Planning a Profitable Business For Dummies

You don’t need to be a ‘numbers person’ to make your business profitable! With Planning a Profitable Business For Dummies, discover the secrets of financial success and how to generate above-average profits.   Written especially for the Australian audience, Planning a Profitable Business For Dummies explains how to build a business with profit in mind, using smart pricing techniques and clear-eyed strategic planning.  Whether you’re just getting started in business or still recovering from lockdown losses, this book points to where extra profits might lie.  Flip through these pages to learn the importance of competitive positioning, smart pricing, and how best to secure an enduring advantage over your competitors. Reflect on how you can transition to becoming an entrepreneur, rather than just a business owner, and why this distinction is so important.   Make a safe-and-sound transition into working for yourself by using proven business strategies  Discover the fundamentals of financial projections, margins, and ratios — even if you aren’t a math whiz  Secure finance for your business and manage your working capital wisely  Identify savvy expense-saving ideas, and, when the time is right, sell your business for the highest price  Business owners need straightforward, practical tips that ensure that extra edge of profitability. Find these tips inside Planning a Profitable Business For Dummies, and pave your path to financial success. 

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Where to Go from Here 3 Chapter 1: Building a Business with Profit in Mind 5 Shifting to an Entrepreneur Mindset 6 Finding the Secret to Profit 7 Expressing your difference in a traditional business 7 Marketing to a niche 8 Capitalising on invention 9 Keeping Expectations Real 10 Assessing your chances of survival 10 Staying motivated 11 Weathering feast and famine 11 Understanding how risk relates to gain 12 Getting the Timing Right 12 Picking fads, fashions and trends 12 Making sure you’re ready 14 Understanding economic influences 15 Planning in Dollars from the Start 16 Starting with a new business 16 Growing an existing business 17 Chapter 2: Finding Your Competitive Edge 19 Being the Best on the Block 19 Watching and learning 20 Staying alert to future threats 22 Identifying Your Strategic Advantage 24 Finding your secret weapon 25 Uncovering your inner mojo 26 Considering three key attributes 26 Growing your advantages over time 28 Picking Just One Competitive Strategy 28 Connecting the Dots 30 Chapter 3: Staying One Step Ahead 33 Taking an Eagle-Eye View 33 Looking at what’s happening in your industry 34 Being realistic about industry decline 36 Riding the wave of opportunity 36 Identifying Opportunities and Threats 37 Rating Your Strengths and Weakness 39 Doing a SWOT Analysis 41 Piecing the elements together 41 Making a plan of action 42 Chapter 4: Guarding Your Working Capital 45 Budgeting Enough for Start-Up 45 Creating a start-up budget 46 Adding enough to live on 46 Assessing how much you really need 47 Keeping Cash Flowing 48 Understanding sustainable growth 48 Surviving a growth spurt 49 Sizing Up Your Finance Options 50 Taking out a business loan 50 Finding a new lease of life 51 Getting hitched with hire purchase 54 Staying careful with credit 54 Seeking equity partners 55 Chapter 5: Pricing for Profits 57 Choosing a Pricing Strategy 57 Setting prices based on costs 58 Setting prices based on competitors 58 Setting prices based on perceived value 59 Building a Hybrid-Pricing Plan 60 Offering a premium 60 Cutting back the frills 62 Getting creative with packages 62 Charging different prices for the same thing 63 Forming a Plan of Attack 64 Monitoring and Changing Your Price 65 Chapter 6: Setting Sales Targets With Profit in Mind 67 Forecasting Sales for a New Business 67 Adopting an expansionary mindset 68 Balancing reality against ambition 70 Forecasting Sales for a Service Business 70 Checking how many hours you’re likely to bill 71 Increasing profit with extra labour 73 Pushing Targets for an Established Business 74 Playing the percentage game 75 Focusing on the profit 75 Defining targets differently 77 Making Targets Work 78 Growing a brand that people want 78 Defining your social media strategy 79 Engaging customers and building trust 80 Chapter 7: Modelling Business Scenarios 83 Understanding Cost of Sales 83 Costing your service 84 Costing items that you buy and sell 85 Costing items that you make 86 Forecasting Expenses 88 Forecasting monthly expenses 88 Forecasting expenses for the year ahead 90 Allowing for loan repayments and interest 92 Allowing for personal and company tax 93 Building Profit Projections 93 Step one: Starting with sales 93 Step two: Adding variable costs 94 Step three: Showing gross profit 96 Step four: Adding expenses and revealing the bottom line 96 Keeping Things Real 98 Playing with percentages 98 Sticking with benchmarks 98 Avoiding the typical pitfalls 99 Factoring Personal Expenses into the Equation 100 Chapter 8: Making Magic with Margins 103 Understanding Gross Profit 104 Calculating gross profit 104 Figuring gross profit margins 104 Looking at margins over time 105 Analysing Margins for Your Own Business 106 Calculating margins when you charge by the hour 106 Calculating margins when you sell products 107 Calculating margins if you do big projects 108 Understanding why gross profit is such a big deal 109 Identifying Your Tipping Point 110 Understanding the concept of break-even 111 Factoring personal expenses into the equation 112 Putting theory into practice 113 Changing Your Break-Even Point 115 Looking at Things from a Cash Perspective 118 Understanding Other Ratios 119 Assessing your accounts receivable ratio 119 Looking at your turnover ratio 120 Scrutinising your return on investment 121 Chapter 9: Using Reports to Boost Your Profits 123 Placing the Horse before the Cart 123 Telling a Story with Your Profit & Loss Report 125 Understanding how it all works 125 Looking at sales 126 Counting the costs 127 Weighing up your expenses 128 Taking a Snapshot with Your Balance Sheet 129 Understanding the fine print 130 Appreciating your net worth (someone has to, after all) 131 Why Profit Doesn’t Always Mean Cash 132 Gazing into the deep, black hole 132 Looking through rose-coloured spectacles 133 Budgeting for Profits 133 Understanding the terminology 134 Recognising relationships 134 Understanding the psychology of budgets 135 Looking at Cashflow 136 Chapter 10: Ten (Almost!) Tips for Improving Your Bottom Line 139 Evaluate Every Workflow 139 Scrutinise Expenses 140 Get Good Accounting Systems 142 Become the Expert 142 Invite Customers to Buy More 143 Focus on What Works 143 Be Prepared to Think Afresh 144 Stay on Top of Debtors 145 Chapter 11: Ten Tips for Selling Your Business 147 Start with a Game Plan 148 Prepare Well in Advance 148 Give Your Financials a Make-Over 149 Get a Professional Valuation 150 Go for the Max 151 Plan for a Few Bills 152 Woo the Buyer 153 Do Due Diligence in Advance 154 Be Straight Up with Employees 155 Spread the Word 156 Index 159

About the Author :
Veechi Curtis is a qualified accountant and consultant who loves the challenges and rewards of building successful businesses. She is the author of Bookkeeping For Dummies, MYOB® Software For Dummies and Creating a Business Plan For Dummies.