Good Business

How Important Is It To Your Business To Get…

Well? How important is it? Pretty vital right. So why do so many businesses not follow up on invoices?

We all hate asking for money and let's face it sometimes we have to ask repeatedly but in business we've earned it. If you went out for a few drinks on Friday night you wouldn't get any without having to pay first, dropping the money in next week when you get paid isn't an option. So here's my tips for getting paid:

Get the invoices out within the first 2-3 days of the month, that way even if you are dealing with businesses who do pay-runs on the 26th of the month you're in early and are more likely to get paid that if you send out the invoices on the 20th.
Send statements, they work as a reminder of what's outstanding to you without you having to phone anyone.
Use a red pen if necessary but ALWAYS be polite, there is no reason for bad blood in business and if there is some don't let it be coming from you.
Adhere to your own payment terms, if your policy is to add interest once bills get well overdue then issue a warning with your red pen (politely) prior to adding the interest.
Don't be afraid to pick up the phone, after all you've already supplied the goods or services, you deserve to be paid.
Stop supplying someone if you know they are unlikely to pay, making the bill bigger isn't going to entice them to pay you more.

Do you have any tips on what works for you?

Good Business

Quotes & Memes

Administration

Sssshhh … Let’s Talk About Filing

Back in the 90's when I was completing my Secretarial course one of my work experiences was in an Accountants. I would spend one day a week for a term there and on about the third week I was shown the Filing Room. Wall to wall filing cabinets with lower ones in the middle also serving as a giant table. I was granted the privilege of shredding - literally big black bin bags of paper. I think that might be why I like the modern day filing methods more. So here's a couple of suggestions:

Go Paperless

If at all possible then go paperless. I realise that won't work for everything but in most cases it will. By getting out of the habit of printing everything the business will benefit in multiple ways - space won't be taken up with filing cabinets, costs of paper or ink are reduced / eliminated, better for the environment.

The Cloud Is Your Friend

Over the years at home we've gone through a few PCs and had grown to form the habit of backing up everything onto portable hard-drives. Which is great until one falls on the path!!! Then a couple of years ago I was using my portable hard-drive to store files while transferring from PC to laptop and it stopped working. I lost 4 years of baby photos among many other files. Ever since that I save everything on OneDrive. I know some people think it can't be very secure but to me it's even better than on the local PC or paper copy. Files and folders can be password protected too for added security.

Label Correctly

Whether you're going paperless or on the Cloud labelling correctly is vital. There's nothing worse than looking for a file thinking it's labelled something quite obvious like 'Light & Heat' and someone abbreviates it to 'L&H'. Best labelling is done with full words rather than abbreviations.

Email Filing

It's just as important to file emails correctly as it is paperwork. If you get a lot of attachments it might be a good habit to form of saving them on the Cloud too. Keeping your emails filed means you aren't looking at thousands in your Inbox everytime you log in. It also gives you the opportunity to delete what's rubbish.

Do you have any more suggestions?

Good Business

Support in Business is Key

BNI is hardly a new organisation in Ireland and I had heard of them before but hadn't joined. After sitting in on a couple of meetings I quickly realised how beneficial it could be. Having been a member now for about 5 months I can definitely say it was a great decision. Benefits include:

Grow in confidence to highlight your business and why you should be hired
Referrals to potential clients, rather than cold-calling these are warm referrals where the person is already told about you and usually has a need for your services / products
Accountability, it's not all about what you take but also what you give and being held accountable is good for business
Business growth is, of course, a big plus

There's many chapters all over the country and you can find out more at www.bni.ie or give me a call.

Not long before lockdown in March there was a BizExpo on in Dublin and that's where I came across ActionCOACH. Due to a special offer I had some sessions with a Coach who asked all sorts of questions that really made me think more about my business and where I was going with it. A course of 12 sessions was coming up that looked at businesses from all sorts of angles - financial, systems, teamwork, marketing, and more - which I knew would be really beneficial. With the support of a grant from the Local Enterprise I was able to sign up to the course. It covered a lot of information and while I'm only a new business I still gleaned a little nugget from each session, and banked away many more that can be used as I grow. I can also bring what I've learned to my clients so they're businesses can grow and be more effective too.

If you'd like to get the benefits of a Coach you can contact them ActionCOACH or give me a call and I'll put you in touch directly.

Throughout the last six months the Local Enterprise office has been brilliant with support both financially and informationally. They run great courses and everyone should be signed up to the newsletters which bring out information pertinent to businesses, as well as upcoming events.

