Two questions ALL business owners must be able to answer.

I’ve always said there are two questions ALL business owners must be able to answer:

1️⃣ How does my business generate clients

2️⃣ How are my business finances

Even if you have a team to support these functions within your business, there’s no replacement for having your finger on the pulse in these two critical areas.

After working with hundreds of businesses I see those that are most successful and at peace are those that are tapped into these areas, they show interest and curiosity - and admittedly will accept that even though these two areas are not their area of expertise, as the business owner it’s still their responsibility and in their best interest to stay aware and proactive.

Why you should understand how your business generates clients:

Having clients to service is essentially the whole reason your business exists. Without them or a lack of them, there’s a cliff dive of problems that arise. As the business owner, you are in the prime position having been at your business since day 1, to understand what works and doesn’t work for your target market and your industry.

A stable flow of clients provides stability to other areas of your business including sustaining a team so you can maintain the number of hours of work they’ve been promised. Your team can show up to work each day with certainty they have a healthy workload to complete and this keeps them committed to your business. Taking care of your team in this way allows them to take care and prioritse your business.

Understanding how your business generates clients AND having it transpire into tangible transactions in your business allows you to forecast better and make future plans for your business. This acts as valuable decision making data so you can make solid decisions to help your business to continue growing.

Why you should understand the finances within your business:

Generating clients is one thing but managing the revenue that comes with it is another and unfortunately it’s where many businesses get themselves into a tangle. Turning a blind eye is often a tactic used here but it’s not going to serve you or the longevity of your business.

The finances within your business, no matter how big or small your business is, is absolutely critical to your success. It would be overzealous suggesting a single piece of accounting software is going to do the heavy lifting for you, there’s far more monitoring that is required.

The common thread within this article today is to actually look at these two areas rather than turn a blind eye as many people often do. I’ve collaborated with Steven from acumin.io where we recently produced a 16 page eBook: “Lead, Sale, Spend, Repeat”, inside this value-packed resource we openly share how to improve your business, generate more clients and better manage your business finances.

You can download it for free here.

Steven and I will also be doing a LinkedIn Live on Friday May 31st at 12:30pm AEST, where we’ll discuss some key areas from the eBook to help you generate more clients and better manage your business finances - see here for details.

See you there,

Shannon