Create, Monitor, and Stick to a Company Budget: Achieving Financial Stability

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As a business owner, it’s important to plan for financial success in the year ahead. One key step in this process is the disciplined approach to working on an annual business budget.  It may seem like an obvious year end ritual; however, many business owners neglect this crucial step. Don’t let that be you!

Companies that regularly create and stick to a budget are more likely to be financially fit and meet their financial goals. A budget allows you to plan, identify areas where expenses can be cut, and ensure that you have enough cash flow to cover your expenses. 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 strong economic headwinds and adjust your sails accordingly as you pursue your business goals.  

Budgeting Best Practices: How to Start

As you begin to create your business budget for 2024, it’s important to set clear revenue goals. This will help you determine how much money you need to generate in order to cover expenses and achieve your desired profits. To set your revenue goals, consider factors such as market trends, past performance, and industry benchmarks. It’s also important to be realistic and set goals that are challenging yet achievable. By setting clear revenue goals, you can create a more accurate and effective budget for your business in 2024.

Use Past Data

Creating a solid business budget requires a thorough and honest review of your 2023 budget and actuals. This will help you identify areas where you may need to adjust your spending or revenue expectations for the upcoming year. Additionally, consider any changes in the market or economy that may impact your business, and factor these into your budget planning.

Target Expenses

With economic uncertainty, skyrocketing costs, and supply shortages, it’s more important than ever to identify your fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are expenses that remain the same regardless of your business’s level of production, such as rent, payroll and insurance. Variable costs, on the other hand, fluctuate based on production, such as materials and labor. By accurately identifying these costs, you can create a budget that allows for growth and profit.

Inflation is driving up the cost of goods and services. Additionally, salaries and payroll expenses are likely to increase over time, so it’s important to factor these into your budget as well. To ensure that your budget is accurate and effective, consider using historical financial data and consulting with industry experts. By carefully considering these factors and taking a collaborative approach, you can create a budget that sets your business up for success.

Monitor Cash Flow

The cash flow statement is an important tool used in the budgeting process.  Your cash flow statement provides valuable insights into the movement of money in and out of your business. By analyzing the cash flow statement from the previous year, you can identify patterns and trends in your business’s finances.  The cash flow statement can also help to identify the months when your business has higher cash inflows and outflows, allowing you to plan accordingly.

Reduce Debt

A key step in the budget planning stage is assessing company debt. This will give you a better understanding of your financial situation and help you make informed decisions when it comes to allocating funds. Understanding your debt obligations is key to making decisions regarding investments, expenses, and revenue projections. By taking a thorough look at your company’s debt, you can identify areas where you can reduce costs, negotiate better terms with lenders, and optimize your cash flow.

Assessing your company’s debt will also give you a better understanding of your company’s financial health. You’ll be able to see how much of your revenue is going towards debt payments, and whether your debt load is sustainable in the long term.

Plan for Investments

Capital expenditures are expenses that are used to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as machinery, equipment, or property. These expenses are essential to keep your business competitive and efficient. By planning for capital expenditures in advance, you can ensure that you have the necessary funds available when you need them. This will help you avoid unexpected surprises and ensure that your business is well-prepared to succeed in the long run.

Additionally, planning for capital expenditures can help businesses to avoid unexpected expenses and prevent disruptions to their operations.  It’s important during the budget process to allocate generously towards capital expenditures, especially if your goal in 2024 is to scale the business.

Reduce Tax Burdens

As you prepare your business budget for the upcoming year, it is crucial to consider the impact of taxes on your financial planning. Neglecting tax obligations can lead to unexpected expenses, penalties, and even legal issues. By accounting for taxes into your budgeting process, you can ensure that your business stays compliant with tax regulations while maintaining financial stability. This involves analyzing your income, expenses, and deductions to estimate your tax liability and setting aside funds for tax payments. By doing so, you can avoid last-minute scrambling and gain peace of mind knowing that your business is financially prepared for tax season.

Build Resilience During Emergencies

Every business owner knows that emergencies can happen at any time. Losing a major client, facing a recession, or needing to replace equipment and technology can all take a toll on your finances. That’s why it’s crucial to plan for contingencies when preparing your annual budget. Experts suggest setting aside 10% of your annual revenue as a good benchmark to help weather difficult times, but also ensure the long-term success of your business.

Be Transparent

As a company leader, you understand the importance of creating and sticking to a budget. However, ensuring that your entire team follows the budget can be a challenge. Be transparent about the company’s financial goals and challenges. Make sure everyone is aware of the budget and understands the consequences of not sticking to it. Ensure that the budget is achievable and realistic. Set clear targets and milestones and communicate them to your team.  Keep track of expenses and check in regularly with your team to ensure that they are meeting their budget goals. Use reporting tools to create transparency and hold everyone accountable. Don’t forget to also celebrate when your team meets or exceeds their budget goals.

