What numbers are important in business?

Money matters in business. It can be quite stressful as a business owner, worrying about your finances. There’s so many different figures to think about and you may not understand what they all mean. So what are the important numbers you need to be aware of?

Turnover and profit

Turnover and profit are probably the main things you think about as a business owner. You’ve more than likely set a target of what you want your turnover to be this year and what profit you would like to make too. The thing is your turnover might be amazing but if you’ve overspent you may not have much profit left and that’s what matters more for your business to be sustainable. We bang on about cash flow a lot and it’s critical to have a healthy cash flow stream. If you don’t have a consistent flow it could land you in a heap of debt which you need to avoid. So yes aim high for your turnover, but monitor your cash flow. Cut costs and keep spending to a minimum to get the best profit possible. 

Historical data

You may wonder why historical data is important. It’s been and gone, why would you want to think about the past? We can tell a lot from looking at your historical data. We can look at shifts in patterns of revenue and expenditure. We can analyse this data to produce insightful reports which can future proof your business. So don’t forget about your finances that have been and gone, we can learn so much from the past. 

Client numbers

You may have set yourself a goal this year to have increased the number of clients you have. Although this will bring in more revenue it’s important not to forget about client retention. Having a smaller amount of quality clients can be much more beneficial than having a lot of clients who pay smaller amounts and give you more grief. Invest in nurturing the clients you do have and try to upsell to those rather than keep pushing for new clients. Don’t get me wrong, getting a new client is a great achievement but don’t forget about what’s already insight.

Staff

As your workload increases you may want to start employing staff or adding additions to your existing team. It’s great that you have grown and can do this, but don’t do too much too soon. There is a lot of additional admin which is created when you employ a member of staff and once you have done so you have to commit. Make sure you’re ready before taking the leap. If you’re not quite ready to employ, think about outsourcing some of your jobs. Your bookkeeping for example can be one of the easiest things for you to delegate as it requires little input from you. This will give you more time back to concentrate on growing your business. An outsourced bookkeeper is still an extended member of your team.

What you pay yourself

Don’t lose sight of what's really important here. You started a business to get the freedom you desire. You’ve put in lots of hard work and made many sacrifices along the way. You should be rewarding yourself with a decent salary. So the amount of money you pay yourself matters! 

All these numbers are measurable and we can help you to smash your goals when it comes to your numbers. We can monitor your business and discuss your progress together month on month. So leave the numbers to us and concentrate on striving for success.