M’n'M Support

Que Dooms day music of your choice…..
The Doors, Darth Vader’s Theme, although R.E.M’s “The End of the World as we Know It” is a little too upbeat for me it’s your choice so go ahead pick something you feel is appropriate.  You got it okay then…

America’s economy has been going through a very difficult time for a while now. Whether we call it a recession or depression this economic downturn seems to have effected every aspect of the American economy.  The housing market has bottomed out so bad it seems like everyone is loosing their home. Financial Institutions and the Stock Market in general have fallen apart, leaving the foundation of America’s Economy in complete ruin.  America’s death spiral has effected the world economy as they now follow us down the financial drain. All of the negative economic conditions are leading most businesses into a fearful outlook for their future. The overwhelming fear most people have right now breaks down into the following thought process.

1. If the economy is collapsing, then my customers will not have money.
2. If my customers have no money, then I have no customers for my business.
3. If I have no customers, then I have no business.

Time to play “Taps” as we watch our businesses die. While the fear of this outcome has happened and will continue to happen, there are a few facts we need to look at.

1. Business will continue to be done.
2. There is still money to be made.
3. Someone will make that money.
4. That someone can be you.

Now, realizing there is money to be made and actually going out and making money are two very distinct and important steps.  Every business needs to focus on the fundamentals of business, however in difficult economic times it is vital to staying in business. Write down the following information as it applies to your business, even if you already know the answers anyway, Write it Down.

1. First write down what your business does to make money. A simple one sentence statement about the product or service you sell.
2. Next, write down what benefits you offer when someone buys your product or service.  The benefit you provide is obvious if you sell something as important as insulin to diabetics or body armor to soldiers. Most of us however do not sell something which has such an obvious benefit, so it is more important to write down and understand those benefits.
3. Third, who can benefit from what you sell? Write down who specifically, such as commuters or businesses with 5 or fewer employees. Remember the list of who can benefit may change with the times or your awareness of new niches.
4. Finally the important part, how do I get them to pay me? We are in business, it’s the money we want.

The information you have written down is important for every business, so keep it handy and refer to it often.

Another important fundamental of business is we all need to stay organized (I’m a bookkeeper, what did you expect me to say.) There is only a few pieces of information you need but it will require a little work from you.  Starting off, you need to know what money you have coming in and what money is going out at this time. Once you have worked out the current numbers, it is important to work out your known bills and invoices for the next six months and year. Now you will be able to make an assessment of the future of your business.  That leaves two questions you need to ask yourself about your business; How many customers do I need to stay in business and Where can I get more customers? These are the business fundamentals which apply to all businesses. Now, in today’s economy, it is more important than ever.

Sense you have gathered all the information you need to see what condition your business is in. There is one last thing your business needs, more customers. If your business is organized well enough to handle an increase in business, then get more customers.  In business, getting more paying customers will solve most of your problems.  After checking the numbers on your business you find you need more money then get more higher paying customers.  Did you lose a customer because of the economy? Then go out and get another customer.  Once you have the customer you need go out and get another one. The economy is in bad shape but knowing where your business is now and getting more customers, you should be alright.

A great way to find more customers is to get involved in one-to-one networking environments.  We are members of BNI chapters and over 75% of our business has come directly from BNI referrals in the last year.

Mike Duerksen
Vice President
M’n'M Support Specialists
772 419-8023

It is inevitable that every business needs to keep financial records that are maintained constantly. All of those financial records are used to create reports on your business and how it is doing financially. The question we get often is, “What is the most important financial report for a business?” To answer that question lets look at 3 different types of reports.

First there is the Balance Sheet, which is a snapshot of a company on a specific day. For example if you do a balance sheet report for August 1 it will be different then if it was completed on July 31st, or August 2nd. The balance sheet is a listing of ALL company assets, (Cash, Account Receivable, Owned Buildings, Vehicles & Equipment). Assets in a company are equal to a companies liabilities (money it owes to vendors & loans), plus capital/equity (Retained Earnings & Owners investment). As you can see a balance sheet can be useful if you want to know what the equity, value of your business, is for your company on a given date in the past.

A second great financial report for a business is the income statement also called the profit & loss statement. The profit and loss statement will tell you what your income and expenses are over a specified period of time and again it is in the past. This is the report that will let you know if your business is making a profit or losing money. By using this statement correctly a business can properly make adjustments in their pricing structure by specific services, merchandise and even in their delivery fees. We have worked with our clients that charge a flat fee for on-site service calls to evaluate how much they are paying to make the trips, which include labor, vehicle loan, insurance and mostly fuel needed. By using this report our clients are finding out that they need to plan their staff members routes better and that they need to raise their transportation fees to their clients. As fuel prices drop they will then drop their fees to their clients. By reviewing the income statement on a regular basis a company is able to ensure that they are maximizing their profits while limiting their losses.

