Time for some spring cleaning?

Dunno about you, but here at Tailored Time, we’ve rolled up our sleeves, donned our proverbial rubber gloves and are pretty much up to our eyes in a big old bout of business spring cleaning right now. And while this lacks a certain glamour and excitement, it shouldn’t have you running for the hills just yet. A spot of dusting off the cobwebs now can help make you into the lean mean business machine you need to be if you’re planning on having a long, hot summer. But where to begin?

Check your margins for error…
We’ve started by looking at our margins. If you’re like us, some services, set up to bring in new business at the turn of the year, may well need some revision now. First then, what are your product/ service lines and what are they doing for you? Where do you make the most and the least; and, more importantly, where does your client base sit within this? This is by no means a straight culling exercise; the latter will be key to understanding what you can afford to sustain. Also key to managing your margins will be to take into account the shifting marketplace: it could be that with such a rapidly evolving economic situation this year, some margins could actually be better than you’d realised. For example at TT, we’ve found that some of our catering suppliers’ costs have become more competitive, bringing improved margins on our events work, while demand for other services we offer has dipped meaning the economies of scale we were able to achieve, aren’t what they were. As a starting point, we’ve found this site which can help you with a proper analysis of your numbers. http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=11088

Prick up your ears
Gather some feedback: how are your clients finding what you’ve been up to so far this year? What are they looking for, in the months ahead? Send out a short questionnaire, find out what they’ve got to tell you, then use this to revise your business for the next few months.

Revisit your business plan
If you’re anything like us, you probably wrote your business plan at the end of last year, then, mission accomplished, have since left it to gather dust aboard a shelf somewhere at your mum’s. Dust it down and have a good read. If nothing else it will remind you of your macro goals for the year. Aim to tinker with rather than rewrite; it will naturally flag up areas for you to examine to see how they may need to adapt to the market shift since you produced it.

Make sure it’s legal
Is your employment/ health and safety/ tax legislation knowledge up to date? Whatever the nature of your business, don’t get caught out by being out of date. A quick web search should put paid to any oversights.

Weigh up the competition
A bit of desk research should tell you how your competitors are doing and let you know you’re not missing a trick; OR that you’re not the one step ahead you thought you were. Make this your monthly business.

Get yourself a healthcheck
We’ve taken care of our clients’ business MOTs and healthchecks a-plenty this month. Give us a call to find out how a second pair of eyes could help you pull in some loose ends and tighten up your good ship. Contact us today to find out how we can help review your business health, seek out new areas for growth and generally and see some wood for the trees. Contact our team on 0845 075 1044.