Seven Things That You Should Know Every Day About Your Business

Seven Things That You Should Know Every Day About Your Business

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

January 26 2011

As busy solo professionals, we often leave the financial and administrative tasks to staff that we have hired. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge about our own businesses can be something that prevents us from making positive changes or achieving the goals that we want.

Following is a list of the things that you, as a business owner, need to know every single day in order to improve your practice:

1. Your bank account balance - Many physicians and professionals have cheques or cash in the drawer that they have never had time to deposit. Every day you need to ensure that all income is in the business account and know the balance of the account. You see, if you are using a line of credit, it is costing you interest to be overdrawn. If you are investing money, you are losing interest. Make your money work for you.

2. The amount that you have earned that day (gross) - Many people go to work and put in a full day without knowing how much they earned. It can be very motivating to know that you had a good day financially and to be able to compare it to other days. It doesn't take long to print a Daily Sales Report and the result of doing this will be beneficial for the future.

3. Your Accounts Receivable balance - Know what people or organizations owe you and when the balance is due. This is your money and it is therefore important that you have a way of tracking and collecting the money that others owe you. You are not a bank!

4. The year to date comparison with the previous year - Every day I quickly check the computer report that lets me know how we are doing compared to last year. My income accounts allow me to see how the business might have changed in the past few months

5. Accounts Payable that are coming due in the month - Know what you owe others. You need to understand the amount it costs you to keep the doors open!

6. The number of billable hours that you have booked for the next week - If your calendar is empty, you are out of business. You need to have billable hours for the future that you can look forward to working

7. What your staff is doing to build your business this month - These people receive a good income from you and it is therefore important that you direct them to do the things that will help you and your business. If there are empty hours when they do not have enough to do, you are losing out.