Welcome to your personal i-BIMP growth plan blueprint
(Better known as The Blog)
02 May, 2023
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, one of the biggest challenges you face is balancing investing in your business with rewarding yourself for your hard work. It can be tempting to keep reinvesting profits into the business, but if you're not paying yourself what you want, it can be demotivating and unsustainable in the long run. That's why it's important to identify and remove money leaks in your business.
Money leaks are expenses that don't contribute to your bottom line and eat away at your profits. They may seem small at first, but they can add up quickly and have a significant impact on your finances. Read more...
18 April, 2023
Scaling a business is an exciting and rewarding journey for entrepreneurs and small business owners. However, it can also be a time-consuming and demanding process, often requiring significant personal effort.
Many business owners find themselves working long hours, sacrificing personal time, and neglecting their own paychecks in the pursuit of growth.
But what if it were possible to scale your business without sacrificing more of your time and yourself? Read more...
11 April, 2023
Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or an experienced business owner, it can be challenging to make sure that your venture is consistently profitable.
However, with the right approach and attitude in place; generating profit while achieving maximum impact could become more obtainable than ever before!
In this blog post we'll equip you with a key approach to get started on creating success for yourself and your business, read more...
4 April, 2023
Are you a small business owner or entrepreneur generating reliable revenue but struggling to pay yourself what you deserve? If so, don't overlook the importance of knowing your numbers.
Amidst the daily hustle and bustle of running your business, it's easy to forget the financial side of things. But understanding these seven key numbers can help you make informed decisions that will ultimately build a successful and sustainable business - without sacrificing more time or yourself. Read more...
In today's rapidly evolving corporate landscape, successful companies are harnessing the power of human insight data to drive transformative results.
This cutting-edge approach allows organisations to not only measure performance and productivity but also gain a deeper understanding of employee engagement and facilitate behaviour change that directly impacts business outcomes.
Let's explore the world of human insights data and its significant benefits.
Modern businesses are increasingly utilising advanced data gathering techniques and analytics to establish clear links between their actions and overall business performance. The valuable data collected through these methods is what we call "human insight data."
When used effectively, this data empowers organisations to make more informed, strategic decisions, leading to culture shifts and improved performance management, all of which contribute to growth and better business results.
By harnessing human insights data, you can ensure the success of various change initiatives, regardless of their nature—whether it's talent and workforce development, diversity and inclusion, performance management, or cultural transformations.
As the business environment continually evolves, future proofing your workforce becomes essential and factors such as remote work, diversity, storytelling, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way we work. Human insights data can help your organisation stay ahead in these dynamic areas.
Let's look at some of the opportunities:
1. Building an Engaged and Capable Workforce
In an ever-evolving landscape, where shareholders demand faster returns and teams are consistently expected to deliver more, at higher quality, and do so with fewer resources, the challenges are compounded by unprecedented levels of wellbeing concerns. It becomes imperative for companies to prioritise continuous workforce development.
However, the nature of capability building is undergoing a profound transformation. It's not just about what employees know; it's about reshaping how work is done.
The key to future-proofing your workforce and determining the most effective approach to building the right capabilities lies in the execution of a well-defined human insight data strategy. This strategy not only ensures that your employees have the knowledge and skills they need but also enables you to understand how work is performed, providing invaluable insights into optimising the entire organisation.
2. Adapting to New Work Environments:
Human insight data plays a pivotal role in managing productivity and performance, particularly in the context of remote, in-house, or hybrid work environments. By providing high-quality data organisations can make informed decisions about their future workplace strategies, be it a return to the office, a fully remote setup, or a hybrid model.
3. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI):
The growing emphasis on DEI initiatives is backed by data that highlights the productivity benefits of diverse teams. After defining diversity and how it supports performance in the company human insights data can help uncover instances of unconscious bias, identify workplace inequalities, and assess the effectiveness of DEI training. Additionally, it aids in fostering a sense of belonging, a key driver of engagement and well-being, by leveraging real-world data to encourage the right behaviours.
4. Building Data-Driven Stories:
To gain the attention of leaders, employees, customers and consumers, it's crucial to humanise data and craft compelling narratives. These narratives should be directed at those you seek to influence, adding context to the data and helping stakeholders understand its significance. Humanising data through storytelling ensures that people not only comprehend its importance but also act upon it.
