Quick Guide to Adjusting Your Business Budget to Inflation

, , ,

How-To-Guide: Business Budgeting During Inflation

As we roll into December, business owners are focused on ending 2022 strong and preparing for an even greater 2023.  Included in the year-end planning objectives is the desire to hit growth targets, improve the availability of capital resources, and control expenses for the coming year.

Naturally in a high-inflation environment, budgets are being examined based on potential concerns for higher spending on the supply chain, payroll, and benefits, meaning there’s less money to go around for other critical projects and investments.  Budgeting and planning season is a daunting task.  Many clients come to me with the same concerns: where do I start and how do I stick to a budget – especially with future inflation, a potential recession, and continued supply chain disruption?

Budgeting from Every Angle

What’s the best approach for your business?  Top-down or bottom-up budgeting?

Depending on the size of your organization and if you have various departments heads, each of these different approaches to budgeting may work best.

Top-down budgeting refers to a type of budget allocation where executive leadership and senior management set high-level budgets based on company goals for the year.  Once approved, management “pushes down” the budget to the management teams, who communicate and monitor the budgets with their teams.

Bottom-up budgeting is the opposite of top-down budgeting, the CEO or Business Owner drafts plans based on their strategic needs and goals, then present it up to their managers.  Each department needs to identify their goals — and what it costs to achieve their goals.

Once you’ve identified the best approach to map out anticipated spending for the coming year, following these steps will ensure you stick to a budget and avoid surprises:

  1. Frequently monitor the numbers.
    You can’t know your numbers – and you need to know your numbers!  Since we are living in an inflationary environment, it’s important to keep a close eye on the critical numbers that can help monitor climbing expenses and how that is having a negative ripple effect on other critical numbers that include:

    These key numbers include:
    Cash Flow
    Profit and Loss
    Sales
    Price/Selling Point(s)
    Gross Margin including by product line and by customer
    Net income
    Total Inventory

Stay on top of your numbers.

2. Calculate Your Return on Investment
Business owners can use return on investment as a measuring stick for their company’s profitability.  The amount of money spent vs. the expected financial return should be a focus of performance management.  The data collected from your ROI tracks what efforts you are investing company funds in are performing best.

If you determine you are wasting money on an expense, rethink your strategy as something needs to change.  Many types of ROI can help you make important businesses budgeting decisions such as: purchasing new equipment, hiring new employees, investing in marketing, or expanding into a new geographic location. Practically every business decision requires knowledge of ROI.  Simply divide the gains from your investment by your investment’s cost and you have your answer as a percentage or ratio.

3. Track Your Sales Cycle:
There are a number of factors to consider:

How long does it take to move prospects through your sales pipeline?  The answer depends on how many steps are in your sales cycle, how complex your product is, and the cost of your offering.

What are the projected sales for the budget period?  If you overestimate, it will cause you problems in the future.

What are the direct costs of sales (i.e. costs of materials, components or subcontractors to make the product/provide the service)?

What are the fixed costs?

What are the overhead costs?

The length of time it takes to convert leads to sales needs to be factored into your budget.  Using your sales and expenditure forecasts, you can prepare projected profits for the next 12 months and beyond.  This will enable you to analyze your margins and other key ratios such as your return on investment.

4. Overestimate expenses.
By overestimating monthly expenses, businesses can account for the possibility of variable unexpected expenses.  A suggestion: take your total expenses, then add at least 5% to cover the unexpected financial surprise.  Most businesses can categorize their expenses in three areas (see below).  By analyzing spending history, you can estimate your monthly expenses in each category.

  • Fixed expected expenses: Expenses that come at regular intervals (weekly, monthly, annually, etc.) and don’t vary are called “fixed.”  Examples can include building rent, insurance premiums, equipment leases and payroll.
  • Variable expected expenses: Expenses that come at regular intervals but can vary are called “variable.”  Examples can include utilities, phone bills, employee training, bonuses, donations.
  • Variable unexpected expenses: Otherwise known as “emergency expenses,” this category is the most likely to trip up even the best budget plans.  For example, no one plans for a major piece of equipment to fail or their biggest client to jump ship.

