Business Services

Business Problem Solving

Approximately one million new businesses are started every year in the United States, but about 80 percent of them will fail within five years.

As the manager of a small business, you must wear several hats. Never stop investigating new ideas to improve all areas of your business. The astute manager will gather information to assist him or her in making the changes necessary to stay profitable in a competitive business world.

Following are some tips to improve your profits:

  • Listen to your customers. You aren’t really selling products or services; you’re selling customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers return to spend more money and are likely to refer new customers to you.
  • It is estimated that it costs 10 times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain a current customer through good customer service
  • If your company currently runs well when you’re absent from the business, it’s likely to run well in the event of your disability or death. If you find yourself to be indispensable, however, start trainig people now. One of the most rewarding forms of retirement is to own your company and be absent as much as you like.
  • Accountants, bankers, insurance agents and lawyers routinely handle a variety of business problems every day. They make excellent sounding boards for proposed transactions. Consulting with them before you conclude any deals can save you many problems.
  • You can be your own best business troubleshooter. Consider arranging a trip to visit a half dozen businesses just like yours, but outside your trade area. Discuss products or services, customer relations, vendors, physical plant and equipment, and financial statement information with these non-competing colleagues. Arrange a five- to 10-day trip. Take your financial statements, a copy of your floor plan, your camera, and a long list of questions. When you return, you’ll be able to brief your staff on all you learned. This trip is especially beneficial if you are not affiliated with a franchise business.
  • Every business should operate with a realistic budget. Your last year's financial reports serve as an excellent guide to setting this year's budget. Since it is designed with the best information you have available at the outset, the variances from the budget figures may give you valuable information in preparing the next year's game plan.
  • Is it necessary or profitable to have accounts receivable? Credit is necessary to attract some business, and it is profitable if properly managed. For example, a construction company finds it impractical to issue credit cards to all its employees and inconvenient to use a check for every purchase. In exchange for the courtesy of an open account, such a customer should be willing to pay immediately upon receipt of a billing statement.
  • Business deals and special franchises which sound too good to be true usually are. We will gladly assist you in reviewing any new purchase or business proposal.
  • Business partnerships seldom have the same rites of courtship afforded most marriages. In the absence of a suitable period of “courtship”, you should have your attorney draft a well-written partnership agreement. It is also important for family partnerships.
  • Under current law, there are a number of legal entities available for doing business. The tax and non-tax benefits and obligations vary depending on the type of entity and state in which you intend on doing business. Don't incorporate your business without first checking these long-range tax and non-tax considerations. There are many small corporations that would have been better off operating in some other legal form.
  • Some businesses receive penalties for late payroll tax deposits. To avoid such problems, don't sign payroll checks unless the first check in the stack is the payroll deposit to your bank. This may have you paying deposits earlier than required, but you will not be receiving penalties.

What makes a business successful?

At Wyndelts & Gagnon, we have found that business problems and their solutions are as varied as the nature of the businesses themselves. There are some universal truths, however, in managing any business.

Whether you are starting a business or operating a going concern, we can help you select the proper organizational structure and secure adequate financing. We will work with you and your banker, lawyer, insurance agent, and other advisors to help you over any business hurdle you may encounter.

We will assist you with loan applications, pricing, credit policies, cash flow needs, cost controls, and other management issues. And we will gladly assist you in reviewing your operations to see what you might do to become more profitable.

Give us a call for a no-charge initial conference. At the meeting, you should interview us, as you would any professional, to determine if we will be a good long-term match for you and your business. If we can’t help answer your problems, we will assist you in locating someone who can.

We have compiled a superb list of links to numerous calculators for finances and other computations, as well as some very good reference sites. We always welcome your questions. Contact us by phone or email. We appreciate hearing from you.