5. The Role of Artificial Intelligence:
AI is becoming increasingly pervasive in business operations. Collecting human insights data now positions companies to leverage this data for machine learning and other AI-driven initiatives in the future. Even if an organisation isn't ready to fully embrace AI, focusing on human insights data today ensures readiness for tomorrow while driving behavioural changes that enhance performance and foster business growth.
To effectively utilise human insight data, organisations should be mindful of three important factors:
Craft an Overall Data Strategy: Rather than sporadically conducting surveys, develop a comprehensive data strategy. This holistic approach prevents missed opportunities and ensures data collection not only aligns but also drives organisational goals and long term strategy.
Ask the Right Questions: Ensure survey questions are clear, concise, and relevant to the audience. Avoid combining multiple questions or making assumptions about respondents' knowledge or expectations.
Target the Right People: Focus on surveying individuals who can provide the specific information you seek. It's crucial to have a clear understanding of what you want to learn and what you want to ask before selecting participants.
Let's illustrate this point with a practical example:
Imagine a company with a sizable workforce of 25,000 employees. In an effort to gauge the level of engagement and connection employees feel toward their work, teams, and the organisation as a whole, they conducted an extensive engagement survey. One of the questions posed to employees was:
“Do you feel that you are in control of your career path and that you are progressing in both your personal and professional development at this company?”
Upon closer examination, this seemingly straightforward question actually contains three distinct inquiries. This multiplicity of questions within a single query could lead respondents to answer only one aspect of it or provide an average response, potentially resulting in data inaccuracies.
Moreover, the survey was distributed to the entire workforce, a decision that may not align with the variety of employee aspirations and experiences. Firstly, not everyone in the organisation may be pursuing career progression as their primary goal.
Secondly, employees who are relatively new to the company might not have had the opportunity to grasp how to take control of their career development or navigate personal and professional growth within the organisation. These factors can introduce inaccuracies into the responses and, consequently, steer the organisation toward change initiatives that may not address its most pressing needs.
This example underscores the importance of crafting clear, targeted survey questions and distributing them strategically among relevant groups within the organisation. Such precision not only ensures the accuracy of the data collected but also empowers the organisation to embark on meaningful and impactful change initiatives that align with the diverse aspirations and experiences of its workforce.
If you're inspired to enhance performance and drive business results using human insights data, follow these steps:
Define Your Goals: Start by clearly defining what you want to achieve and what a successful outcome looks like, whether it's developing your workforce, implementing DEI initiatives, or creating a productive hybrid work environment. Success begins with a well-defined objective that can be measured. The human insight data in this phase is collected through qualitative interviews.
Diagnose Organisational Readiness: Gauge the readiness of your organisation, including board members, the C-suite, leaders, other functions, and the workforce. Understanding their attitudes toward the change is crucial for designing an effective program that builds collective commitment for the initiative. A well-set up and executed Readiness Assessment will provide the essential human insight data you require.
Engage Your organisation: The success of the initiative depends on everyone in the organisation understanding why it's important, both for their own benefit and for the overall success of the business. Utilise data from your readiness assessment to create a compelling narrative that helps people understand and embrace the need for change.
Equip Your People: Employ lean and agile design principles based on data to identify and address obstacles. The targeted skills building need to seamlessly integrate and support the daily operations.
Embed Change: It's crucial to maintain a consistent and visible effort shared among peers and to stakeholders in order to successfully embed the change.
Progress should be measured, evaluated, and acknowledged by leaders across the organisation, as what is valued is what gets done. Achieving collective commitment and facilitating rapid iterations are key to effectively instilling behavioral change. Additionally, make sure to leverage your human insights data strategy not only for measuring progress but also to reinforce and encourage further action.
Harnessing human insight data is more than just a modern trend; it's a strategic approach that can revolutionise your organisation's performance and drive sustainable business results. By understanding the nuances of this approach and incorporating it into your corporate culture, you can lead your organisation toward a brighter future.
Get in touch to learn how we can help you build a Human Insight Data Strategy for your company, email us on contact@i-bimp.com with the subject line: Info HIDS (for faster response).