    5. Improve Cash Reserves and “Emergency Funds”.
    In business, rainy day funds or retained earnings are cash supplies that are kept on hand to enable your business to continue operating in lean times or in an emergency.  Many businesses during the pandemic did not have more than three months cash reserves and failed to stay afloat.

These funds allow your business to keep providing services while making payroll, paying bills, and purchasing supplies, and they allow the Owner to sustain the family’s income. The emergency fund provides immediate access to funds during critical times.  Insurance may cover loss, property damage and other repairs, but processing claims can take weeks or months, putting a sledgehammer through your profitability and productivity.  Budgeting for the emergency fund while keep you in business if a crisis should strike.

6. Avoid Deviating from the Budget.
By making and following a budget, you can better control costs, avoid overspending, and plan to meet financial goals.

It is important that you compare actual results vs. the budget and investigate any significant differences and the causes.  Failure to properly use your budget can seriously impact your bottom line, and even jeopardize the success of your business.  Tracking your expenses is one of the key factors in making your budget work for you.  Over time your budget will allow you to track revenue, expenses, and cash flow.  A budget provides a guide to cut unnecessary spending, allocate revenue to other areas of the business, prepare for busy seasons and slowdowns, plan for required purchases, and secure funding from financial institutions.

7. Plan Ahead and Constantly Scrutinize.

Budgeting takes time and usually requires a few iterations.  Depending on the size of your business and your goals, budgeting can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.  While creating a static budget can act as a guideline and serve as a basis for your budget vs. actual comparison, a dynamic budget adjusts to the changes in our economy, especially with high inflation, supply chain challenges, and labor costs, serving as a good ongoing forecasting tool.  Budgets should be updated regularly and monitored throughout the year to adapt to the changing needs of the business.

8. Seek professional advice and guidance.

Building a realistic budget is an effective way to help keep your business profitable.  It might be difficult at first by being realistic and strategic about your budget and tracking the actual results against the budget will help your business stay healthy and successful in the long run.

Even with all the right tools in hand, there are still best practices to keep in mind when producing your  budget.  Follow these tips to ensure your team is well-informed and better equipped to achieve company goals.  Professional guidance can help you set and keep clear objectives.  A CFO and business advisor can help you set your budget around your company goals.  An outside perspective can help you see overlooked possible expenses you will need to allocate to achieve your projected budget. If you need help building your company’s budget or want to ensure you’ve built a budget that fits your goals and your unique situation, contact AETucker Consulting for help.

As a fractional CFO, I help owners, management and board members solve financial and operational challenges by providing unique and customized guidance.

To learn more about how I can help your business create a solid budget or implement strategies to improve your financial wellness, please contact me via email at Andrew@aetuckerconsulting.com and check out my website www.aetuckerconsulting.com.

/by

Reclaim Your Time: Understanding Parkinson’s Law

, , , , , , , ,

As a business owner, do you frequently become frustrated from feeling there just aren’t enough hours in the day to manage and run your business? Have you noticed a tendency for projects to use up all the time that is allotted for the project, even if it could have been completed in half the time? Whether it’s as simple as running a report for your accountant or embarking on a new project for a client, how long it will take you to do it depends on how much time you have.

That tendency for work to expand is the meaning behind Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law is the old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. It suggests that when given a task, we think of how much time is available to complete the task instead of how much time we actually need. The term was first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955.

Let’s suggest you give yourself a week to complete a two-hour task, then the task will increase in complexity and become more daunting – filling that extra time with more work, tension, and stress.  Companies with many employees can see how this can impact your teams that adjust their pace to the work available. If there is less work, they will work more slowly -either because they don’t have the pressure to perform, or because they are putting too much emphasis on the details in the initial phase of performing a task. However, business owners need to keep a close eye on this in your business, as it can sabotage efficiency and growth.


Aside from tasks and projects becoming increasingly complex, procrastination is another component to Parkinson’s Law. Knowing that we have a set amount of time to do something can encourage the task being left to the very last minute – and our delays in getting started mean the time required for that task expands further.

