Category: Efficiency

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More than one tool in your toolbox

When it comes to improving your business you need to have more than one tool in your toolbox.

Although we often start with getting the pricing right we also like to look at other things. My books give you some examples of these but they are broadly:

Efficiencies – implement systems, checklists, automation and delegation

People – get the right people in the right place, suitably trained and equipped, and all pulling in the right direction

Marketing – a baseline level of marketing going on at all times so that you have clients/work already lined up for quieter periods

What else do you do to improve your business?

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5 minutes a day keeps the accountant at bay

I’m starting an initiative for business owners to do their bookkeeping in FIVE MINUTES PER DAY rather than leaving it all to the end of the year.

If you’re on Xero or similar software this would be:

  1. Raise all your sales invoices and quotes. (Don’t forget to add a button to the invoice template if you take card payments. Remember to set up recurring invoices for regular clients. And don’t forget to turn on invoice reminders)
  2. Mark any accepted quotes so that they can be converted into invoices
  3. Forward electronic receipts to your Automated Bill Entry on Xero or Dext
  4. Take photos of any other receipts using Hubdoc or Dext
  5. Reconcile your bank by matching against the sales invoices or purchase bills/receipts. (You can set up recurring transactions for regular bills)

All this can be done through apps on your phone. When bookkeeping is this simple it’s not just kids who will be glued to their phones.

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How to work like an athlete

As an athletics coach for endurance events, I’m used to planning training loads that include elements of fast work, long slogs, technique work and recovery.

In your business life this would equate to sprinting for deadlines, putting in sustained effort for maintenance, improving your skills and automation, and resting.

Business owners always seem to forget the resting bit but, if it’s good enough for top athletes, it’s good enough for you too.

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Are you multitasking or attention switching?

We used to be proud to multi-task.
And then we were told it was wrong as we were attention switching which was less efficient rather than more.
But sometimes it is possible to multi-task efficiently.

This is when we’re doing simple tasks that require little thought. For instance, this tip is a result of me cracking an egg for my breakfast while pouring water into the teapot. Both simple tasks that I was able to do using muscle memory and minimal brain input. I also do those all essential pelvic floor exercises while cleaning my teeth so that I can laugh as much as I like when I’m in that retirement home.

Many people listen to a podcast or radio show while doing doing physical exercise. (I’m unable to do this as my focus super-power means that I automatically block out all sound to focus on the other task)

What little tasks can you combine without losing quality?

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Would you buy a discounted parachute?

It’s a question that Brad Burton asked which got me thinking. (So I hope it will get you thinking too)

Why do we assume that we need to be cheap to be attractive?

Quality is often more important than price. Yes, at Minerva we can use software to churn out accounts fairly cheaply but business advice is much more valuable and that takes time to understand the client’s business. It’s hard to be reactive, let alone proactive, on a tiny budget.

What could you do better in your business if you had a little more time or money to put in? And how much more valuable would that appear to your ideal customers?

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Your business, your goals

When I talk to accountants about how to have a ‘better’ tax return season my assumption is that they want to avoid having to do all the work in a short period but I am aware that some accountants choose to work this way. They deliberately set aside December/January to do nothing but work, and then take most of February as holiday, and work part time the rest of the year.

And you will all have different goals for your businesses.

Most goals are a mixture of profitability, work-life balance, and final valuation on exit. But you might have a specific aspiration to drive a particular car whereas I’m happy with my battered old Skoda when it’s too far to walk/cycle or public transport isn’t suitable.

When we take on new clients the first thing we discuss is what motivated them to set up their business. We do this for coaching clients as well as for Minerva Accountants clients so that we can give the best advice. Not everybody wants to grow an empire. Other people are happy to put in longer hours short term in order to accelerate their new startup.

We run Vision and Values sessions for business owners and/or their teams. But you can read ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek to ensure that you are clear about where you and your business are heading.

You can order ‘Start with Why’ here.

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People are more important than things

People are more important than things

This is one of my fundamental beliefs although it may sound a little odd for an accountant who primarily advises people how to grow their business and/or how to make it more profitable. But many of the techniques we use to make a business less dependent on its owners in order to scale are the same ones that we use to make owners less essential so that they can have a better work life balance.

It is really important to me WHO I work with as it’s about far more than money. While it is important to enjoy our work I also believe that we do our best work for people we like and where we are a good fit. That’s why I only accept about half the people who ask me about coaching.

Sometimes it’s the wrong type of business, or they require different expertise, or it may just be that I don’t feel a connection. Because if you don’t trust me you won’t follow my advice. Not that you have to follow my advice but it would be a waste of your money and my time if you NEVER followed my advice.

One element of what helps to develop a connection is shared values.

We donate 1% of our turnover to charity, we make a donation to fund a day’s education for everybody who attends our free webinars (we like to think that it will encourage the right sort of people to attend), we run a paperless office and, when we can’t avoid travel, we offset. Not surprisingly many of our clients also include charitable donations such as 1% for charity and 1% for sustainability. Or they’re members of B1G1 doing business for good.