The final financial report to discuss is probably the most important one for any small start-up business and the least used report. It is call the Cash Flow Forecast Statement. With the Cash Flow Forecast Statement you take your current cash balance of your company. Next add in all of your guaranteed revenue for the next month, this is money that you know for sure you will get from your repeat customers, include any monthly retainer clients or maintenance accounts you may have. Once you have added in your guaranteed revenue next enter your projected revenue, this is revenue that you may get from project work or resales. Remember to keep this lower then expected to ensure that you don’t over-project your revenue.

Now that you have projected your revenue for the next month lets project your expenses. First you would start with your fixed expenses, rent, insurance, vehicles, etc. these are items that are the same amount month after month. After your fixed expenses payments you need to project your variable expenses, for example, phone, utilities, supplies, etc. Remember to keep these higher then projected so that you don’t under estimate your expenses.

From here comes the fun part, to your cash balance add in your Guaranteed Revenue along with your projected revenue. Next subtract your fixed expenses and your variable expenses. This should give you a projection of what your cash flow balance is each month. Now repeat these steps to project out for the next six months. Keep in mind what additional revenue or expenses my happen in a specific month, i.e. Quarterly tax payments, CPA fees, annual insurance premiums. After a month is completed enter the correct opening cash flow balance for the upcoming month and make the adjustments for the future months as necessary for a more accurate picture.

The Cash Flow Forecast Statement is a great tool to have to help you better plan on when is the best time to expense items and when is it best to wait. Here at M’n'M Support Specialists we use our Forecast Statement to let us know when it would be best to purchase that new equipment or to join that networking organization that we have been looking to join. By doing this it ensures that we are making informed decisions for the financial stability of our company.

Michelle Zambos-Duerksen
President

Small business owners are often put into a position which they have never been trained for, the position of salesman.  Many of us are good at what our business is yet not so good at getting people to buy our product or service.  My wife, Michelle, and I started our own business because we feel we are better than our competitors.  I would imagine most of you reading this blog feel the same way about your business as well.  Convincing potential customers of this obvious fact however can be difficult.  How many times have you heard statements like “We can’t afford it”, “This is not the right time” or “This doesn’t meet our needs” from someone you know could benefit from your business.  The truth is even if you and your potential customer know your business could benefit them, they will not buy your product if they haven’t emotionally decided they want to own it.

During an earlier blog, I talked about changing your customers perception concerning the value of the price of your service.  Your customers perception of the value of your business affects the likelihood of weather they will buy into your business and buy into it at the price you are asking.   Emotion is the root of why we choose a particular product.  Even in business it is people not machines who decide what product to buy.  no one likes to admit it but everybody makes buying decisions based on emotion.  Even the lowest priced products at the grocery store have a variety of brands to choose from.  From the lowest priced product to multi-million dollar deals emotion is part of the decision making process.

An important point to remember is your customer must emotionally want to own your service first, then they will find a way to justify owning it. You can give them all the facts and statistics available however we are all cynical when it comes to listening to someone who is trying to sell us something.  Your customers must want to own what your selling them before they are willing to accept the facts you give them.  Deciding when to give facts and when to address their emotional needs will be something you will have to work out on your own; however, you will see results from your customers. Once you give your customers a warm fuzzy feeling about your business they will want to buy your product.  Think about what emotions your business can address.  A few examples of emotions can be:  Confidence, control, convenience, freedom, prestige and security.  There are countless possibilities but if you think about and use these possibilities you will see an improvement in your business sales.

Mike Duerksen
VP Sales & Marketing

The life of the average American has become increasingly busier.  As entrepreneurs, I am sure your life is even busier than most.  I personally juggle my time between business, kids activities, kids school (which is separate from their other activities, and all the things my wife has planned for me.  While these demands on our time are typical in this day and age, that doesn’t mean we complete them daily and as well as we would prefer is typical.  We usually end up spending our days running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  Every day we have a list of tasks to be completed.  Normally, there are more tasks then time.  This daily grind becomes more of a burden each day.  What is the end result of this overwhelming activity?  The busier we get the less we get done.  Phone and e-mail messages are forgotten and appointments are missed.  We start to feel bad because we miss getting stuff done.  Then we start to work on smaller and simpler tasks so we can at least get something done.  The problem with doing the little jobs is we let the big jobs fall through the cracks.  Day after day our schedule builds up and becomes more overwhelming. There comes a point where there is nowhere to go but down.  Again I ask, what is the end result of all this activity?