So, how can business owners truly work smarter, not harder? The key thing to remember when accounting for Parkinson’s Law is that when choosing how much time or other resources to dedicate to a task, you need to balance the right amount of time needed while not sacrificing quality over time saved.

Here are some ideas that are worth exploring and then measuring their effects on your productivity:

Prioritize your tasks

You might have an enormous to-do list, with many items and clear deadlines. Start the productive process off by identifying what are your most important tasks. Establish priorities as to what is urgent, or what is really important to yourself or your team at the time. Break these tasks into smaller more digestible tasks that can be managed effectively and set moderate deadlines for each. This way you are setting yourself up for success to achieve realistic tasks with achievable deadlines. 

Work faster, not harder
Parkinson’s Law reminds us that you can combine reasonable time and work estimates with a little optimism, and aim for getting deadlines just right. You might think overestimating timelines gives you the leeway you need if something out of our control derails the project or time needed, but it could end up wasting resources without adding quality to your end product.

Set time limits

To account for Parkinson’s Law, before scheduling a task or getting started on it, you should first determine and allocate how much time it should realistically take to complete it, without compromising performance. Try setting artificial deadlines, which limit either the amount of time that can be dedicated to the task or the point in time by which this task should be completed such as by next Friday or the end of October. Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to income and schedule them with short and clear deadlines.  Use Parkinson’s Law as a framework when organizing your weekly calendar and defend your time by sticking to a productive schedule using the time limits you set for yourself.

Avoid distractions
There are so many time-wasting activities business owners need to be aware of. I recently read that CEOs spend 72 percent of their time in meetings and 24 percent of their time reading emails and social feeds.  When implementing Parkinson’s Law, consider these time drainers.  Sure, we all need to attend meetings and read our emails, but be very protective of your time doing each.  By avoiding distractions, we can eliminate waste and frustration and create a working environment of engagement and productivity.

Communicate realistic targets
This important step helps leaders define parameters that specific projects need to fit within, which is a surefire way to catch work expansion as it’s happening, rather than after it’s already sabotaged your timeline. During your project kickoff, you and your staff should agree upfront about what is in and out of the scope for the project.  For example, let’s say you are rebranding your website that absolutely needs to be finished and launched before the first day of a major convention.  Meeting that target deadline means that no new features and out of the initial scope functionality should be thrown in at the last minute.  Communicate all expectations and project scope upfront as a team.

Protect your time

Time is a precious commodity and as a business owner, chances are you’re constantly racing against the clock.  See how you can use Parkinson’s Law to increase your productivity, employee engagement and overall happiness to get more done, quickly, while achieving goals. If you should need guidance on tackling those important tasks or a sounding board to discuss those difficult and sometimes sensitive decisions, AE Tucker Consulting is dedicated to helping business owners successfully pursue their goals in life and in business.  Schedule a consultation today!

/by

To SWOT or to SOAR?

, , , , , , ,

Weighing Which Analysis Works Best for Your Business
Evaluating your business is just as important as running one. Whether it be increasing or decreasing sales, employee turnover, customer engagement online, etc., the signs of a healthy business must always be monitored in order to keep up your space in the marketplace.

Better yet, you want to sustain that space— and thrive in it. That’s where the SWOT and SOAR analyses come in.

What is SWOT?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The first two deal with the internal environment of a business while the latter two deal with the outside factors a business can face. The strengths and opportunities are known to be the positives a business can evaluate themselves on and the weaknesses and threats are those that harm a business in meeting their brand’s overall mission, vision and goals.

Strengths: What strengths of your business beat competitors?

Weaknesses: What parts of your business keep you from beating competitors or hinder profits?

Opportunities: What opportunities are out there to help grow your business?

Threats: What threats exist that can hurt your business?

Questions that can help build a SWOT analysis include:

  • What do we consider our assets?
  • How do we stand out as a business?
  • What keeps our business sustainable?
  • What has kept our customers loyal?
  • How do competing companies do better than us?
  • Do we have a high turnover rate of employees?
  • What industry trends are happening that the business can take advantage of?
  • Are we up to date on our competitors?
  • Do we have crisis communications plans prepared?

What is SOAR?

