Could you use a bit of extra cash each month? I think most people would say yes. And you may have a greater need if you are just starting your business, heading for retirement and want to save more, in school, or are not currently working. A new year gives us a chance to review, re-assess, and revitalize our businesses and our lives.
Here are some tips for you on how to keep more of what you make by squeezing expenses, looking at new revenue ideas, changing bad habits, and boosting cash flow. Some ideas are small changes; others could add up to big bucks.
- If you bill clients after you do the work, plan to bill them faster this year so you can get paid even faster. Better yet, offer prepay discounts and reward those who pay early with “fast-action scholarships.”
- Create a new program, product or service that brings in a whole new revenue stream for your business. I added two major new services on our marketing agency side and partnered with someone new to bring in more webinars last year on our training side. Hopefully, you’ve added new accounting services, new apps, and more to your practice as well.
- If you or your employees bill your time by the hour and sometimes forget to write your/their time down (I know I’m guilty), put in some extra procedures to capture that time. That’s a big cash drain in your business that needs plugging now.
- Check all of your insurance policies to see if you can raise the deductible. You can do this for your business as well as individual policies. My husband and I reduced our auto insurance by over $200 last year. Also, check with your agent to see if you qualify for any other discounted savings, such as low driving miles, good driver discount, customer loyalty programs and more.
- Take a good look at all the memberships you belong to. List ALL of the benefits of each one. Are there some free benefits you could use to save time or money? For example, your Chamber of Commerce membership may include an online profile you should fill out and link your site to. Another membership may give you office supply discounts.
- Scan last year’s profit and loss statement and drill down to see your expense detail. You can also scan your credit card, and pay special attention to recurring charges. This is a good time of year to assess what needs canceling. Just this morning, I cancelled a $15 per-month fee on some tech that I never got set up right. I’d been ignoring it for months.
- Does anyone owe you money from last year? Give them a call and collect those old receivables.
- Shop around for new vendors that you might not be getting the best service from. I continually get new web design clients who have had lousy service from their old web design company.
- Make part of your business green. Allow employees to stay home one day per week to save gas, adjust the thermostat to save heating or air conditioning, or go paperless.
- What do you need to finish that would bring in some cash if you just got around to finishing it?
- Enter free contests that will bring you good public relations exposure. One example is Insightful Accountant's Top 100 ProAdvisor Awards. Another is the Hubdoc Top 50 Accountants, and there are more where those came from.
- Find events that are free in your area and that will teach you some new skills and sign up. You can find them through government agencies, the Small Business Administration, coaches and consultants, online via search, and looking at social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn event sections.
- Cancel memberships, newspapers, and magazines that you are not reading or no longer need.
That’s a baker’s dozen tips for business. Here are a few more in case you need help saving money personally.
- Look in your closet, car, garage, storage, or around your home to see if there is anything you can use, repurpose or sell for cash. eBay may be your best friend.
- Do you have thousands of unused air and hotel miles? Sell them or start using them on trips you have planned.
- Get to know the programs that your friends and family are associated with, and see if you can help them for mutual benefit. For example, if your cousin’s job has an employee referral bonus of $4,000 and you have a friend who would be perfect for the job, make the connection. If you have a friend at HP who can get you a computer at a discounted rate (legally and morally), then go for it. Use social media to look for new connections where you both can profit.
- If eating out is a big expense for your family, make a list of restaurants where kids eat free on certain days, and visit them on those days. You can do the same for 2 for 1 or BOGO meals. Eat at the “nicer” fast food restaurants instead of the more expensive sit down restaurants.
- Look for unused gift cards that might be lying around in a kitchen or desk drawer and cash them in for things you need.
- Call your utility companies and bargain. Renegotiate your cell phone contract. Cancel your cable and go to Netflix or Hulu.
What else can you think of? There are dozens more ideas to put some green back in your wallet. Add them to this list, and get them done.
Let me know what you saved! But wait, there’s more.
Now here’s the really cool part: Once you’re done with these tasks for yourself, package them up into a service for your clients. They’ll love you for saving them money and finding them more cash right now.
If you're concerned that you might not have enough clients to earn the revenue you desire and referrals are just not enough any more or you're just starting your business, then check out this webinar series that starts TODAY, February 5, 2019, presented by Sandi Leyva, CPA, of Accountant's Accelerator, that will help you acquire high quality clients, keep your marketing costs low, and take the mystery and uncertainty out of marketing, once and for all. Click here to get more information and register.
Sandi Leyva
Author Bio: Sandi Leyva, CPA, CMA, MBA, and founder of Accountant’s Accelerator, has helped thousands of tax and accounting professionals earn more, work less, and serve their clients better through her innovative marketing, training, and coaching services. Author of 30 books and hundreds of CPE courses, Sandi has won 12 awards for her thought leadership. Visit her at accountantsaccelerator.com and acceleratorwebsites.com.