Profit? What Profit

It’s amazing the number of people who come to me for business or focus plans who haven’t given much thought to how their business makes a profit.    

Amazing but not surprising. 

To succeed in business, you have to have a genuine interest in profitability and most of us don’t.  We have an interest in product and how to promote that product.  Oftentimes promotion will be confused with profitability.  What gets little attention and sometimes even less strategy is the conversation around costs and what remains after they are paid.  

The good news is that you don’t need to be a math whiz to either find the profitability in your business or if it’s not there, create a profitable business model.  What you do need at a minimum is good accounting software (to track margins, net profit, accounts payable and receivables, etc.) and a small business accountant that’s willing to work with you and answer your questions.

But more importantly you need to develop a desire for all of this stuff. 

So many of us feel uncomfortable and lack self-confidence with regards to financial matters.  We’re unbelievably creative around advertising and promotion but lack that same enthusiasm for developing the components that lead to profitability.  I understand our complicated relationship to money, but it’s odd when we all say that making money is an important component in our businesses. 

Continue to look at what motivates you financially.  Explore your values and beliefs around money and how to develop a healthy interest in both tracking it and increasing it. 

And in the meantime here’s a book that’s helpful.