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Hi! My cousin is running her own business. Because of the busy schedule, she doesn't have time to check all her monthly bills until last week she knew that utility expenses are shooting up. I heard about this continuous monitoring and management for businesses. Is this reliable? Any users here who could answer some of my questions? I want to gather information first before suggesting it to my cousin. Please help! Thanks in advance.
Works for me, https://www.gnucash.org/Quote:
Originally Posted by ClarindaPrill
Proactive or reactive ?
Strange question, but when you're running a business you need to be forward thinking. You need to have a picture in your head of where you are now, and where you will be a month, six months, and a year from now.
Good accounting software can project the trends but it's limited. There are too many other variables to take into account.
I know nothing about owning or running a business but I know what time the mailman comes.
yes indeed when it comes to actually having money vs. owning debt it would be good to manage your expenses well. I do use professional services for a lot of mine but I always make sure to check even on there math and even call around now and then to make sure I am getting the best bang for my buck as I spent to much time and work to hard to let little things be the killer of my own success
Just an opinion ....
You have to think big. For instance: You're working hard and your business is growing. It would be normal for your operating expenses to increase accordingly. It's nothing to worry about.
You also have to reasonably expect that you're going to have some setbacks along the way. As long as you have mostly good days and not too many bad days you'll probably be allright.
It's too easy to fall into the trap of niggling over the pennies while the dollars are flying out the window. You have to look at the big picture.
Edited to add: It's like the old saying: You have to spend money to make money.
if you are "running a business", then you need to MAKE THE TIME to check your expenses...that is part of it. If you do not, you probably won't be running a "business" very long. It is as IMPORTANT and calculating how much you are "making".
She should be able to get an idea of her expenses and then estimate as time goes along where those expenses are going. If they are rising faster than expected, then YES she needs to re-evaluate and see WHY they are...she could have an issue with her business model, what she charges, or her profits she is getting vs the costs involved to get them. she should look at each aspect of the business to see where these expenses are coming from and why they are going up. If that means having an audit by a professional, then does the costs make sense vs the savings. Many companies (like the power company) will do an audit of your power consumption and make suggestions.
Really, the 1st thing she needs to do is start acting like a business. That means paying attention to the BILLS and not just running around because "business is growing". It might be growing in the wrong way and it will shortly impact her so badly, she might not have a business left. All "profitable" activities are not the BEST activity to be doing. For instance, if I take on X client, but only profit a few $$ a month (the margin for a loss is very thin), then it isn't always the thing you SHOULD do. You have to think in terms of longer term...doesn't thing work longer term and if something changes slightly (say fuel pricing goes up), will this make the activity a LOSING one vs a profitable one.
Running a business is more complicated than just grabbing a business license and jumping into it. You have to learn how to manage the ENTIRE thing.
^^ The part about worrying over pennies while dollars sneak by.. Took me a bit to realize this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrappah
Me too ...."penny wise & pound foolish". The cheapest thing isn't always the cheapest thing over the long term.Quote:
Originally Posted by nutpie
The best business decision I ever made was hiring an accountant. She takes care of all of this and emails me pretty much any report I can imagine. For 100.00 a month it is a great investment.
Lots of great responses here. The truth is, it depends on the size and volume of your business. I have used accounting firms, hired accountants, used accounting software and even did it all myself by hand. It all had to do with what stage of business I was in. For s small scrapper, hiring an accountant is probably a waste of money when software has all you need. Then again, when you have a few employees and a number of contracts, it is sure nice to be able to call your accountant and get what you need or have him call you when he sees a spike in your outlay. So, IMO, the first thing to do is consider where your business is and where it is going.
you mean to say, it might be wise to invest in a solution that can help lower her expenses? I'm considering that option too and I might suggest that she gets energy management systems run by specialists to help her out.
As of the moment, she already has an accountant/bookkeeper.
And call in the next 3o minutes and get a set of steak knives ABSOLUTELY FREE
I can't believe this was an advertisement the whole time.
did you just SHILL a business?? People tried to help you, give advice to someone asking and then promoting some stupid place???? People do NOT have time to do this sort of crap....heck I have a MARKETING degree and have done MANY campaigns...but this sort of lying and deceptive advertising was NEVER part of it. Many of us here are professional business people and take time out of the day to try to help others just starting out. We DO NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR THIS SORT OF JUNK.Quote:
Originally Posted by ClarindaPrill
I wouldn't use the company's services on a BET now, even if I were looking because of this BS.
This is NOT the place to post advertising BS.....FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO BE IF YOUR SOLE CONTRIBUTION IS TO ADVERTISE YOUR OR SOME BUSINESS YOU ARE AFFILIATED WITH ::REALLY TICKED OFF::
To the OP: After checking your post/activity here at SMF and seeing the "twisted" direction this post appears to be going. Re-think your methods and how you do your "work". Utilizing a Smoke and Mirrors method is no way to advance yourself or anyone's business (yours or cousins). I suggest start with personal integrity, at the end of the day, all anyone really has, is their "good name".
Well with all the good and bad of the thread I did get a program to look at. I use Linux OS so the down load of this for my Ubuntu system is easy something not always true of other software. So for that and this thread thanks to Gus...er I mean Alloy. 73 MikeQuote:
Originally Posted by alloy2