November 25, 2007

10 Ideas for 2008 to Save Money

In Business Week, Gene Marks, recently wrote 10 Penny Pinching Ideas for 2008 for you to consider. If any bodyknows how to save money, it's Gene as he writes about it all the time.

In this Business Week column, one of the ideas Gene writes about are reports.

His implicit advice is that every business owner needs a few key reports, on a regular basis, from your accounting (or book keeping) system. I'm not an accountant but I do know that to run a successful business and grow it - you really need to know key metrics that make your business sink or swim.

Inc Magazine columnist and serial entrepreneur Norm Brodsky writes about this here.

How does this relate to technology?

If you have a look at all the software that's powering your business operations, it might seem like something quite confusing and a "closed system". However it need not be. It should be a POWERFUL asset.

Let's pretend you own a fleet of 20 trucks for deliveries. Maybe you know that you need to have 100 deliveries per day, with $40,000 of merchandise in each delivery to be profitable. Tell your IT staff to put together a report for you that is emailed to you every morning at 6:00am. This report would be a blend of your accounting, inventory and dispatch systems. See how technology empowers you?

You don't have to be a tech guru to know key pieces of information that affect your business.

In 2008, as advised by Gene, think of key information or metrics that you know can make or break your business. Once you have this short list, make sure your IT staff or your local consultant can put this together for you. If they can't or don't know who to turn to to get it done - find a new IT person.

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