8 Ways to detox your business

We talk about detoxing our bodies for the good of our health, and many people say that they feel better after doing it. Others talk about clearing the clutter from our homes to clear our minds and free up space. But not many talk about “detoxing” our business.

What does that mean?

Since a business owner’s health and stress levels are affected by their business, taking a few hours out to work “on your business”, rather than “in it” will achieve wonders.

Your Business Detox Plan

1.Clear up aged debt

• Write down or generate a list of every company or person who owes you money and the amount they owe.
• Contact each of those companies or people and find out when you are being paid?
• Keep track of the amount and all the interactions on one spreadsheet for future follow-ups.
• Asking for money, even if it is ‘yours’, can sometimes feel overwhelming. It is important that you remain professional, set deadlines and time frames for your customers to pay you by. Always follow up by email to confirm what they said and agreed.

Alternatively, once you have worked out who owes you money, you can always send the details to a debt recovery agency to do that work for you.

Remember, companies don’t lose customers simply because the customer is required to pay what is rightfully owed! If your customer is struggling to pay invoices, they will be open to paying ‘something’ even if not the full amount.

2.Clear old emails

Create folders in your email account so that you can file away emails you need to keep, but can be removed from the inbox.

Follow up on any old enquiries, and customers who have not bought from you for a while.

Unsubscribe from spam emails and delete them all.

3.Paperwork piled up?

Scan it, shred it, save it, file it! Clear your desk and clear the clutter. The new GDPR rules state that you must keep up with your data records anyway, so here, you are killing two birds, one stone.

4.Say goodbye to nightmare clients

Do you really want customers who take the joy away from your work? What about if the extra time spent on a certain customer costs you more money than others? If you cringe when you see a customers name pop up on your phone, or their emails in your inbox, it’s time to wrap up the work and let them go. This will free up time to spend on other customers who are no trouble at all.

Who are the customers who take up the most of your time, for the least amount of profit? Can you replace them by increasing the amount of work you do for another customer?

Don’t feel bad about doing this. If your client cannot respect the way you operate, does not pay you on time and demands attention whenever they want it, then it’s time for them to go.

5.Sub-par suppliers

If you have a supplier who does not deliver quality products or services on time to you, they are putting additional pressure on you that you just don’t need.

Each year it is good to re-assess the market to make sure you are still getting the best deal from your suppliers. Shop around, get three quotes from suppliers who offer similar services or products, then negotiate with them.

Good things come from doing this, as you might also reduce your monthly / annual outgoings.

6.Outsource & delegate

What areas of your business can you outsource to other professionals?

• Accounts?
• Credit control?
• Debt Collection?
• Marketing?

7.Accounts

There are some great cloud based accounts packages online which can save you hours of time. There are platforms that can even automatically scan receipts and put them in the correct locations in your cloud accounting platform.

8.Credit Control

Do you spend time chasing customers for payment? Do you have to frequently re-send copy invoices your customers didn’t get? How often are you having to deal with invoice queries?

For as little as £70 per month you can outsource this key area of your business, which in turn will improve your cash-flow. An out-sourced credit controller will ensure your customers pay you on time.

Completing the above steps will clear your mind and free your time to focus on growing your business.

When you feel like it starts building up again, come back here and go through the 8 steps.