Business

Business owners need to know their monthly break-even point to help them project business profitability each month. The break-even point is very easy to calculate and will take seconds if you have an accurate profit and loss statement.

Compiled annually by the IRS, the “Dirty Dozen” is a list of common scams taxpayers may encounter. While many of these scams peak during the tax filing season, they may be encountered at any time during the year.

In a world where more than 80 percent of prospective consumers will see your ad, but still look you up online before calling or visiting your repair shop or tire dealership, an ad placement in a local Google search is critical.

When it comes to advertising, strategies are endless, mediums are constantly changing and advice is often conflicting. Doing something is better than nothing, but funneling a shop’s dollars into an ineffective ad campaign is a mistake no one wants to repeat.

Are you paper rich but cash poor? A business can be profitable on paper, but bankrupt in real life – if you don’t manage cash flow effectively. Without cash, a repair shop will inevitably shut down, regardless of how profitable it looks on paper. You can be “rich” in accounts receivable and inventory, but cash poor if these assets are not convertible into cash to meet current obligations. In fact, cash is the only asset a company needs to stay in business.

From the time your advisors first pick up the phone, all the way through your service recommendations, there is one thing that is happening over and over again: The sales process.

As an expert in your business, you can play a valuable role in staying engaged and working in partnership with your broker. While some brokers, especially those who sell commercial real estate, go out of their way to keep buyers and sellers from directly interacting, this is rarely the best method to achieve a successful sale of a business in the shortest amount of time.

If the customer doesn’t feel comfortable with you, it will be a challenge to sell repairs and services. You should always sell yourself first. After the customer is sold on you, you then need to sell them on the technician who is working on their vehicle.

Going online for any service is the new norm with almost every consumer owning a smartphone. With today’s technology, information can be accessed almost anywhere, making a major purchasing or scheduling decision a click away. Searching the Web for repair shops and tire dealers is gaining momentum, making a functioning and user-friendly website more important than ever for your shop’s livelihood.

Social media followers are proven to be more engaged with video than any other type of posting, meaning they “Like,” comment or share video posts more than any other type of posts. More engagement means more branding opportunities for your business. And, when handled correctly, websites that add fresh video regularly also see their rankings go up. These should be compelling reasons to add video to what you do online.

Even if a business chooses to purchase equipment, rarely do they purchase it with cash. In fact, whether leasing or buying, “seven out of 10 companies use some sort of financing when acquiring equipment,” says William Sutton, president and CEO of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.

According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, some CEOs are starting to understand the price they have to pay for quick profits, and many of them are now taking a different approach. Although all companies should consider their long-term growth and financial stability, there has been an ongoing challenge that today’s CEOs face – the relentless demand for immediate profits that is put on them by their stockholders.