3 ways to help make 2015 the best year yet…

As the New Year is fast approaching, we thought we'd share some helpful tips so you can make the most of 2015.  So here goes…

1) Make More Profit

Easier said than done you’re probably saying. Well here’s a few suggestions...

Increase your sales

One of the many ways we continually support our clients and help them grow is by providing them with free access to the Business Growth System. This is chock full of tried and tested low and no-cost strategies guaranteed to help boost your sales.

We think the start of the year is always a good time to review your growth strategies.

Review your pricing policy

Have you looked at this in the past year? And if not, why not?

This is particularly important if your costs are rising each year and you haven’t increased your prices. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up squeezing profit margins until there’s no profit at all.

Avoid falling into the ‘pricing trap’ (this is covered in a previous blog) and why not actually increase your prices in 2015?

2) Invest your time wisely

You need to re-evaluate where your time is best spent.  Are you currently completing any tasks that you could delegate to someone else, which would allow to focus on working on, rather than in, your business?

One task is bookkeeping.  Most business owners (if they’re being honest) find this a mundane chore. This is why we encourage all our clients to use our simple online bookkeeping software, or let us take the strain. This saves them hours of precious time which they can then devote to growing their business.

3) Pay Less Tax

If you’re like a lot of business owners you’re probably thinking about your Self-Assessment tax bill (not great timing, as it’s usually just after Xmas).

You don’t want to end up paying more tax than you need to.  So have you (or better still your accountant) asked questions such as:

Is your business in the most tax effective structure?

Are you paying yourself the right mix of salary and dividends?

Are you claiming all the right business expenses?

OK, that’s it.  We’ve given you a few pointers to help your New Year get off to a flying start.  So in the words of the Nike advert ‘just do it’.

If you have any comments, would like to make a few suggestions of your own or would like to get in touch with us to see how we could help make 2015 your most successful year yet, feel free to email me on lesley@thefriendlyaccountants.co.uk.