SOAR, on the other hand, is all about focusing on strengths and opportunities— and other positive, affirming values of a business. SOAR is about the Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results of a business and its goals. With SOAR, a business takes a laser focused on analyzing what strengths can build their aspirations and what results can be achieved through certain opportunities.

Strengths: What have been your business’s greatest achievements?

Opportunities: What markets or target audiences can your business capitalize on?

Aspirations: What are your mission, vision and goals for the business?

Results: What is the best way to measure the results of your meeting the business’s mission, vision and goals?

Questions that can help build a SOAR analysis include:

  • What strengths does our business have and how can we expand upon them?
  • How can we use our strengths to achieve better results?
  • What makes the business unique?
  • What partnerships can we look into to help elevate our business in the community or market?
  • What do we want the business to be known for?
  • What is the industry we are in passionate about and how can we help contribute?
  • What are some ways we can track results?

Major Differences Between SWOT and SOAR

The major differences between SWOT and SOAR is that SWOT is about assessing and analyzing a business’s competitive edge in the market, while SOAR is all about enhancing the mission and future vision of a business as a whole.

Essential to note, most businesses have been using SWOT for decades now. It’s a household term for evaluating how a business is improving their performance, taking the time to monitor its present situation.

SOAR has recently been introduced and is gaining popularity especially with smaller businesses who are still developing their brand given that SOAR focuses primarily on the future. When you are a fairly small or young company, it’s more common that you want to build towards the long-term before you are able to have all the information you need to assess a present quarter’s results.  At AE Tucker Consulting, we highly encourage business owns to have that growth-mindset and to focus on those big hairy, audacious goals that is deliberately achieved through SOAR.

Another important difference to note is that SWOT is about assessing a business through the scope of its competition; the questions zero in on keeping the business in the best place possible at all times. SOAR, on the other hand, is less about competition and more about collaboration. Its questions allow a business and its teams think about how to work together and propel the business forward.

In this way, where SWOT is based on tactics, strategies and data, SOAR is all about being vision-oriented and focusing on a business’s teams’ unity to pave the path forward.

When to SWOT and When to SOAR

Each business should use SWOT and SOAR at different points in time. If you are a well-established business, it’s smart to perform routine SWOT analyses that help show what’s working and what isn’t. It’s especially important to perform a SWOT if new competitors have entered the business, you see your profits and sales have stagnated or are going down, or if you are seeing that employee culture is changing.

If you are a fairly new business, recently merged or were acquired by another business, are going to rebrand or want to boost employee morale, a SOAR analysis is your tool. You will be able to have teams work together to feel they have a stake in the future of the company and can clearly see where it’s going. Most importantly, SOAR emphasizes and manifests the future that the company wants— and therefore works on the building blocks so it gets there.

Ensuring the Analyses are Done Right

To ensure that each analysis within your business is done smoothly and effectively, it’s best to work with a trusted advisor or consultant— and that’s where AE Tucker Consulting comes in.

Whether you’d prefer a guide, consultant, advisor or part-time CFO, AE Tucker Consulting can work with owners and management of small to midsize privately held companies to help you develop and implement SWOT and SOAR analyses that get the job done.

Optimize your company value, your profits and your company culture— with our help, you’ll be SWOTting and SOARing through each quarter the way your business deserves!

/by

Why a mid-year business assessment could be what you need to achieve your 2022 targets. 

, ,

Business Owner’s Mid Year Assessment

It’s June 2022, the mid-point of the year and a perfect time to conduct a  mid-year business review to take stock of how your company is really doing. 

Are You Hitting These Crucial Points In Your Mid-Year Business Review? 

A typical mid-year review breakdown involves looking at all aspects of your business including: 

  • Financial Health: Are you meeting your financial goals? How well are you performing against your budget (you do have a budget, right?)?  How are your ratios and KPI’s vs. expected results? Dedicate the needed time to evaluate your cash flow and what areas of your business you’re spending too much on. Your financial health at mid-year can foreshadow what is to come so it’s crucial to resolve any financial issues. 
  • Employee Wellbeing: How has your employee retention rate been? When was the last an employee survey was conducted? Are you taking proper measures to make your team feel heard? Do you need to re-evaluate team structure? 
     