The end result, for many of us, is a continual downward spiral of missed business assignments and less time with your family.  Then we hit bottom, burnout, a nervous breakdown or as my mom liked to call it “Your a mess”.  When someone gets to this point there usually are two options to choose from.  Experts in the field of burnouts and nervous breakdowns (whoever they are) will say you can either fix the problem or continue to be overwhelmed.  While fixing our time schedule problem is the obvious answer, it can seem an impossible goal to achieve.  Take it from me, the call of comfort food and daytime television is difficult to resist. Unfortunately, a day arrives when you realize you are Forty pounds heavier, need a shave and you’ve seen all the episodes of Night Court (I am a big Dan Fielding fan).  The other option, the fix it option, eventually becomes the only real answer to our problems.

Now that we need to loose weight, shave (either our chins, legs or both) and turn off the television, you may be asking “what is the next step”?  Multiple libraries could be filled with all of the books written about time management techniques.  These guidelines can be adapted to fit your particular needs.  Starting off, there is an important concept which we must keep in mind.  When our schedule gets out of control and our days are overwhelming, we tend to say “My life is crazy”.  It is important to remember your life and your schedule are two separate things.  We all fall into the trap of identifying our lives with our schedules.  Emotionally separating the tasks in your life from how you see who you are, will help you focus more objectively at your tasks.

The basic concepts which will allow you to regain control of your life are not complex.  However, we do need to think about how to best apply them.  To start with, we need to know our limits.  Realistically how much can we do, when we are at our best and when we are at our worst.  This first step is very important.  We must be honest with ourselves otherwise we can not make the right decisions about our schedule.  Measure the use of your time against the importance of the task to be completed.  There is a difference between measuring our time against our tasks and measuring our time against the importance of those tasks.  Now we need to think about how to best use our time to get our tasks done.  Trust me on this, driving faster to get more tasks done gets real expensive real fast.  Finally, we need to understand what we can not get done.  Saying “I can’t do that” can be be very difficult.  Sometimes saying “no” can have a negative effect on our business and family.  However, the alternative can have a negative effect on our business, family, as well as, ourselves.  This may have been a condensed version of several self help books but these ideas can really help you regain control of your life.

Mike Duerksen
Vice President

Every business has a list of problems to overcome on a daily basis.  One problem which every business must face is price.  Weather you sell services or products you must decide what price you are going to sell your service or product at.  While there is no easy answer to the dilemma of price, I will mention some factors you should keep in mind.

Starting off I am going to talk about factors concerning setting the price for products.  We all know what margin is but for the sake of this article I am going to define what I mean when I talk about margin.  When I say margin I am refering to the difference between the cost of a product and the price it sells for .  An example of margin being if you buy a widget at Ten dollars and sell that widget for Twelve dollars your margin is Two dollars.  Moving on to your product, let us talk about how to decide what your margin should be.  Some of the factors you should consider are:  Cost of product, cost of shipping that product, cost of storage and how many, as well as, how fast you need to sell your product.  When considering the cost of your product you need to know if there are seasonal or cyclical changes in the cost of your product.  You need to know, or have an idea of, what changes in the cost of your product there are.  For example, if your widget cost you Ten dollars in January and shipping is free with a purchase of Ten or more, than if you sell this widget at Twelve dollars your margin is Two dollars each for a total of Twenty dollars. Now, when it is time to reorder your widgets let us suppose the cost is fourteen dollars; You made a twenty dollar profit but your business actually is running at a loss.

Not all companies sell products, however, your company may sell services.  Actually, most companies sell services, weather your service is connected to a product you are selling or you are selling a service by itself.  The price of services can be more difficult to pin down.  Among the factors which need to be considered are: What other professionals charge for similar services, what qualifications or certifications you have earned, and how well your service compares to your competitors.  The bottom line of this equation is, “How much is your time worth”?  The price of your service can really be that easy to decide.

There is a reality check when it comes to setting prices.  Will your customer pay the price you are asking?  There is an old saying in business “The price is whatever the market will bear”.  People usually take that statement to mean two things:  One, if you can not make a sale lower your price and Two, if you can make a sale raise your price.  I want to take a moment to look at that old saying in a different way.  “The price is whatever the market will bear” means whatever price your customer is willing to pay.  Remember, “the market” is not some omnipresent entity, it is people like your customers.  That means the price your customers are willing to pay you for your product or service.  Often, a customer decides what price they are willing to pay by comparing the price of something to its value.  The key to this price verses value equation is perception.  Your customers perception of the value of what your selling will determine what they are willing to pay.  This is the reality of a customer either paying the price you are asking or your customer demanding you lower your price.  Now, their perception affects what they are willing to pay, but you can affect their perception of what you are selling.  Improve their perception of the value of your product or service and your customer will be more likely to pay you what you are asking.  However, if you do not improve their perception of what you are selling, than your customer will want to pay you less.  You have more influence than you think in what your customers are willing to pay.  Remember to focus more on your customers perception of value in what you are selling and you will have more customers paying the price you want them to pay.

