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08/26/01

Amy E. Gibb, MBA, CFP

"Where are you going!" asked the Police officer. The officer stopped a car for speeding down the highway in excess of 100 miles per hour. The man looked up at the officer, "I don’t know where I was going", he said, "but I was making GOOD time."

"Where are you going!" How many of us speed down the road with our businesses, making good time, selling more, working harder, hiring employees. We are so busy, we don’t have time to plan or analyze. We think we are making money just because we are going faster everyday.

"Where are you going!" If you are in business to be successful and to make money, you must have a plan. You need a business plan and financial projections to know where you are going, how to get there and how fast to go. If you say you don’t have time, you are saying you don’t have time to be successful and be more profitable.

"Where are you going!" I know a company that tripled their sales every year for 3 years. At the end of three years, they were selling $3 million and losing $100,000 a year. They had never taken time to analyze their costs, and their products to see where they made money and where they didn’t.

"Where are you going!" So where do you start? Your plan can be simple. Take 2 hours to look at your last 12 months of financial statements. See what worked and what didn’t. Now look forward for 12 months and decide what you want to happen and what you will DO to make it so. You might grow or shrink. You might add products or cut products. You might charge more or charge less. Write it down. Every month see how you are doing. Every month you should be able to answer the question, how much did I sell? How much profit did I make? And Why? If you need help, ask another business owner, your CPA, a financial consultant, or the Small Business Development Center.

"Where are you going!" If you have a plan, you are going forward and growing your profits. Now GO!

President, Money $ense

Amy@MoneySenseSolutions.com, 303.494.5362

Amy E. Gibb, President of Money $ense specializes in making businesses more profitable. She may be contacted at 303.494.5362, or for more information go to www.MoneySenseSolutions.com.