Skillnet also run great courses. One I completed was in Data Analysis & Business Intelligence which was based on using Excel to full advantage for businesses. These are skills I can now bring to my clients.

Administration

5 Apps for Better Business

1. Adobe Scan

This is one of absolute favourites. With it you can scan any piece of paper and save it directly into OneDrive, GoogleDrive, or just on your phone. You can send it immediately to whoever needs it by email, text or WhatsApp. I like many things about it such as the quality of the scan, even faded print on receipts comes out clear and those big long till receipts you get from some shops - it can snap it in one scan and still keep it clear! Did I mention it's completely free too 🙂

2. Microsoft To Do

I mentioned in last weeks blog about keeping a notepad by the bed at night time for all those late night ideas and to dos you remember. Well I also keep To Do on my phone and PC. They are linked so whatever I put in one place is synced in the other, it has reminders and you can set tasks to repeat periodically - such as Monthly Invoices. It's super simple to use and keeps all your tasks in one place.

3. Evernote

I used this app before when I was working for a Multinational CEO and it worked a treat. He would scan all his receipts, etc into it, save them into the relevant folders and then I could log in and pick them up. It's like having a digital filing cabinet and you can even lock some of the drawers if they're private stuff too.

4. OneNote

Ok this one I don't use but it was recommended by someone who does. This app works as a note taker, collaborator and recorder. So if you're working on a project with other people this is a great app for gathering great minds together and you can all your bits into it.

5. OfficeLens

Another recommendation from a friend. This app allows you to scan whiteboards and documents making them readable and savable to storage such as OneDrive, OneNote or Evernote. You can also save the files as PDF, Images, Word or PowerPoint (this is where Adobe Scan falls down - you can only save as PDF).

Good Business

5 Tips for Working from Home

When you are working in your usual office you take breaks, right? Because let's face it no one can sit in the same position for 8 hours straight. This is just as important as at home, and no getting up to answer the door does not constitute a break. I mean step away from work, put the kettle on, put some music on, walk around the garden a few times, whatever you need to do to switch off for a little while. Make sure at a minimum you still take your hour for lunch - if you live in town why not venture to your local cafe or pub that serves food and not only take a break but also support local businesses who are struggling at this time.

No I'm not repeating myself. What I mean here is - we are in ever changing times and we need to give ourselves a break. I don't know your exact situation but on March 13th I suddenly became a teacher on top of everything else and my perfect little plan of what I could get done while the kids were at school went completely out the window. It took some getting used to and realisation quickly set in that I wasn't going to be able to do everything, I definitely wasn't destined to be a teacher. Sometimes when we are thrust into these situations we expect perfection from ourselves and it's just unrealistic. So we need to give ourselves a break. Kids will wander in and ask something when we are just getting our head around that task we've been putting off. The phone will ring with someone just wanting to chat at the other end. And that's all ok, because tomorrow is another day.

How many times have you been in bed at night thinking I need to remember to do this, that and the other tomorrow? Or is that just me? Last task before you close the office door behind you should be to write down your To Do list for the next day. Do a little mind dump of what you have to do, what you want to achieve, who you have to call / email so that you won't be trying to remember everything. It's also a good idea to keep a piece of paper or notepad and pen by your bed, that way when you get that lightbulb moment just as your eyes are closing you can note it down and go to sleep.

Good Business

Brainstorming For Your Business

Let’s face it 2020 is a very strange year. Most of us had an idea of what our business would do this year and then BAM!!!! Covid-19 hit, and we had to reimagine overnight. Some of you reading this may be in Laois / Offaly / Kildare where we are now in a new 2-week lockdown and are again having to relook at your business.

This is where brainstorming comes in. I use this regularly when I’m working with young people, but I call it Mind-Dumping which they seem to like better. It’s essentially the same thing – you get everything from your head onto paper and then process through it. One of the most important things to remember is that no idea is too off-the-wall or silly.

How to get started:

1. Set up an area where you can work – have plenty of pens, paper, post its, whiteboards, markers, whatever tools you want to use to do this. If you're like me and tend to prefer using a computer please, please try use pen & paper for this exercise. There's something about physically writing rather than typing which helps the brain download better.

2. Don’t go it alone – do it with a group. This could mean your life partner or friends, people who have vested interests in your business or simply people who are good at bouncing around ideas.