All of us meet people whom we want to insure remember us. We want that potential new client to call us back. The same is true for that Lender or possibly a new business partner. The problem can be our message gets lost in the crowd of endless greetings, sales pitches and hand shakes. The question then is, how do I stand out and reach the people I need for my business to be successful?

I am sure you have considered handing out brochures, or fliers of some sort, but ask yourself this question. Do I need to invest in those brochures or is there a more effective way of reaching the right people? In other words, do I have to go from point “A” to point “C” through point “B”? Quality brochures, fliers or sales letters can cost you quit a bit of money. Do you really need to spend your money on brochures or can you get your message out another way?

There are several options available to you depending on who you are trying to reach. Normally, a business wants to reach: new clients, lenders or business partners. Sense reaching out to a possible new client is the most common need in a business let us look at how your customer conduct’s their business. A customer who conducts most of their business over the Internet will spend much of their time in front of a computer. Does this person want to spend time reading paper fliers? You may be better off creating a PDF file and sending it via e-mail. You can create a PDF file specific to what you know about a new client. For example, your potential new customer may want to know how reliable your work is or your qualifications and expertise. This may be more important to him than price if, for example, you found out he used your competitor at a lower price and did not like the work he received. A PDF file, in this case, may be more effective than a general sales brochure.

E-mailing everyone you meet at a trade show, convention or luncheon is time consuming and can be impracticable. However, large fliers or brochures often get tossed by people who are receiving a brochure every time they shake hands. Another way to be remembered could be by listing your services on the back of your business cards. People tend to pocket business cards and look at them latter. Your business card can stand out when they see the backside.

You may be asking ” so what good is my high end glossy brochure”? I am not saying you should throw them away. Instead look at where those brochures will have the most effect. Someone may ask you for a brochure. Have a few brochures ready to hand out if someone asks you for one because then they will certainly read it. While applying for a small business loan, a professional quality brochure with your market plan can help round out a professional presentation to a bank. A good place for brochures would also be with your local Chamber of Commerce.

When considering all of your options, for getting your message out, spend time on a quality message. Only spend money when you need to spend money. Using PDF files, business cards or brochures when they are most effective is a better use of your money.

Mike Duerksen
Vice-President

Every business has a list of problems longer than their list of solutions. Now, the standard answer for a business to solve it’s problems is to get your people together and brainstorm the answer. However, a small business owner or a start-up may have some difficulties with this option. First, what if I have no people? Second, sense I work from sun-up till I collapse, do I stop work to have this meeting? Finally, can I afford the solution?

Generally people, Business people especially, see achieving a goal as a task which requires taking specific steps in a specific order. Hence, you run into problems when you cannot move from point “A” to point “B”. My brother-in-law,for example, likes cars, but couldn’t afford to pay for a showroom to sell his after market high end end car parts. Instead, he started his business as an Internet store. You log on to www.pbdnmotorsports.com and order what you want and it gets shipped straight to you. Now, Michelle and I, have taken an unconventional approach to the services we offer. Normally, if you hire a Bookkeeper, the Bookkeeper works in your office, uses your equipment and needs your constant supervision. We, instead, work over the Internet on your records and you pay only for actual work, not breaks and clock watching.

These were two examples of not conforming to standard answers. I am sure all of you have a list of problems with your business, in which, the traditional answer is beyond your means. Try to think of your problems in different terms. Ask yourself do you really need that particular widget, vehicle, or office space. Are your problems really a means to an end? Could you achieve that end another way? sometimes going from point “A” to point “C” does not require going through point “B”.

Starting your own company instead of working for one makes you a non-conformist. Do not fall into a conformist mindset now. Be a Rebel, be James Dean, say “Down with the Man”. When you work for someone else, they may say “Think outside the box” yet they will never say “Act outside the box”. We are Rebels, non-conformist, we get to “Act outside the box”. That is were the answer to your business problems truly are. You are a Rebel with a Business. Always be a non-conformist.

Mike Duerksen
Vice-President

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the M’n'M Support Specialists blog site. Each week we will add new articles with real-life experiences and ideas to grow your business. We will give you some tips on how you can keep your business alive and strong in its first five years.

M’n'M Support Specialists specializes in working with company owners who’s businesses have grown exponentially in their first couple of years and are overwhelmed with all of the administrative bureaucracies to running a business built for success. We will work with you to set-up procedures to find necessary paperwork in a moments notice, maintain accurate financial reports to know where your business sits financially, maintain project schedules, and assist in drawing in more business.

M’n'M Support Specialists brings to you over 15 years of bookkeeping and administrative experience along with 10 years of project management experience. We are able to do this with a significant savings to our customers by being independent contractors. Currently we work with clients all over the world by utilizing the latest technology.

We look forward to sharing with you our tried and tested methods of maintaining a business to succeed past the first 5 years. Please visit us often and thank you for “Letting Us Take the Burden Off You!!”

Michelle Zambos-Duerksen
President