or ‘experts’ in. We have taken on Sage50 users in the past, and they have all, without exception, had issues resulting in all of them moving to Xero.”

The lesson of the day

Saying no is an important business lesson. Don’t bite of more than you can chew and stick to your guns. Your business has a brand, stick to it.