The recent blunder at the Oscars provided the perfect title for this month’s newsletter. It got me thinking about how many small business owners don’t have their finger on the pulse of their business, going from day to day, week to week and month to month with no clear idea about how the business is doing financially.
Below is some food for thought to keep you out of Lalaland:
Drive for show, putt for dough
Just last week the above expression popped into my head whilst visiting a client. They put their numbers together to discuss with me but only had the turnover figure not the actual profit. Monitoring how many patients you’re seeing and how much you’re invoicing is important but it’s far more important to be monitoring the bottom line (Sales less expenses) Just like in golf, it doesn’t help if you have a perfect shot off the tee box but can’t putt!
Bottom up
As Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, said, start with the end in mind. Think about what you need / want from your business each month and create your budget and forecast accordingly. Having a clear goal in mind will help focus your activities and motivate you to monitor progress. If you want to take £5000 from the business each month and your expenses are £3000 for example, how many patients would you need to see to make that work? (Don’t forget to take tax into account!)
Stash it away monthly
Tax Lalaland is the most dangerous one! Make sure that you know what your tax liability is every step of the way. A good discipline is to have a separate bank account which you transfer funds to on a monthly basis to cover your annual tax bill. I was speaking to a chiropractor last week and he has a separate bank account for tax at a different bank so that it’s not visible on his most used online banking profile avoiding temptation to ‘borrow’ the tax money.
Have a dashboard
Keeping your finger on the pulse is a lot easier when you have the relevant numbers in a format which is easy to view regularly. This could be as simple as an excel spreadsheet or it can be custom designed through your practice management software system / accounting package. We recommend considering which numbers need to be monitored weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually and putting a system in place that allows you to do that painlessly!
Maintain your six pack
Keeping on top of the numbers is not just a once off. Just like going to the gym once in while or being healthy on and off does little to keep you in shape, monitoring the numbers once in a while is not nearly as effective as having a good system in place and paying attention to it. And just like having a personal trainer in the gym to help you find the right programme and keep you on track, having a business coach to support you in your business and keep you accountable is a great idea
We hope you find the tips above useful and if we can be that business coach for you, please do get in touch!
Client Success Story
Our client had a strong database of patients who had previously visited the clinic, but they had not been nurturing the database as well as they could.
Their analysis of markets told them that their database was the richest source of likely patients – so they started a ‘Keeping in Touch’ campaign to reignite contact with old customers.
The resulting flow of returning patients has meant they have added to their staff and prompted a move to larger premises.
Turnover increased by 29% within one year with minimal cost involved. How can we help you?
CPD Diary
Events coming up
Join us for a day to work on your business, rather than just in it.
We offer a wide variety of workshops to help you and your team on the business side of your practice. Visit our website to see all the events we have planned to host so far. Below is a snapshot of the events coming up:
Creating a Business Strategy for Success – London
Creating a Business Strategy for Success – Leeds
Managing Staff and Associates – London
Practice Manager and Receptionist Customer Service – London (One place remaining!)
Success Clubs:
Our Success Clubs are entering their 7th year of success (!!) Members meet for a full-day workshop once a quarter and have the opportunity of interaction in-between as well as being invited to an annual national conference and a soon to start annual retreat. We have limited spaces available in our existing clubs and we are happy to start up clubs in new areas if the demand is there. Email Celia to find out where your closest club is or to register your interest for one in your area.
Physio First Conference:
We are delighted to be involved in the Physio First Conference again this year. Physio First
have kindly offered 5 of our readers up to £50 discount to attend the conference. This will be allocated on a first come first serve basis and is only redeemable if you have not yet booked onto conference 2017. To book your place and take advantage of this offer, please call Physio First on 01604 684 968 and quote PAINPHYS17.
Painless Practice will also be offering free 30 minute business surgeries to attendees on the conference weekend. To find out more and book a place please email Celia
Supplier Spotlight
We have been working with Indigo HR for many years now and are delighted to be hosting more workshops this year in collaboration with Louise.
If you’re looking for practical HR advice we’d highly recommend Indigo HR. Visit their website for more info!
Join Celia and Louise in London on the 21st of March for the next Managing Staff and Associates for Success day!
“I’ve run my own practice for 14 years and attending this workshop has been inspirational. We all need little nuggets of information to fill a knowledge gap, remind us of principles we’d forgotten, but also to discuss issues with fellow practitioners. The information was presented in a concise, palatable manner that kept my attention all day – a win in itself! If you manage people then this is one day you can’t afford to miss.”
And last but not least…
A bit on blunders and mistakes…
‘Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts’ Winston Churchill
‘It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation’ Herman Melville
‘Our blunders mostly come from letting our wishes interpret our duties’
‘Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them’ Andrew Mason
‘I’d rather be strongly wrong than weakly right’ Talulah Bankhead
‘For maximum attention, nothing beats a good mistake!’
‘Turning vegan is a big missed steak’
‘Married men should forget their mistakes…no use two people remembering them’
Celia Champion and the Painless Practice team
Our vision is to see you and your team enjoying your work and achieving your vision. Email us or give us a call today to find out how we can support you in getting there!
celia@painlesspractice.com 07717 843540