3. Start with thinking about why you want to go forward in business? What’s your purpose? This may be simply to pay the bills and fill time or perhaps you’ve kids and want to build up money for them to go to college or you want to retire early and enjoy life. Your ‘why’ needs to be something that will help motivate you to do your best not just do your job. Write your end goals in BOLD or on different colour post-its than the rest of your ideas so they really stand out and remind you of where you want to get to.

4. Let it all out – the mad and the bad, the crazy and the great. Remember what I said ‘no idea it too off-the-wall or silly’ but if it’s not out of your head you can fully expand it. Don’t critique / decipher / analyse as you go, the first part is simply getting it all out of your head so you can see clearly. Go wandering, dream big. I heard it said once that ‘if you’re dream doesn’t scare you then it isn’t big enough’. Don’t limit yourself by money / time / resources. Think about what you would do if these 3 things were no object. This process may take some time but it’s particularly important to set aside time to specifically do it.

5. If you're already in business, as opposed to starting a new business, have a think also about things you did in the past that didn't work - would they work now? Also what sets you apart from your competitors - do you go over and above in your service even though you're selling the same products. Can you sell your product / service in a different way?

6. Once this part is done then it’s time to filter / critique / analyse the ideas. It would be good to start with putting the ideas in order– some may be achievable in a shorter timeframe to others, some may be steppingstones to bigger ideas. Some will be completely logical and can be put into action immediately while others might need more resourcing. Use the SWOT analysis process (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) when looking at your ideas so analyse their suitability to your end goal.

7. Start developing your ideas further. What might they look like? For products you’re talking about their purpose, packaging, pricing, etc. For services, what problem can you solve for your customers? This will identify what resources are needed to proceed further. Now is a great time to look into these things with the government offering more assistance both financially and non-financially. Training courses are being offered in more accessible ways than ever before. Your Local Enterprise Office is a great start to find out more here.

If you would like some help in getting started then get in touch today on 087 415 1435 or by email to info@rcmservices.ie

Good Business

How do you say ‘Thank You’ to clients?

Saying 'Thank You' is something we are taught from a very young age, usually some of our first words. As business owners we would be lost without clients, let's face it - without them we wouldn't have a business!! But how do we let them know we are thankful?

I was having a particularly bad day one time and I thought I'd grab a coffee in a certain well-known fast-food joint before going for a hospital appointment. I really wasn't feeling up to it so I drove drive-through (I know the height of laziness for a cup of coffee). I will never forget how it felt when the server handed me my cup and said 'you have a great day and we'll see you again soon'. Just those few words, which she'd probably said a million times, meant so much and cost her nothing. That's how a 'Thank You' can make your clients feel.

So here's a few ideas to get you going:

Email or Send an actual Thank You note / card

This might seem a bit strange but let me ask you this. Remember back in the good old days when we all used to send Thank You cards after birthdays or Christmas? It's a bit like that ... except our Mothers aren't forcing us!!! But if you've got a database of client information then there really is no excuse. If that database includes date of birth then why not make it a birthday card, that way it doesn't just look like a mass-mailing.

Special Offers

How about special offers for existing clients? Time, and time again, businesses run offers for new clients forgetting where their current income is coming from. We see this a lot with the likes of phone companies ... switch to us and save. But the existing clients have to keep going with full price. It's just not fair or nice. Have special offers that actually mean something and are useful for clients.

Send a Gift

This is where you can be practical and still promote your business. What is one thing we're great at in Ireland? Drinking tea, right. So why not send clients personalised gifts like mugs. These can be done with their logo on it if they are a business too but with a message from your business, or they can be purely your business information. There's lots of options too - say your clients are all Ballet Teachers, why not give them a personalised bag for their shoes? Check out our Shop page for more ideas or get in touch if you know what you're looking for.

Send them referrals

Are your clients businesses too? Why not say thank you by sending them referrals. This is a great way of saying Thank You and it costs you absolutely nothing. There's a saying 'What Goes Around, Comes Around' and while we usually associate this with bad karma it can work for good too. If you actively help others, they are more likely to help you.

Give back

This doesn't mean literally give back to the client but let's say your client is a Nursing Home that you've just done a deep-cleaning in, why not give something back to the residents like a hamper of goodies to be shared. Or if you're a Garden Centre and you've just sold a load of plants to the Tidy Towns committee you could give back by helping out planting them or give them some extra free.

How Important Is It To Your Business To Get…

Quotes & Memes

Who doesn't love a good quote or meme these days?

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want

Sssshhh … Let’s Talk About Filing

Go Paperless

The Cloud Is Your Friend

Label Correctly

Email Filing

Support in Business is Key

BNI

ActionCOACH

Support Agencies