Leverage Fractional CFO Leadership

Budgeting is a crucial task that requires a lot of time, effort, and expertise. Planning and sticking to a budget is essential for the financial health and vitality of your business. However, creating an accurate and effective budget can be a daunting task, and mistakes can be costly. That’s why seeking professional advice when creating your company’s annual budget is highly recommended.

Fractional leadership can provide valuable insights and assistance in creating a budget that is tailored to your business’s specific needs and goals.

AETucker Consulting works 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. 

Contact me to learn more about how we can help your business thrive.

 Andrew@AETuckerconsulting.com

 704-651-2216

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Benefits of a Fractional CFO You May Not Know

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As a business owner, it’s important to have a clear vision for the future of your company.  When you think about where you want your business to be in three, five or ten years, you need to consider factors such as market trends, economic conditions, customer demands, and technological advancements.

Is revenue growth and profitability on track to take your company to your next milestone?

Are you looking to expand your customer base, or introduce new products or services, but not sure where to start?

Do you have plans to purchase a business or sell your own business, yet unsure of the timing and steps?

Whether you’re looking to optimize your financial performance, improve your cash flow, or prepare for a major business transaction, consider these reasons that it may be time to hire a Fractional CFO.

Improve Profitability

People, processes, and technology all link to the ability of a company to be profitable.  By providing expertise in financial management, a Fractional CFO can help improve your business’s bottom line by identifying and addressing inefficiencies in your financial operations and product and service pricing.  They can assist in helping implement expense-controlling measures, identify areas that are inefficient, where you can cut back, negotiate better deals with suppliers, and streamline processes to improve time management and eliminate waste.

Optimize Cash Flow

A CFO will put an effective cash management system in place.  By managing the cash cycle, the company improves collections, pricing, and terms; all adding to increased liquidity.  This includes managing capital, debt obligations, and ensuring the ability to invest in new projects.  A CFO can create a solid forecast, so you avoid being blindsided by the cash flow problems that accompany rapid growth.  Furthermore, they will establish collection policies, payment terms with customers and suppliers, monitor inventory levels, and invest excess cash in profitable ventures.

Guide in Decision-Making

Without accurate financial data and insights, it can be difficult to make informed decisions.  This is where a Fractional CFO can be a tremendous asset for your business.  They can help you analyze your financial statements, identify trends, and provide insights to help you make better decisions such as where to best make investments, expand the business, roll out new products and/or service offerings.  A CFO can provide objective and expert financial advice while building clarity around goals and action-plans to forecast and meet those financial goals, helping the business owner avoid costly mistakes.

Fund Your Growth

A Fractional CFO can help you access the necessary capital to fund your growth initiatives.  They can work with you to identify potential sources of financing, such as loans, grants, or equity investments, and help you prepare the necessary documentation to secure funding.  With their financial expertise and network of banking contacts, they can educate you on the best options for funding as well as help you take the necessary steps to increase your chances of obtaining the funding you need.

Mitigate and Manage Risk

CFOs, given their expanded role in establishing and executing strategy, have become well positioned to help ensure that a company’s risks are identified, assessed, managed, and integrated into the corporate strategy.  A CFO has a keen understanding of the scope of risks that the organization faces by identifying the risks and classifying them by risk type (financial, compliance, debt, liquidity, operational and security risk).  A Fractional CFO can help you establish internal controls, create financial policies and procedures, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.  By taking a strategic approach to risk management, you can minimize financial losses and protect your business from potential legal and financial harm.

Assist in the Business Sale

If you are planning to sell your business, it is essential to have a solid exit plan in place.  One of the primary benefits of hiring a Fractional CFO for your business transition is their expertise in financial planning.  They can help you create a comprehensive financial road map to identify areas where you can improve your financial performance, thereby making the business more attractive to potential buyers.  A Fractional CFO will assist in identifying potential buyers, assemble a team of experts (CPAs, attorneys, M&A firm), negotiate the terms of the sale, and ensure that the sale proceeds smoothly.

Overall, engaging the services of a Fractional CFO can be a game-changer for the business.  Whether it’s developing a financial strategy, improving financial management practices, managing financial risks, or planning for growth or a business sale, a Fractional CFO can help businesses improve long-term value.

AE Tucker Consulting serves 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 when the time comes.

Let’s start the conversation today on ways I can provide strategic financial guidance.  Please schedule a discussion at a time convenient for you. Schedule–>

Andrew Tucker, CPA, CGMA, MBA

AETucker Consulting

Andrew@aetuckerconsulting.com

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It’s Time for Your Mid-Year Business Financial Check Up

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As we are deep in the month of June, it’s important for business owners to take stock of their operations and prepare for the next six months of 2023.  