So, if you’d like to help a girl to receive a day of education please join us for our series of Better Business webinars (for accountants and bookkeepers) or Money Matters webinars for other business owners. Details here.
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Are you too available?

Emails, phone calls, texts, messaging systems of every kind! Are we making ourselves too available at the expense of actually getting the work done?

I know lots of accountants suffered from this during covid with Friday evening announcements raising lots of client queries via multiple channels but it is often and issue even now.

We’re often encouraged to be available to clients the way THEY want to communicate but it’s a lot easier if we can streamline those communications.

This is how we control incoming communications at Minerva Accountants:

Mobile – This is not on my business cards. I guard my number and rely on voicemail when I’m in meetings or deep work. I block people who ring repeatedly but don’t leave a message.

Landline – this is a VOIP number which goes straight to my answering service (Answer-It.co.uk if you need a recommendation). They answer it professionally, get rid of sales calls, and email any genuine messages.

Calendly – I encourage people to book calls directly in my diary using calendly.com and so far only one person has abused this to book a sales call. Calendly links with my diary and only offers times when I am free. It emails me when a booking is made as well as putting the appointment in my diary. All bookings are for a phone call unless there is a reason to Zoom.

Webchat – this is run by real people (MeluChat.com) not bots so they can deal with some queries, book calls via calendly and email me messages.

Social media messaging systems – I’m careful who I connect with and block people who spam me this way. My usual response is to encourage people to book a call via Calendly or refer them to my website. As we have a lot of scheduled posts (we use Smarterqueue) people assume that this is an easier way to contact me but emails are always best.

WhatsApp – I don’t use this for business at all.

Course signups – these are all automated through the main website or through Thinkific. I only speak to people that we need to vet for our coaching and more expensive courses as I don’t want them to waste their money. Sign ups are forwarded to me by email and also linked to our CRM system (Active Campaign).

Emails – my favourite as I can review them when I’m free, forward them if I choose to delegate the task, link them to our practice management software, and there is a written record of what was said.

I don’t have notifications set for any of these systems as I log into emails and social media at least once a day to check for messages at a time that suits me.

To simplify outgoing communications we use helpsheets and videos. Clients often have similar queries. Whenever a client asks a question that I think may be asked again we create a Helpsheet or a training video that we can send to everybody who asks in future. It saves a lot of time and allows at least some of the replies to be delegated.

How do you control your communications in and out?

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The baby bear amount

Not too much, not too little, but just right.

If you’re reading this then you’re probably like me and read/watch a lot of other business advice books and other resources. Some appear to repeat the same ideas and other appear to offer exactly the opposite suggestions and sometimes it can be hard to figure out what is right for your business.

Should I invest in this course/software which will all but guarantee success or should I save my money and bootstrap? Although I’m generally in favour of wise spending I often have bootstrap moments.

Should I work longer hours just to ‘get ahead’ or would I be better off spending quality time resting like an athlete recovering from a sprint. After all, you can’t sprint a marathon.

You are not the same person as me and your business is not like mine. Mentoring can only get you so far by sharing my expertise. That’s why I’m so pleased that my qualification is coaching AND mentoring. People come to me for my expertise as a mentor who has been there, got the t-shirt and even written the book but the coaching techniques help me to focus on YOUR business for maximum impact. Together we can stop any prevarication, financial waste, and work out the best strategy and actions for your business.

When you’re running your own business it’s too easy to get bogged down in the day to day which is why I also use a business coach to help me view my business more objectively. So far, so good.

What else do you do to devise your business strategy and to keep on track between too much and too little, too sweet and too salty?

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Late payment? It’s just not good enough!

Most of my clients pay me by direct debit on a monthly contract but I recently took on a speaking engagement at short notice to help somebody out. It was a substantial fee but there wasn’t time to take a deposit so I squeezed in 4 days of preparation, rehearsal, travel, and delivery before I finally invoiced the full amount.

When the due date passed I sent a polite automated reminder from Xero and then rang the organiser in case there was a problem with the invoice. Just as well because it turned out the bookkeeper had paid the wrong person!

Mistakes happen and the other supplier who received my payment had immediately notified my customer. But the company hadn’t bothered to contact me to explain or to offer any apology.

This made me ‘a bit grumpy’ but I got even grumpier when I had to keep chasing each week. This was definitely not a business that I wanted to work with again. I always pay my own suppliers promptly as they are usually small businesses like mine.

So, as the law allows, I raised an invoice for interest on late payment of 8% over base rate plus £70 debt collection charge. Eventually the original invoice was paid and, after further chasing, the penalty invoices were paid too.

Even if people know that they are entitled to claim this interest and debt collection charge not many people actually bother. And many cancel the interest once the main invoice is paid. Why?

It is important to ensure that small businesses are paid promptly and part of that is making it more painful for the defaulters than for the unpaid victims. Let’s all make sure that we charge interest and collection fees so that we gradually get larger businesses to comply with their agreed payment terms.

Details of your payment rights are here.

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