Major changes are happening in the way businesses operate. Here are our predictions for 2010 and throughout the next decade.

Money Management Prediction 1 – Business Operations Will Be Streamlined For More Efficiency. With the technological advance of computers and the Internet, faster communications at lower costs will become even more important to increase efficiency and production with less chance of error. This will show up in more electronic faxes being sent and received by e-mail instead of using costly fax telephone lines.

(We recommend checking out eFax and MetroFax for these secure communications)

Money Management Prediction 2 – There Will Be More Complex Computer Data Security Issues. Enhanced computer security issues will become the most important to protect a person’s information as well as data files. Backing up data files in a remote location that double encrypts the information will give the computer owner more peace of mind than having only a tape backup or an external hard drive which can be damaged or vulnerable to attack.

(We recommend Carbonite for protecting your computer data files)

Money Management Prediction 3 – Automated Email Follow-Up Selling Systems Will Become More Popular. With the advent of so much more information available on the internet to business owners and consumers, they are making buying decisions themselves without the aid of a salesperson or receiving something in the regular mail. Therefore, customer follow-up done on an automated basis using Email will more efficiently prompt the customer to buy products. Building an email list and using an automated response service (called a follow up email autoresponder) to keep in touch with prospects and customers will save businesses time and money.

(We recommend checking out Aweber , 1ShoppingCart and Infusionsoft autoresponder services)

Money Management Prediction 4 – The Availability of Business Credit Will Remain Very Tight. Despite the government’s insistence that the banking and credit industries loosen lending to businesses so that they can survive, expand, and create jobs, credit will remain very tight. Both the banking and finance industries are working to clean up past mistakes so that the world monetary systems can operate once again, but right now they are hoarding money and will remain reluctant to lend. As a result, both consumers and businesses will learn to operate using less credit and should be cutting expenses to operate on cash. Everyone seems very tired of having debt and will be working to become debt free.

Yes, we offer cash flow management software, training products and consulting for help to reduce debt and increase profits.

Money Management Prediction 5 – Businesses Will Diversify To Survive and Expand. With the current state of the economy, businesses will diversify more than ever by providing new product and service lines in order to survive and expand. Old business models will not be totally abandoned, but will be revamped to include new offerings, faster delivery and abundant vale for the price. Fickle shoppers will go elsewhere for a better perceived value for the dollars they spend. Emerging niches that cater to new technologies will expand the most quickly. One interesting example are the new electronic cigarettes Luci and Smoke Stik. Even Walmart home delivery service will become common.

Money Management Prediction 6 – This Will Be Known As The Decade of Video Internet Advertising. Internet video advertising will be the most popular marketing tool in the coming decade as people have less time to read lengthy pages of information when they can listen to and watch a short video to decide if they want more information. Traditional mail and print marketing will continue to be used for a secondary follow up mechanism to the prospect and/or customer, especially for those ‘brick and mortar’ retail businesses who rely on physical customer traffic for sales.

Money Management Prediction 7 – Paper Phone Books Will Become Obsolete. Consumers already favor getting information online by using their computers, mobile phones or other Internet-based applications for this purpose. Businesses will spend less on printed yellow page ads and more on increasing their internet presence.

Money Management Prediction 8 – Mobile Phones Will Be Used As Computers For People On-The-Go. There will be thousands of applications available for mobile phones to do banking, stock trades, pay bills, order groceries, make restaurant reservations, schedule vacation packages, run scenarios for every type of question for answers, etc. More video advertising will be available through phone applications. There will be less “brick and mortar” type business locations opened because of the expenses of running such businesses. Instead people will do more business over the Internet from their home computers and their mobile phones. Businesses will “farm out” more projects to outside resources to increase efficiency, cut costs, and expand their businesses.

Money Management Prediction 9 – Businesses Will Hire More Independent Contractors instead of traditional employees so that business owners can reduce their payroll tax and benefit costs and acquire more talented people in remote locations to work for them for quantified periods of time. Those more qualified and talented people will desire a flexible work schedule.

Money Management Prediction 10 – Business Owners Will Remain Uncertain About The Economy. They are worried about making payroll, about not being able to get a loan, about rising costs of doing business, about demand for their products weakening, and underneath all that is a fear of higher taxes to come. There will be less business travel because video and teleconferencing will be used instead to conduct meetings. This will have an effect on the airline, hotel, and rental car industries. More businesses will move toward commission based pay instead of the standard hourly wages for employees, and toward shorter work hours in the office to avoid overtime pay and more utilization of part-time staff. Better worker performance will be required, assisted with computer programs to track results and make corrections quickly and efficiently.

We recommend QuickBooks® as the simplest and easiest accounting software and a companion to the Money Management Solutions software program.

Business will be morphing into fast, streamlined operations that are ready to initiate changes quickly in order to remain competitive. It will be interesting to be a part of this evolution as we run our own business and help other business owners to win at their game.

Here’s to your business money management success in 2010!

Mark Hale, super sales professional and owner of Wilson Printing was gracious enough to share some marketing and sales advice with you, our loyal readers, PLUS he offers you a gift at the end!

The simple law of business is that “Business goes where it is invited”. If you are going to take your business to the next level you are going to have to stop looking at marketing and advertising like an accountant and start looking at your business like a marketer.

When things slow down, the first thing the bean counters and accountant types want to do is cut expenses. The first line item on the P&L they come to is advertising. When you cut your advertising you are in effect speeding up the downward spiral of your sales.

1. Business goes where it is invited.

If you are not advertising, you are losing business. Remember, the competition is inviting your customers to do business with them.

