Work on Your Business…Not in it!

Unless you’re Starbucks or Coca Cola, you’ve likely discovered that turning a profit isn’t always so easy. Small business owners, as involved with their business as they are, can often lose sight of obvious ways to maximize profits.  So, we at Fingercheck, have put together a shortlist of things every small to the mid-sized business owner should be doing to boost profitability.

Track Time

Whoever said, “time is money”, was absolutely right! A great way to keep more money in your pocket is to track it! Every business owner needs to know exactly how time is spent – from employee work hours to project management and all various tasks that go with it.  Using a time tracking software provides a great overview of how time is being spent.  Once you know that, it makes it easier for you to determine how to use it wisely and more efficiently.

Spend Less Time on Low-Value Activities

Running a small business is all-encompassing. One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is spending too much time on essential, but low-value activities.  A perfect example of this is payroll — an important and essential activity that can consume way too much time for a business owner and their office staff.

Automate When and Wherever Possible

Automation software like Fingercheck, can make essential tasks like payroll, simple and lets you free up much needed time to “work on” other aspects of your business, instead of working for too long “in your business”.  Fingercheck CEO, Joel Kohn says, “automation simplifies time-consuming tasks that allow business owners to then have more time to focus on growing their business”.

Prevent Waste and Theft

Theft doesn’t always translate to physical items taken from your business. Rather, it can come in the way of stealing precious time. After all, time is money! A common type of “theft” amongst small businesses is buddy punching.  This is the costly practice of one employee punching in another, who isn’t present. If not properly monitored, this could amount to thousands of dollars lost!  Solve the problem with biometric time clocks which require a fingerprint to punch in and out – thus eliminating this practice entirely.

Don’t Continually Discount Products

Even if your regular prices are sustainable, you may, from time to time, offer discounts to attract new customers. Doing this is fine but done too often and it can devalue your product or service. So, don’t let discounts become the norm.  It can lead customers to expect them and only buy when they see one.

Focus on Current Customers

Spending too much time and resources attracting new customers to the point that you neglect your current ones work against you.  You can potentially boost profits by concentrating on upselling to existing customers before spending time and money to attract new ones.

Remember, every business is unique and needs special attention in certain areas but implementing these simple steps can help to make a difference in your bottom-line.