by Dale Turner
fall in love | business with your banker
photo: Creativa/Shutterstock.com
commit to being profitable 2013 CAN BE THE YEAR YOU STOP THE insanity! Make a New Year’s resolution that will help you become more profitable, once and for all. Here we are again at the beginning of a New Year, a time when hope abounds that we will see a financial breakthrough. This hope carries through until approximately January 7th, when the reality that nothing has changed hits home. You are in the same financial rut you were in last year! The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same activities and expecting a different result. Here are five New Year’s resolutions that will make a difference in your finances and the profitability of your spa in 2013.
cials while standing in the teller line! Most banks offer free online banking, which enables you to check balances, make payments and transfer funds 24 hours a day from the convenience of your home or office. Remote deposit enables you to make deposits by scanning checks from your desktop computer. Most banks have a night depository where you can deposit cash at any time. These are all resources you can use to do your banking on your time. Banks are investing millions of dollars in technology to make banking more convenient for you. In most cases, there is little to no cost for accessing the bank’s resources.
1. REVIEW YOUR CASH FLOW WITH YOUR BUSINESS BANKER. “How do my customers pay me?” “How do I pay others?” These are core questions for a good conversation about cash flow. An honest discussion with your banker will allow them to recommend solutions that will get you paid quicker and delay your deadlines for paying others.
3. REDUCE BUSINESS EXPENSES ... THIS SOUNDS TOO EASY, RIGHT? Of course you want to spend less than you did last year! Many people buy into the cliché philosophy that you have to spend money to make money. This erroneous belief gets many spa owners and directors in trouble. The easiest money to make is money you don’t have to spend! Review your bank statement with a critical eye. Many spa owners have “legacy expenses” all over their balance sheet. There are numerous monthly auto debits for long abandoned advertising programs, memberships to clubs and Groupons. These expenses, which may have been a good idea at one time, have outlived their usefulness. Those small expenses add up quickly. Eliminate them
2. SPEND LESS TIME IN LINE AT THE BANK. Nothing makes a business owner more insane than seeing a long line at the bank. A long line means that either they (or an employee) will be losing time that can be spent doing something that actually makes them money. I haven’t seen too many estheticians doing faJanuary 2013 • Les Nouvelles Esthétiques & Spa
and you will add more to the bottom line. “Sacred cow expenses” are those things that should work, you just know they will work ... but somehow they never do. Remember the definition of insanity! Understand what sells in your spa. The fact that you like it does not mean that your clients will. Identify your necessary expenses, and make sure you know how they affect your bottom line. Cuts may be necessary. However, be careful not to cut too deep. Recently, a spa’s front desk manager concluded that the $500 per month that the spa was spending on radio advertising was a waste of money. She came to this determination because clients who were asked how they had heard about the spa often responded that they saw the website. The knowit-all front desk manager badgered the spa owner into dropping their advertising since it “obviously” was not working. The result was a dramatic drop in gross sales within three months. The spa found that $500 (radio advertising) per month yielded $10,000 in profit. Once the spa resumed radio advertising, sales immediately increased. 4. REVIEW YOUR BANKING AND CREDIT CARD PROCESSING FEES. Recent changes in banking regulations have limited how and where a bank can make money. Cost can be substantially reduced and even eliminated by consolidating all of your financial services continues www.LNEONLINE.com • Page 67