The business issues suddenly faced by owners due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant recession is like a medical emergency in a disaster zone. Paramedics would follow a triage approach to prioritise patients and start on the most important issues first. This is a video guide on how to do a business triage. How to prioritise issues and what is the most important things to deal with first.
It’s been a week since New Zealand went into Level Four lockdown in efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. As the owner of an independent tradie business, you might have spent the last week trying to sort out a new routine, or maybe you were able to catch up on some rest and family time after a busy summer working in your business.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, New Zealand and the world is experiencing an uncertain and disruptive business climate; now is not the time to hibernate and neglect your business, your staff and your clients. The truth is what you do in the next four weeks could make all the difference – will you be raring to go or scrambling up from the bottom?
I know the real and sad impact of business failure and I don’t want that to happen to you. That’s why I’ve put together a list of tips to help you manage the short-term business issues you are facing, and help you and your team get prepared and ready to go at full speed ahead once the restrictions are lifted.
Recent world events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that economically we are quite likely to be heading into a recession. Technically that is when 2 consecutive quarters show negative growth. We are not there yet, but the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic mean that significant parts of our economy will be in free-fall over the next few months, particularly the service sector. No one knows how long it will last. We can only hope we manage to beat the pandemic within a relatively short space of time, like China has, and we can all get back to business as usual.
In the meantime it is prudent to plan for a period of lower business activity….
To quote Kermit the Frog, “It’s Not Easy Being Green” That may be so, and it made for a cute song, but it’s much tougher when you are red. By that I mean in the financial red.
With sustainability being a bit of a buzz word at the moment, I thought I would talk about another type of sustainability you should be interested in. That is your FINANCIAL sustainability. You owe it to your customers, staff and family to be around in the long term. Consistent profitability is vital to help you achieve long term survival.
The profit levels of many builders and larger construction companies are too low to sustain long term growth. Risks are high and statistics show that over time net profit levels are barely above break-even. The industry seems to operate like the not-for-profit sector. Do you know what profit you need to achieve for your long term success, or even survival?
One of my core values in what I do is to help my clients improve the profits that their business generates. This starts with some basic education into the various levers that you can pull on in your business to increase revenue and reduce waste in your business. This video starts to look at those levers and how they can be worked together to improve gross profits, and thus improve your life as a business owner.
You probably didn’t go into business to read financial statements. You went into business because you are good at your trade and thought owning a business was a better way to make more money. Never-the-less part of owning a business in the construction industry is learning how to monitor the performance of your business so you can know when changes are needed. That’s best practice anyway. This video is about three financial reports you should become familiar with to better manage your business.
If you have never heard of Buffett, Forbes currently ranks him as the third richest man in the world and he is arguably the world’s greatest investor. He has amassed his fortune by making astute investment decisions and investing in businesses.
“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett. Here is what you should learn from Buffett:
Have you had trouble to be paid for work completed at times? You do the work to the required standard, or better, but the client still seems to have an excuse not to pay you. Frustrating, isn’t it?
The law may be on your side, but the cost and hassle to exercise your legal rights sometimes seems more trouble than it’s worth. Some clients know this and use this to their advantage.
So, how can you avoid this problem….short of using the Hells Angels as your credit control department.
One frustration I commonly hear from builders before we start working together on their business is, “Why don’t my job profits come out as high as my forecast?”
Sounds a simple question, but the answer can be complex and diverse. There are many forces at play between pricing the job and counting the money, but one issue can be a misunderstanding as to the required MARK-UP to achieve the required MARGIN in the job. Get this wrong and you have set the job up to fall short of what you need at the very start; the pricing stage.
Why is this? Read on to find out