You might have a vision board for your life, dreams and business goals for 2020 but do you have a solid plan for your business finances?
With January out of the way there’s still time to create an annual plan and goal for your business finances in 2020. When you start your business, you get great at your product and service and while money may not be the only driver for business success, we are all in the business to make money.
Many people are terrified of their business finances. They can’t stand to look at the bank balance and prefer to bury their heads. It’s confusing and technical at times and often feels like a juggling act. Yet learning more about your business finances gives you the confidence to stare them in the face, make small changes and improvements and watch your business grow.
At Insight Finance Solutions we don’t just speak to our clients once a year around tax return time. We like to have a personal monthly call with our clients about all aspects of their business and personal life and goals. This month we have been working on 12 month plans for our clients and so we thought we’d share some of the outcomes we have discussed and empowered our clients to achieve this coming year.
Increase Your Income
This seems obvious but increasing your sales, your clients, your products or services is one way to increase your income in your business. You might choose to do this by raising your prices, increasing your product or service catalogue or even look for an additional revenue stream if you have the time and resources.
If you are looking to increase your income then don’t set a generic goal here. You need to get super specific with your revenue goals. At Insight Finance Solutions we use Float cashflow software that allows us to plot and predict the financial outcome of different business scenarios and changes. Even a small price increase can have a big impact. If a lack of confidence leaves you feeling a bit uncomfortable in raising your prices then this could be a mindset issue for you personally. We can help with that too at Insight Finance Solutions.
Decrease Your Overheads
This is often the first place we will start at Insight Finance Solutions with our clients. Taking a good look at everything going out of your business including your costs and expenses will give you a full picture of how your business is operating. Spending a little time negotiating on costs including production and manufacturing, rent, insurance, telecommunications, accounting and marketing adds up. In this modern age of subscriptions we often end up paying out each month for things we don’t need or we might be able to make cost savings on the software we can’t be without by paying annually instead of monthly.It is about trimming back on certain areas to leave more money in the pot.
Using Float we are also able to forecast different aspects of overhead increases or decreases and show the total financial impact on a business. It allows you to explore different scenarios and the financial implications of each.
Reduce Debt
You may have a business overdraft or credit cards that you want to pay off in 2020. This is always a good goal on two parts; 1) you feel a sense of achievement at having paid off the debt and 2) you improve your credit score and future borrowing power.
If you do currently have a business credit card, could you look for a better deal with a 0% balance transfer? Or is there a better way to consolidate your total debt with a low interest rate loan?
Get Better with Cashflow
Financial planning is made fun and easy with Insight Finance Solutions. We work with businesses turning over multi-million pound to small businesses just starting out. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, financial planning is vital. Many small business owners don’t track their money. They don’t know who they owe money to and when or are not confident at invoicing and chasing payment. This can lead to temporary shortages and cash flow problems.
This is another reason we use Float to help our clients see how their business is operating day to day and plan for cash flow challenges.
Save More Money
This year you might have set a financial goal of saving more money. We talked about this at length in our recent blog exploring modern ways to save and modern banking apps that make savings automated. Take a look here.
Get in Touch
At Insight Finance Solutions we have worked very closely with our clients this month to set the right, realistic goals when it comes to business finances. We offer an unrivalled personalised and supportive service to sole traders and small businesses looking to get stress free with their finances.
To explore how Insight Finance Solutions can help you grow your business in 2020, get in touch to arrange an informal chat with us at a time that suits.