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, one of the biggest challenges you face is balancing investing in your business with rewarding yourself for your hard work. It can be tempting to keep reinvesting profits into the business, but if you're not paying yourself what you want, it can be demotivating and unsustainable in the long run. That's why it's important to identify and remove money leaks in your business.
Money leaks are expenses that don't contribute to your bottom line and eat away at your profits. They may seem small at first, but they can add up quickly and have a significant impact on your finances.
By regularly assessing your expenses and removing money leaks, you can increase your profits and have more money to use for growth and to pay yourself a higher salary.
So, how do you find and get rid of these money leaks? The first step is to review your transactions from the last quarter and categorise them into three groups: essential expenses (green), expenses that deliver a positive return (yellow), and expenses that don't contribute to your bottom line (red).
Green expenses are crucial for the smooth functioning of your business. These are the expenses that you simply cannot do without - platforms essential to deliver your services, tools required to fulfil your offers, utilities, and payroll.
These are the expenses that keep your business operational, and without them, your business may come to a halt. Identifying and categorising these expenses will give you a clear understanding of your essential expenses and help you make informed decisions on how to allocate your resources.
Yellow expenses are the ones that deliver a positive return, either in the form of time or money. For example, a scheduling tool that saves you time every week would be considered a yellow expense.
Red expenses are the ones that don't contribute to your bottom line and should be reconsidered. Challenge yourself on each one and ask whether it's really necessary for your business. If it's not essential and it's not bringing you any positive return, then get rid of it!
By regularly reviewing your expenses and cutting unnecessary costs, you can save money in your business and increase your profits.
It's also important to mark in your calendar when green and yellow expenses are up for renewal and negotiate a better deal. This will help you stay on top of your numbers and ensure that you're always running a profitable business.
It's essential to challenge yourself and ask whether each expense is really necessary for your business. Remember, anything that doesn't bring a positive return should be reconsidered. By doing this, you can increase your profits, have more money to invest in your business or pay yourself a higher salary, and create an always profitable business that has an even greater impact.
In conclusion, identifying and removing money leaks is an essential step for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to increase their profits and pay themselves what they want.
By regularly reviewing your expenses, cutting unnecessary costs, and negotiating better deals, you can save money in your business and set it up for long-term growth and success..
So, what are you waiting for? Start reviewing your expenses today and see the impact it can have on your bottom line!
Join our free workshop on 11th May at 9am EST / 2pm UK.
Scaling a business is an exciting and rewarding journey for entrepreneurs and small business owners. However, it can also be a time-consuming and demanding process, often requiring significant personal effort.
Many business owners find themselves working long hours, sacrificing personal time, and neglecting their own paychecks in the pursuit of growth.
But what if it were possible to scale your business without sacrificing more of your time and yourself? What if you could start consistently paying yourself while also growing your business? In this post, we'll explore strategies and habits that can help you scale your business while prioritising your own financial goals and living the lifestyle you envisioned for yourself and your family.
We'll discuss 5 profit-driving habits and by the end of this post, you'll have a roadmap for scaling your business while staying true to your values and priorities.
Habit 1: Healthy financial tracking and management
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, it is crucial to develop a habit of regular financial tracking and management.
By setting aside a fixed time every other week or once a month, business owners can go through their finances, pay their invoices, and allocate their profits effectively. This not only saves time but also helps to identify and address potential cash flow problems early on.
As part of the financial management routine, it's also important to review expenses regularly, identify and plug any leaks, and manage cash flow effectively by negotiating with vendors and suppliers, cutting unnecessary expenses, and maintaining a cash reserve.
To simplify financial management, business owners can leverage user-friendly accounting software, expense trackers, and budgeting tools that provide a clear picture of their financial health.
Even for businesses with irregular income, creating a budget is possible by estimating income and expenses based on historical data or industry benchmarks, prioritising expenses, and allocating funds based on business goals and priorities.
Habit 2: Boost Your Business Success with Productivity and Time Management Habits
To achieve business success, it's not just important to manage finances but also to develop habits for productivity and time management. Effective time management can help entrepreneurs and small business owners set priorities, increase revenue, and achieve their business goals without working unreasonable hours.
To stay focused and avoid distractions, business owners can adopt strategies such as time-blocking, delegating tasks, and minimising interruptions. Prioritising the most important tasks and using the most productive time of the day to complete them can help ensure their completion.
