by Stephen Reed | Accounting News, Business Growth, Industry - Veterinary Medicine, News
With big-box retailers and ecommerce powerhouses like PetSmart, Walmart, and Chewy.com offering online pharmacies, private practices are finding that their bottom lines are being affected. Now is the time to strengthen your clinic’s pharmacy with proactive business strategies. Here’s how.
Send Refill Reminders
Your practice likely already sends reminders for vaccines, so sending refill notices for preventatives and prescriptions are a natural extension of this practice. Because text messages have a 99 percent open rate—as opposed to the 33 percent open rate of health-care emails—text prompts are likely your best route. You can also print refill reminders on prescription labels.
Reinforce Client Relationships
When you receive the fax from the internet pharmacy, instead of immediately signing it, take a minute to connect with the client, especially if the client’s pet is overdue for an exam and heartworm test because you have the opportunity to make an appointment. Even if their pet is up to date, reinforcing the doctor-client-patient relationship with a phone call is important. It also gives you an opportunity to explain to the client how your hospital buys safe drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies, your staff receives regular training on medications, and your pharmacy offers competitive prices. If you can offer any additional savings on particular brands, or if you have an online store and a home-delivery option, now is the time to make sure the client is aware of these services.
Set Up an Online Store with Home Delivery and Auto-Ship Benefits
With your own online pharmacy, you can offer your clients home-delivery of medications with auto-ship benefits by partnering with veterinary distributors. Offering an auto-ship option assures the client that they will never be in need of long-term prescriptions and preventatives. If the client purchases a six-month supply of flea and tick medication, set up an auto-ship refill in five months when the client will have one dose remaining. This is especially helpful in regards to heartworm medication because near the end of a 12-month supply, you can send reminders to the client for an exam, heartworm test, prescription renewal, and additional preventative services.
Begin Offering Home-Delivery of Pet Food
Home delivery helps to cross one more errand off of your clients’ to-do lists. It’s a time-saver for working professionals, a relief for older seniors, and a natural move for anyone who regularly orders online. You can seamlessly get clients started with recurring shipments during exams, offering them a starter bag of food, and assuring them that their online order will arrive on their doorstep in just a few days.
by Daniel Kittell | Accounting News, Business Growth, Industry - Professional Services, News, Professional Services
Professional services organizations were already doing their best to embrace the challenges of ever-evolving technology developments when COVID-19 hit, forcing remote work, which in turn affected project delivery and resource management. Read on for growing trends that will support and enable growth and profitability for professional services businesses long after the disruptions of the pandemic have passed.
Implementing Automation and Artificial Intelligence
Extensive data-analysis is the most effective way to provide useful business solutions to clients, but it is a time-consuming process that is sensitive to human errors. Enter smart technologies enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning. By decoding real-time data and systematizing large chunks of data into usable information, the process becomes simpler and less laborious. Utilizing past data can also help generate strong and clear data-driven insights for the client.
Look for organizations to start using emerging technologies to automate back-end tasks, which will allow employees to focus on specific roles within the company and grow in individual skill sets and abilities.
Increasing Remote Work and Virtual Offices
The pandemic pushed us into a virtual world overnight, and now that we know video-conferencing and collaboration tools are vital information-sharing resources, remote work has become an integral part of the work culture. Additionally, managers can keep track of project progress and employee performance across diverse geographic boundaries through resource management software. Virtual offices allow companies a wider reach of clientele, who have the opportunity to vet companies based on reputation and work portfolios, regardless of location.
Enforcing a Value-Driven Revenue Model
Some professional services charge clients by the hour, but this method excludes the value generated out of each task. For example, when an accountant saves a client 10% in taxes after an hour of billable work, the client is still invoiced based on the employee’s charge out rate instead of on the task’s value. Not only does this decrease profit margins for firms, but clients may not recognize the benefits realized. However, with the adoption of a value-driven revenue model, invoices to clients can reflect the benefits and profits made over the duration of the project (e.g., tax savings, ROIs, and insurance claims), which will increase earnings for firms.
Adopting a Hybrid-Talent Model
In order to reduce project resourcing expenses, professional services firms are embracing the use of digitized project management tools that predict resource demand ahead of time. This provides firms with the opportunity to draft a hiring plan based on project costs and demands. As such, many firms are moving toward a hybrid-talent model—a team comprised of contractors, freelancers, etc., as well as full-time employees. Not only does optimizing resource allocation help to prevent employee burnout, but it also controls project financials and helps to increase profitability.
