Many small business owners focus on generating more revenue every year, and that’s a great objective. But not all revenue is created equally. If you sell more than one product or service in your business, then you can benefit from looking at your revenue mix. Although it’s fun to watch our revenues grow, it’s the profit number that really matters. If your expenses grow faster than your profits, then you have a lot of activity going on, but you don’t get to keep as much of what you make, which is what really matters. An insightful exercise to try is to take a look at your revenue mix. Then you can ask “what if?” to optimize your profits. Your Revenue Mix Let’s say you offer three different services: Services X, Y, and Z. Your revenue pie looks like this: X: $1.4 million or 70% of the total Y: $0.3 million or 15% of the total Z: $0.3 million or 15% of the total Total: $2.0 million In this example, Service X is clearly the service making you the most revenue in your business. But is it making you the most profits? The profit you receive from each of these service [...]
Musings of a Burbank CPA: Year-End Family Business Strategy and Preparation
So your family business has been going strong – now is the time for some reflection as well as future planning. See this article By Allen Hovious, President, LBMC Planning Services and posted by Terri Eyden in AccountingWeb: http://www.accountingweb.com/article/year-end-family-business-strategy-and-preparation/222646 If you don’t take the time to plan now, you risk some problems in the future. Call or email me if I can help. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Musings of a Burbank CPA: What to Do When Calling the Help Line Doesn’t Help
Have you ever called a help line and at the end of the call had a bigger problem than before you called? Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon. Navigating the help line process can be a challenge for anyone’s patience. Here are a couple of tips you can try to make the process a little less painful. Repeat Business If you get someone that does a good job of solving your problem, ask them if you can contact them directly. You will begin to establish a rapport, and you’ll have an inside ally you can turn to. They’ll also begin to know your issues, the product you’re calling about, and how you use it. Fly First Class Sometimes, it’s just worth it to pay for a higher level of access. You can check that out yourself, or you may have expert vendors you can tap to access their higher-level resources. By paying for a higher level of service, you can get priority service and access to more highly trained personnel. Learn the Language How you communicate your request to the help line personnel can make all the difference in the world when it comes to saving time. To speed up the process, [...]