Maximising energy levels and minimising time wasted on low-priority tasks can also boost productivity. Business owners can begin the week by identifying their top three most important activities, which can help them stay focused and avoid getting sidetracked by less important tasks.
Other productivity tips include taking breaks, practising self-care, and utilising productivity tools such as task management apps, time trackers, and email management software.
By developing regular habits for tracking their own and their team's productivity and time management, business owners can increase efficiency, achieve business success, and free up more time for personal pursuits.
Habit 3: Maximising Profitability through Assessment of Marketing Efforts
Developing strong habits for assessing marketing efforts is crucial to achieve sustainable growth in your business. By conducting regular check-ins with your ideal customer, you can gain a deeper understanding of their evolving needs and anticipate future opportunities, which not only ensures good business practices but also drives profitability.
This habit can help you identify areas where you can improve your marketing strategy, tailor your products or services to better meet the needs of your customers, and stay ahead of your competitors.
Another profit-driving habit is to regularly assess the performance of all marketing activities to ensure they are generating a good return on investment. This assessment can also identify opportunities to streamline marketing efforts, increase their effectiveness, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
Overall, developing strong habits for assessing and streamlining marketing efforts is an essential step to achieve increased profitability and long-term success in your business.
Habit 4: Regularly rank your product from most profitable to least
Regularly ranking your products from most profitable to least is a crucial habit that can help you identify opportunities to increase profitability and make informed business decisions on where to focus your efforts to best to scale your business.
By analysing your product portfolio and understanding which products generate the most revenue and profit, you can focus your resources on the products that are driving your business and identify areas for improvement in your product offerings.
Additionally, by identifying which products are least profitable, you can make data-driven decisions to discontinue or reposition these products, freeing up resources to invest in higher-profit products or new opportunities.
This habit can also help you identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities, allowing you to maximise revenue and profit potential across your product portfolio.
Regularly ranking your products from most profitable to least can help you stay competitive in your industry and make strategic decisions to drive growth and profitability in your business.
Habit 5: Continuously Growing Yourself as a business leader
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, developing personal and professional growth habits is crucial to scaling your business without sacrificing more of your time and yourself.
You need to recognise that what makes you an effective leader at one stage of your business may not be sufficient for the next.
Therefore, creating a habit of asking for feedback on your leadership style from team members, suppliers, and customers can help you uncover potential blind spots and address them early.
Understanding your natural work preferences can also help you build a team that complements your strengths and enables you to work in your zone of genius, enabling business growth and increased profits.
Moreover, it's crucial to set boundaries for yourself, particularly during growth phases. While it's okay to work more for a limited period, establishing limits on how long it continues can help you build a successful business while still achieving the lifestyle you envision for yourself and your family.
By implementing these habits, you can ensure you are not only growing your business but also growing as the leader your business needs and the person you want to be.
Habit 6: Regularly Tracking Performance for Sustainable Growth
Regularly tracking performance is crucial to ensuring that your business stays on track and continues to grow. One effective way to do this is to develop a tracking template that helps you measure your performance across different areas of your business, such as products, people, and processes.
This template can help you quickly identify when things start to slide, and take corrective action before it's too late. To get started, identify key metrics for each area of your business that you want to track, such as sales numbers, employee performance, or process efficiency.
Then, establish a regular schedule for tracking these metrics, and use the data you collect to identify areas where you can improve.
By creating a habit of regularly tracking performance across your business, you can stay on top of your operations and continue to drive profitability and growth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, scaling a business is a challenging process that requires significant personal effort. However, it is possible to scale a business while prioritising personal financial goals and lifestyle.
Developing habits like healthy financial tracking and management, boosting productivity and time management, maximising profitability through assessment of marketing efforts, regularly ranking products from most profitable to least, and continuously growing as a business leader can help entrepreneurs achieve their goals without sacrificing more of their time and themselves.
By incorporating these habits into their daily routines, business owners can drive revenue growth, increase efficiency, and achieve sustainable success while staying true to their values and priorities.
Our profit-driving coaching program, Profit Mastery, is designed to help entrepreneurs and small business owners master these essential habits that are required for success.
