We’re pretty sure we speak for most businesses when we say “good riddance” to 2023, a year defined by price hikes and increasing anxiety. Some of our biggest high street heroes didn’t survive the cull, and plenty of other retailers have decided to close stores in a bid to cut costs. Quite frankly, the economy is a scary place right now, so if you were feeling the pinch before, you’ll more than likely be keen to see a better and brighter 2024.
As bookkeepers, it’s our job to highlight any financial concerns…
…before they choke out a business’ profit, so we thought we’d share some tips and tricks on how to make a better profit from this New Year. Of course, we’ll be saving the best of our skills for our lovely clients, so if this piques your curiosity, be sure to get in touch.
So without further ado!
Here are some of our top tips to become more profitable in 2024:
- Make sure you understand the language – some of the biggest pitfalls in business can be avoided if we only understood what we are being asked and what we need to communicate. Let’s be honest, we’ve all watched Dragon’s Den feeling pretty thankful that Peter Jones wasn’t asking us about your gross vs. net profit! But it is incredibly important that you have this kind of understanding. Not knowing the figures, and not feeling confident about what they mean could land you in some serious trouble.
- Get a clear direction – you might not see the need to have a business plan, but you definitely need to have an idea of where you want the business to end up. What are you plans to grow operations beyond just you? Are you confident that you have a contingency plan for every eventuality? Do you have a plan on improving your rate of lead generation? When will you increase your marketing budget? Having this kind of detailed plan in place will help you to remain focused, on target and organised all year.
- Be realistic when setting goals – the simple fact is this – if you start the year by setting goals that you’re unlikely to achieve, you are setting yourself up for failure. Worse than that, you might work so hard to achieve a particular goal, that you actually have a more negative impact on the integrity and sustainability of your business. So – consider setting short, medium and long term goals that will enable you to feel more positive and more successful…especially if you meet them quicker than planned!
- Honestly evaluate what held you back in 2023 – Was this the year of success or failure? Either way, to make sure that you’re consistently building on your growth year on year, it’s important to honestly analyse (and this is key) what didn’t work so well and what perhaps held you back. Sometimes, it’s a question of having enough time itself. Otherwise, you might discover that there are real, tangible skills that you can learn to really help turn things around. Maybe that includes gaining a better understanding of your business structure, improving your skills of recruiting new staff or working out how to make AI more a part of your workflow. Whatever it might be, use that analysis to push your personal development, and the development of the people around you.
- Work on leveraging your network – if 2024 is the year that you focus on marketing through social media, start with connecting to the people you already know and work with. You can start by building a bank of testimonials that you can share as content, growing your network by sending invitations to those within your target demographic, or just being more consistent with your engagement.
There are lots of tips and tricks out there which will help you to become a more profitable business in 2024. Of course, we recommend working with a safe pair of hands when it comes to your finances. After all, a strong collaboration and clear understanding of your finances could make your business one to watch in the year ahead.
If you’d like help to understand the basics, or you want a hands on approach to understanding your growth plans through data, get in touch today! Call us on 0161 211 9837, via the online contact form or email enquiries@timewiseva.co.uk