Would you like to keep your motivation all year round?

Would you like to know your studio’s progress every month?

We often navigate in uncertainty where our business results are concerned because we don’t know of a simple, effective way to collect the necessary data. Some people say “I prefer not to know rather than be stressed!” We don’t really know if these people should be in business though.

Nothing is more encouraging then to see continual development in your business. If I ask you to tell me how your studio progressed between this year and last, what would be your answer?

1. « I leave that to my accountant. » OK, but does he give you a monthly overview?
2. « I’ve never had the need. » Fine, so how do you evaluate your performance from one year to the next? MORE importantly, who do you correct a momentary downswing, if you never know about it?
3. « From one year to the other, I don’t worry about results as long as I have enough to meet my needs. » OK, but wouldn’t it be interesting to be able to improve your family’s life style?

Cause for reflection?

During my carrier as a photographer and studio administrator I learned the hard way that I absolutely needed to keep control over my operations. Learning and incorporating that knowledge into my business life made it possible to really GROW my business.  Honestly, that one element enabled me to manage the development of my studio into a very profitable and progressive one. I found and surrounded myself with extremely competent people and great performance tools.

Every month, my associates and I got together to study the financial reports. This way we were aware of the company’s evolution, each and every month, all year round.  The great thing is that after a few years worth of date, you can see trends and you can plan much more effectively.

How to do it :

1. Take last year’s financial report; Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Statement.
2. Make sure that your Profit & Loss Statement has “last year” comparative column.  These columns have the numbers for the year before as well as a “difference” column and a “percentage” column.  This gives you a way to see what your numbers were for that same period, last year.  If you don’t have a Profit & Loss Statement set up like that, ask your accounting person or your accountant to do that for you. Have this report generated each and every month, as soon as your accounting person has finished closing out the month’s activities.
3. Study the comparison.  When you see big differences between the amounts for the month this year and the same month of the previous year, check it out.  Verify each of the income and expense items in the report to see and explain the problematic sections.
4. Take action to remedy the situation, if need be. Do not panic if you find a difference during one month, it could be caused by a special activity or event;  you may have had to pay an expense that is normally distributed throughout the year (subscription, insurance premiums etc) but at least you caught it and explained it.  THAT is the important thing

This is NOT rocket science, you CAN do it.  Peace of mind is often won with small tools and simple analysis.

For those who would like an Excel sheet created for this purpose, check out Profit-Pro 116.

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