Establishing a Tech-Supported and Connected Team
Research suggests that highly engaged and connected teams experience greater productivity, improved performance, and enhanced team morale. Moreover, an engaged team produces greater profitability. However, if some or all of your team is working from remote locations, encouraging team engagement can be challenging. By investing in a tech-enabled work culture with the use of collaboration tools, employees can communicate, problem-solve, and share important information in real-time.
by Stephen Reed | Accounting News, Business Growth, COVID-19, News
The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to business owners that a major key to long-term growth and success is found in digital strategy. No matter your industry or niche, businesses need the following core attributes in order to prosper in a post-pandemic digital world.
Adopt a Flexible Mindset
Technology is perpetually changing and progressing, and it will continue to shake up the way we work. When small businesses adopt a flexible mindset, they are prepared to assess new technology and expedite change as needed. This swift adaptation allows them to gain the biggest benefits of new technology.
At minimum, make sure you have an online presence with an up-to-date website as well as active and engaging social media accounts. You will also want to create a digital marketing plan—or hire a marketing agency to create one for you.
Learn to Outsource
As an entrepreneur you might be in the habit of doing everything yourself, but the digital world moves too quickly to be able to sustain growth this way. The most effective and efficient way to run your business includes outsourcing. Smart and calculated outsourcing can tremendously boost your profits and productivity. Essentially, you are trading some measure of control over your business for “extra” time, allowing you to work smarter and more efficiently. Depending on your industry, outsourcing opportunities could include tasks such as:
- Accounting and tax preparation
- Payroll
- Web and marketing design
- Copywriting
- IT management
- Social media marketing
Embrace Digital Communication
Consistent communication efforts through digital networks are essential in today’s internet landscape for gaining and retaining clients. By giving your clients multiple channels of communication through a website, social media accounts, and email—and responding to feedback and questions in a timely manner—you have the opportunity to troubleshoot issues as they arise, improve satisfaction with clients, and retain a loyal client base. You also have the opportunity to expand your reach, share specialized messaging, and establish valuable relationships with audiences across online channels. Some ways to connect and communicate with both existing and prospective clients include:
- Launching social media campaigns
- Distributing an email newsletter
- Running banner ads
- Publishing blog posts and articles
- Sending discounts and offers through email
- Offering how-to videos, web series, and behind-the-scenes looks at products and processes through a YouTube channel
Install Cybersecurity
No matter how small your business, it is a target to hackers who want access to sensitive information of both your company and your clients. And as more companies go digital, attacks will only increase. A surefire way to lose trust in a client is to expose their sensitive data through a security breach. Invest in at least basic cybersecurity in order to safeguard your website and other digital accounts from malware attacks or phishing scams.
Some key elements to start protecting your business include:
- Install an SSL certificate for your website
- Make sure you have a firewall
- Keep software and systems up-to-date
- Use strong passwords
by Jean Miller | Accounting News, Business Growth, Financial Statement Reporting, News
Business financial statements demonstrate the source of a company’s revenue, its assets and liabilities, how money was spent, and how the company manages cash flow. They also help managers, employees, investors, and lenders assess the company’s performance at the end of the fiscal year. Read on for the three core reports that fit together to make up a complete set of financial statements for your small business.
Income Statement: Demonstrates Business Profits and Costs
Typically, the first point of interest for an investor or analyst is your income statement (also known as the profit and loss statement). This report illustrates your business’s performance in revenue and expenses throughout each period. Your sales revenue should be displayed at the top, followed by the deduction of cost of goods sold (COGS) to find your gross profit. Note: COGS includes the cost of labor, materials, and overhead needed to manufacture a product. From there, additional line items of business expenses, including taxes, will affect your gross profit until you reach your net income at the bottom, i.e., your “bottom line”.
Balance Sheet: Demonstrates Financial Position of a Business
This report gives an account of the business’s financial health by displaying assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity at a particular point in time. It helps business stakeholders and analysts gauge the overall financial position of a company and its capacity to handle its operating needs. The balance sheet can also help determine how to meet financial commitments as well as the best methods for using credit to finance your operations.