  • Sales & Marketing Efficiency: Have you checked up on your target audiences lately? What audiences could you be reaching that you haven’t yet? Has revenue met your expectations? How can you increase your ROI on your marketing expenses? Are sales numbers growing, declining, or hitting a plateau?  
     
  • Logistics and Operations: Are your products/services being delivered timely and accurately? Have your margins changed/costs increased (i.e. service & installation costs)? Have quality or customer satisfaction changed? 

This year, these points are more important than ever. 

2022 has had its own challenges whether it be watching consumer behavior reflect the inflationary times, the supply chain shortages, or the Great Resignation. In result, business owners and CEOs like you are adjusting your pricing models, services and overall strategies to combat what continues to be an even “newer” and evolving normal.  

Below is the nitty gritty snapshot questions to review during this mid-year assessment. 

Financial Metrics: Bottom line, are you meeting the goals you set at the start of the year? Are you growing your revenue or at least stabilizing? Are you consistently meeting your target income? If not, what is stopping you from doing so?  Where are the gaps between your goal and its completion? 

Regardless of your specific business and situation, there are some important points you need to consider: 

  • Any collection issues that need attention?  
  • How well are your expenses being managed? 
  • Is it time to raise your rates/prices? 

 
Inflationary Strategies:  Prices on almost anything and everything has gone up. Have you been adjusting your pricing accordingly? Are you taking note of the pricing changes whether it be with your supplier, your deliveries, your sourcing, or cost of production? Have you thought about creating long-term contracts with vendors, suppliers or shippers so that the pricing isn’t impacted as much by inflation? Are your customers staying loyal through your higher prices and are you being transparent with them through the process?  
 
When you do have to raise prices make sure your customers have many other reasons to stay with you and are not motivated to price shop.  
 

Supply Chain Risk Assessment: Supply chain shortages, empty shelves and long wait times have become a staple of 2022 and it definitely impacts the way a business can operate and serve their customer’s needs. Do you have a supplier who is constantly delaying shipments? Are your products constantly out of stock? It might be time to look at new and additional relationships or find more local sourcing.   
 
After a stream of supply-chain issues, business leaders realize the strategic importance of supply chains to the overall health of their organizations. During your company’s mid-year review, take the time to conduct a supplier risk evaluation to spot warnings signs of your company’s exposure to supply chain risks.  
 
Great Resignation Review: This generation is really fighting for work-life balance, career growth and company recognition. Many companies are struggling to win and keep the right talent in their organization.  The constant turnover and lack of loyalty is costing American business owners.  

Assess your current workplace culture, turnover and retention incorporate strategies for the rest of the year and beyond. Understand how employees’ needs, priorities and expectations have changed. Address burnout – it is real. Utilize outsourced and fractional talent when and as needed.  
 
Customer Satisfaction Measurement:  A mid-year review is a great time to measure customer service performance. When considering how to assess customer service at your company, you will quickly realize that there are quite a few different factors that you could measure. It might also become apparent that focusing on just one area at a time will leave major blind spots. 
 
What is your customer retention rate?  Do you know if your customers are completely satisfied with your service, products, quality, and prices?  Do they see the value you offer, or could they easily be swayed to go to a competitor?  Customer surveys are an ideal tool to get honest, constructive input that you can quickly implement resolution strategies and reach out to customers to further build the relationship.  
 
Resource Allocation: Have you sat down with a business advisor and gone over your cash flows, your allocated funds, and your budget? Where is your money going? Where is your money coming from? What department spends the most and why? Are there certain activities and expenses that aren’t adding value, or a product you sell that costs more to make than the ROI it brings in? Have you invested in programs, machines, equipment, etc. that can actually bring you revenue in the long run?  

There are many touch points in building a great business, so taking the time to truly be real and  honest about your company’s performance in these key areas can impact the next six months and beyond. 
 
Here at AETucker Consulting, we can help you get there! These unprecedented times continue to create obstacles we haven’t easily foreseen, and we can all use a bit of help to navigate each one accordingly. Contact me, Andrew Tucker, for help with this process. We can guide you through an effective midyear assessment and provide action plans to keep you on course. I can be reached by e-mail at andrew@aetuckerconsulting.com or by phone at 704/651-2216.  I look forward to working with you.