Conducting a mid-year business check-up is essential for ensuring the success and growth of your company.  This process involves reviewing your financial statements, analyzing your marketing strategies, assessing your employees’ performances, examining your goals and objectives, and determining if you need to make any adjustments to your budget or pricing strategies.

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’s to come so it’s crucial to resolve any financial issues.
  • Employee Wellbeing: How long has it been since you talked with your employees?  Is employee attrition/turnover high?  When was the last time an employee survey or evaluation was conducted?  Are you taking proper measures to make your team feel heard?  Do you need to re-evaluate your team structure?
  • Sales & Marketing Efficiency: 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?  When did you last look at your suppliers?  Are they still good partners with your business?

This year, these points are more important than ever.  From global economic shifts to escalating inflation to higher payrolls and customer demands, 2023 has had its own set of unique challenges.  In result, business owners and CEOs like you are adjusting your pricing models and overall strategies to combat what continues to be a difficult economic landscape.

The 6 Point Business Mid-Year Assessment

Financial Health:

A financial health assessment should be done more than bi-annually.  Naturally, the mid-point of the year is a great time to help you identify any areas of concern and make necessary adjustments to ensure you meet your financial goals for the year.  Review your financial statements by analyzing the balance sheet, income statement, and, especially, cash flow statement to assess your business’s financial position.  Look for trends in revenue and expenses and identify any areas where results are not what you expected.

Your cash flow statement is a crucial tool for understanding how money flows in and out of your business.  Use this statement to identify any cash flow gaps and determine whether you have enough cash on hand to meet your short-term obligations.  Compare your actual financial results to your budget for the year. Identify any areas where you may be overspending or underspending and adjust your budget accordingly.  Review your outstanding debt and determine whether it’s manageable given your current cash flow and revenue.  Consider refinancing or consolidating your debt if it’s becoming a burden on your business.  Finally, look for opportunities to improve profitability by identifying areas where you can increase revenue or cut costs to improve your business’s profitability.  Have you considered renegotiating contracts, finding new suppliers, or developing new products or services?  This is the perfect time of year to assess all opportunities.

Inflationary Strategies:

Prices on almost everything have 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 you communicate with your clients your rationale and that they have many other reasons to stay with you and are not motivated to price shop.

Employee Performance:

Mid-year employee reviews are a great opportunity to assess an employee’s performance, acknowledge their achievements, and identify areas where they can improve.  To make the most out of these reviews, it’s important to consider several factors.

Do you have clear expectations for the review process and have procedures to review their job responsibilities and performance goals?  Take this opportunity to review job descriptions and any goals or objectives set at the beginning of the year.  Discuss any progress they have made towards these goals, identify areas where they can improve, provide constructive feedback, and acknowledge their hard work and contributions.  Send out an employee survey to collect feedback and ideas so you can improve the workplace culture.  Good lines of communication will yield rewards.

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.

Marketing ROI:

A mid-year review of your marketing campaigns and programs can help identify what is working well and what needs improvement, enabling the company to make data-driven decisions and adjust strategies for the remainder of the year.  

Start by reviewing your original marketing objectives for the year and assess how well you have achieved them so far.  Are you on track?  If not, identify the areas that need improvement and prioritize them.  Analyze your performance metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and lead generation.  Identify which channels are performing well and which ones need improvement. Use this data to optimize your marketing strategies for the remaining months so you can be prudent with your marketing dollars, investing in the best marketing vehicles that will improve your brand awareness and lead generation.

Resource Allocation:

Meet with your Fractional CFO to review cash flows, your allocated funds, and your budget.  Where is your money coming from?  Where is your money going? What department spends the most and why?  Are there certain activities and expenses that aren’t adding value, or a product you sell that doesn’t meet your profitability and margin benchmarks?  Have you invested in programs, machines, equipment, etc. that can drive 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!  Contact me, Andrew Tucker, for help with your mid-year financial check-up. 

I 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 schedule a call on my calendar here -> .

I look forward to starting a conversation with you.

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Reclaim Your Time: Understanding Parkinson’s Law

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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!

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To SWOT or to SOAR?

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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!

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

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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.

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Free Business Health Checklist

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The strength and financial health of your business depends on whether you have a tight grip on your finances. Make sure you carefully manage:

  • expenses and bills – pay quickly to ensure goodwill
  • invoices – chase all late payers
  • Cash flow– ensure you have a health flow of cash and reserve cash
  • taxes – file your returns and pay on time, every time.

Take a moment to review this check-up check list. Once complete, if you have questions, need guidance or a sounding boards for some tough decisions, reach out today.

Andrew Tucker, CPA, CGMA, MBA l Owner, AETucker Consulting, 704.651.2216 l andrew@aetuckerconsulting.coml www.aetuckerconsulting.com

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