You only coast when you are going down hill. No company’s sales are ever really flat, they are either getting better by a little bit or getting worse by a little bit. You have to fight sometimes for small increases, but as long as it is an increase, no matter how small, up is up. When you see your sales “flat line” you should increase your promotion and marketing.

There are three things to do to increase sales:

1) Identify what your customers want now and deliver THAT. Deliver it with better quality and service than they expect. Deliver it faster than they expect.

Do a survey of your customers to find out what they want in the way of quality, service, product and delivery from your type of business.

Some things you want to ask your customers are:

• How does your product or service make their lives or business easier and better?

• Why do they buy from you?

After you talk to a few customers you will begin to see com­mon themes in their answers. You will use this information later to hone a message and develop a positioning that will make your marketing more effective.

2) Promote to your customers and prospects that you will provide what they want on a continual and consistent basis.

The more often you promote the more your sales will grow.

This involves setting up a budget for advertising and then deciding how you are going to invest that advertising money. Allocate a percentage of your sales toward advertising each week. As sales grow so does your ad budget and with it your ability to reach wider and bigger markets. For most businesses the percentage is between 7% and 15%, but what ever it is you should keep the percentage constant. You may have to adjust the percentage in the beginning to find the right percentage for your business type.

Now that you have your ad budget there are many advertising mediums you can spend that money on – radio, TV, billboards, newspapers, magazine and direct mail. I have found that the simplest and most effect medium is direct mail. It offers target ability, relatively low cost, is very effective and allows you to reach prospects frequently. As a business owner, I have found direct mail to be an effective direct response method of increasing sales.

You can send a personal letter or postcard directly to your customers and prospects for pennies.

Postcards are very effective because they;

1) Allow you to target your message and market.

a. You can buy a list that EXACTLY targets the prospects you want.

b. You can put forth a targeted message that attracts the type of customer you want.

2) Postcards allow you to put your message in the hands of prospects.

a. Postcards are very tangible; prospects can touch and hold on to your ad.

3) Postcards allow for a direct call to action and response.

BONUS OFFER!

Do you need more business? Wilson Printing is offering Money Management Solutions friends and clients a 10% discount on your first order of postcards or brochures.

Simply go to this link:  http://www.wilsonprinting.net/Printed-Promotional-Materials/postcards.html Check out the price.

When you call, tell them Money Management Solutions sent you and receive 10% off the prices on their website.

What do you do when you get your Profit & Loss Statement (P&L) from your accountant, or when you print one from your accounting software? Do you ignore it, or look at the total income and the bottom line net income and then toss it in a drawer or file folder without analyzing it? If that’s the case, then you are missing out on some potential opportunities to increase your sales and your profits.

Smart money management practices include staying in control of how your company’s income is being used and to make adjustments that are in the company’s best financial interest. There are many ways to analyze your P&L to identify some lost income opportunities; here are just a few.

1 – Pull last month’s P&L statement so you can compare it with the current month’s statement.

2 – Compare the Total Income figures and the bottom line Net Income figures. Whether you are up or down compared to the previous month, you can use the rest of the report to figure out why that may be the case. Financial management is easier when you do some analysis.

Cost of Goods Sold: Look at your cost of goods sold to see if your inventory was replenished fully or you were out of stock on some items that you could have sold.

Investigate whether the costs have gone up and you need to pass on the cost increases. You can lose sales by being out of stock as well as not passing on price increases from your suppliers. This would eliminate the strange sensation that you may have experienced when you are ‘selling more’ but ‘making less’.   And you think, “What the heck is going on here?”  So be sure to look this over with a critical eye.

If your suppliers have raised prices, you should increase your pricing structure on the products you are selling. This ensures the sales you make have an adequate profit margin built into them. Sometimes suppliers raise their costs and forget to inform you, or the announcement gets lost before it reaches your in-box, and you don’t notice the increase right away.  For example, some express parcel shippers tacked on a $20 fuel surcharge increase when gasoline prices surged to over $4 a gallon.  They did this because their prices increased, so they had to pass them on to you – their customer.

Tip: Get all of your suppliers to fax you their latest price sheets and compare these figures to the costs you have for the items in your accounting system. Then decide if you should raise your prices to pass any increased costs on to your customers.

Tip: It’s better to increase your prices a bit by bit over time, rather than increase them by a large amount all at once.  Notice how a well -known coffee shop raises its prices for coffee a nickel or a dime every 3 – 4 months and customers keep right on buying.

Advertising & Promotion: The first expense item(s) to look at are your marketing expenses. Did you cut back or increase promotion? Did you change your promotion and is working better or perhaps not working as well? Too many businesses cut back on promotion funding in tough times. That’s a big mistake. Deciding to cut back on talking to your current and potential customers can cause them to forget your company and to shop at your competitor who is still promoting.  Consumers have not stopped buying, they are just being more selective about what they buy and where they shop.

Other Expenses Lines: Compare each expense line to the matching expense from the previous month. Are expenses creeping up without you realizing it? If so you can decide where to cut back. Did previous cost cutting measures help the bottom line profit? If so, congratulate yourself.

Balance Sheet Items: If the bottom line Net Income is up, but you don’t have that cash sitting in a bank account where you can see it, it usually means that you paid out the profits to principal owed on debt. Your balance sheet shows you the credit debt (liabilities) you owe and paying those is not deductible except for the finance charges or interest.

For more of these business profit tips, check out our downloadable e-book Business Checklist to Increase Profits.  This checklist is the shortcut to an MBA on money management to generate more profits.  It costs a lot less that an MBA degree, and it’s easier to understand!

What have you learned from your P&L statement? Share it with our readers by submitting a comment.