In general, the balance sheet is divided into three categories: assets, liabilities, and equity.
- Assets: These are usually organized into liquid assets (cash or assets than can be easily converted into cash), non-liquid assets (land, buildings, and equipment), and intangible assets such as copyrights, patents, and franchise agreements.
- Liabilities: These are debts that the business owes. They’re typically categorized as current or long-term. Current liabilities are due within one year and include items like accounts payable, wages, pension plan contributions, medical plan payments, building and equipment rents, temporary loans, and lines of credit. Long-term liabilities are payment obligations that are due after a one-year period. These may include long-term debt such as interest and principal on bonds, pension fund liabilities, and deferred tax liabilities.
- Equity: This can also be known as owners’ equity or shareholders’ equity. It is the remaining value of the company after subtracting liabilities from assets. Equity can also incorporate private or public stock, or even an initial investment from the founders of your business.
Cash Flow Statement: Demonstrates Increases and Decreases in Cash
Unlike an income statement, which shows how much money you’ve spent and earned, a cash flow statement tells you precisely how much cash your business has on hand for a specific period of time. If you use accrual basis accounting where income and expenses are recorded when they are earned or incurred—not when money actually moves into or out of your bank—cash flow statements are a necessary component of financial analysis. They show your liquidity; they show your changes in assets, liabilities, and equity; and they assist in predicting future cash flows. Additionally, if you plan on applying for a loan or line of credit, you will need current cash flow statements to apply.
by Pete McAllister | Accounting News, Business Growth, News
A positive cash flow—when more cash is flowing into your business than out of your business—is a sign of financial wellness and efficient management. It is a vital piece of the puzzle to sustaining long-term growth. Read on for some strategies to help maintain a positive cash-flow.
Plan Ahead
Implement a cash flow projection. This is a basic spreadsheet that you can use as a general guide for forecasting cash flow. It will help to realistically estimate when money will be coming into the business, when it will be going out, and what you’ll have remaining once expenses are accounted for and income is recorded. The key word, however, is estimate. While it isn’t meant to be a precise projection, it should help you anticipate your cash flow for the coming months.
Knowing ahead of time if a cash shortfall is in the forecast will allow you to perhaps negotiate upcoming payment dates or even obtain a loan before that deficit is realized.
On the other hand, if a surplus is projected, take the opportunity to set funds aside for future deficit periods. A projected surplus might also be the right time to invest in the following:
- Employees: If retaining knowledgeable and valuable employees means offering raises or bonuses, the investment is worth it. The expense would likely be less than hiring new staff, not to mention the time investment of training new employees.
- Technology: Look for ways you can automate and simplify processes with technology. Depending on your business, this could mean establishing a remote-work infrastructure, focusing on higher-value business goals, or promoting efficiency through operational changes.
- New opportunities. You can’t predict when unexpected opportunities and prospects for growth will come along, so take advantage of these opportunities when you’re in the position to do so.
Invest in Accounting Skills
In order to stay current on the status of your cash flow, basic accounting skills are non-negotiable. If payables and receivables, inventory, debt, and cost-and-profit aren’t your forte, be willing to take a course in business accounting or find a way to implement hiring an accountant into your budget.
Keep Track of Cash Flow Daily
Sales and revenue may command your interest and attention, but daily cash monitoring will help you avoid unpleasant surprises. Use your cash flow projection to know your projected cash flow for the next 30 to 60 days. Daily check-ins will allow you to catch any downwards trends and take action. Follow up on overdue invoices, scale back on any non-essential purchases, and make any needed adjustments to get your cash flow moving in an upward trend.
Boost Receivables
A solid (and probably obvious) strategy to increase cash flow is to increase sales with established and new customers, but business growth takes time. In the short term, try these methods to incentivize clients to pay sooner:
- Generate and send out invoices as soon as possible
- Offer discounts for quick payment
- Follow up with customers who tend to stall payment
Continually Aim for a Healthy Cash Flow
Managing a positive cash flow prepares your business to adapt to changing market conditions, fluctuating economies, and periods of growth as well as stagnant seasons without needing to rely on loans and investors. Once your investments are consistently heading in the right direction, a positive cash flow should gain momentum and spur a rhythm of sustained company growth.