/by

How to Successfully Plan, Budget and Thrive in 2022

, , , , ,

A new year is officially upon us and with that comes the perfect time for any business owner to assess and evaluate their company—and goals. New chapters can sometimes introduce new opportunities as well as new threats. That’s why business planning and smart fiscal budgeting disciplines are key. Traditionally, business strategic planning takes place once a year, and attempts to set a business strategy for an extended period. Of course, the pandemic taught business owners that in a volatile business environment it’s extremely unlikely that a plan that is only updated once per year is sufficient to guide every strategic decision that CEOs will need to make over the next twelve months.  When you assess where your business stands today, then develop budgets, financial models, tax strategies, and cash flow forecasts, you can be ready for any roadblocks and adjust as you pursue your goals.   An effective business planning process should aim to help your leadership team understand the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Simple steps to planning include:

1. Assess your 2022 goals. Where do you want to go and why.
2. Review your market analysis/industry analysis. Where has your industry been, how has it changed, forecast for where it’s heading.
3. Preform a competitive analysis to determine who and what you’re competing against for customers and market share. 
4. Detail a 12 month sales and marketing plan to understand how you’ll reach your audience and your projections for why your specific sales and marketing strategies will ensure you’ll meet your 2022 goals.
5. Assess financial information data including sales forecasts, anticipated expenses; budget for expenses, cash flow analysis, and profit and loss from the last twelve months.
6. Outline what results the organization is committing to deliver in terms of goals and objectives. 
7. Create a road map of how and when the results are going to be delivered. Who is responsible for each portion of the plan and how will you measure, monitor and pivot if plans and goals need to change.

Creating a Budget to Match Your Planning  

If there’s anything the pandemic has taught us it’s that curveballs can hit your business at any given time and it’s crucial to have safety nets, emergency funds and savings set up that give your company a life jacket in the storm.

In addition, budgeting just makes perfect sense to be financially prepared as to how the future of your business’s finances will look. It requires examining what happened last month, what happened three months ago and what this month last year looked like — then using that information to make wise financial decisions for the months and years ahead.

Carve out plenty of time to work through your business budget.  You will need to have access to important financial information to help.

Estimated revenue:  This is the amount you expect to make from the sale of goods or services. It’s all of the cash you bring in.

Profit:  Profit is what you take home after deducting your expenses from your revenue. Here you’ll plan out how much profit you plan to make based on your projected revenue, expenses, and cost of goods sold. If the difference between revenue and expenses is not on par, you need to rethink your cost of goods sold and consider raising prices.

Putting “Pen to Paper”

The best way to truly plan your budget is working with a CFO or financial advisor/consultant on adding the above calculations onto a spreadsheet where you also have prepared other foreseen costs.

These costs can include your personal plans for retirement, investments your company needs to make technology or marketing-wise, the status of your working capital reserves or the need for a lump sum of money to grow your business. Moreover, this is where you prepare your “safety” fund; stability comes from these prepared safety nets!

Your financial go-to should then work with you to plan for the profit you’ll need to generate the sufficient cash flow to maintain all these factors and budgets. This will then lead to preparing the number of sales your product or service will need to undergo to meet this net income.

Listen to the Numbers

At the end of the day, data doesn’t lie— numbers ultimately tell you the big picture. If they’re not adding up, it’s time to take the proactive steps and cut back on the projects, the talent or expenses you can live without. If your departments are spending too much, work with their leads to see how to cut the right corners.

Again, work with your financial support team or advisor on what exactly can be cut this year— exactly how much can you tweak your gross margin?

You’re Not Alone

As a CEO or business-owner, you don’t have to figure out your 2022 business planning and budgeting on your own. We mention throughout this piece the pivotal role your financial department plays— they, after all, are the number interpreters.

If you need a guide, consultant, advisor or part-time CFO, look no further than AETucker Consulting. We work with business owners and management of small to midsize privately held companies to develop and implement strategy, improve cash flows, increase company value and provide successful business transitions. 



/by