We go beyond that by also helping them implement systems that ensure a consistently profitable business, allowing them to pay themselves the salary they need to support the lifestyle they envisioned for themselves and their families.
If you're ready to take your business to the next level, learn more about Profit Mastery and how it can benefit you by clicking here.
Implement Profit First in your business, and do it the right way. Download your free pdf templated to start now.
11 April, 2023
Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or an experienced business owner, it can be challenging to make sure that your venture is consistently profitable.
However, with the right approach and attitude in place; generating profit while achieving maximum impact could become more obtainable than ever before!
In this blog post we'll equip you with a key approach to get started on creating success for yourself and your business.
Business profit is important for a number of reasons.
First, it is a measure of the health of your business. If your business is profitable, it means that you are generating more revenue than you are spending. This is a good indicator that your business is doing well and has potential for future growth.
Second, profitability shows your potential for growth. If your business is profitable, you can reinvest those profits back into the business to help it grow. This can include hiring new employees, expanding your product line, or opening new locations.
Finally, profitability provides you and other shareholders with a good return on investment. If your business is profitable, it means that you are making money for your shareholders. This is a good way to attract new investors and keep existing investors happy.
Business profit grows businesses and keeps them healthy in the long term. It should be a key metric that all businesses strive to achieve.
One of the best ways to ensure that your business remains profitable is to use what is known as a "profit first" approach.
This means that, instead of waiting until the end of the quarter or year to see how much profit your business has generated, you set aside a specific percentage of each sale as profit.
The profit first system also allocates money for your income, taxes and then manages your costs around that.
With this approach, not only will you as the owner reap the rewards of financial security and stability but also create a prosperous enterprise that has far-reaching positive impacts.
Let’s start with profit. If you are at an early stage with your business, 5% profit is a good target. For more established businesses this should be somewhere between 10-15%. If you are not there yet, not to worry, just start by allocating one percent and then increase every quarter until you reach your target.
Additionally, if the profit is going towards paying yourself directly as an owner/creator, aim for 45-55%, and make allocations from each sale accordingly.
Having an idea in mind about how much money you want to make monthly allows you to build steps towards achieving that income goal with a Profit First system.
In addition to setting aside money for profit and owners income, it is also important to set aside funds for taxes. This can be difficult to do, but it is essential if you want to keep your business running smoothly.
The profit systems recommend saving 15% of your business income for taxes. One way to make this easier is to think of taxes as money that was never yours in the first place. This will help you to set the funds aside without feeling like you are sacrificing too much of your hard-earned income.
Managing your costs around your profits
Now when you have the money you need for your pay, profit and taxes it’s time to see what’s left – this is what you have to cover your costs with.
The profit first system recommends your total costs to be no more than 30-40%, if your revenue is below 500k annually.
If you haven’t paid much attention to this there may be an uneven equation but not to worry.
Start by removing your money leaks. These are expenses that are not essential for business operations or generating a positive return, things like subscriptions and other small outgoings and can quite start adding up if left unchecked!
After you cleaned up your costs there may still be a gap. This may feel a bit concerning but trust me, this is a good level of awareness that far too many business owners miss, so you’re already ahead of the game.
If that’s the case, book a call with a trusted business partner, coach or someone else who can help you come up with the right ideas to close the gap, it may be as simple as adjusting your prices, or looking at your marketing ROI.
Good profitable housekeeping
Now when we talk about setting aside profits, owners pay, taxes and expenses from each sale, doesn’t mean we practically do it. But a good house keeping rule is to go through your numbers twice per month. That is when you do your allocation, check over your costs and accounts.
Creating separate accounts is another tip, this will allow you to keep the money out of sight and ensure you always have what you need for taxes and as well as for your pay and profits.
Your unique Profit Plan
By following these simple tips, you can ensure that your business is always profitable and that you are getting the income you need and want.
If you would like a template to get started you can download our Free Profit Plan Template here.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you need help getting started or if you have any questions. We would be happy to assist you!
Easily calculate how much you should pay yourself from your current revenue and see what revenue you need to reach your desired salary.
11 April, 2023
Are you a small business owner or entrepreneur generating reliable revenue but struggling to pay yourself what you deserve? If so, don't overlook the importance of knowing your numbers.
Amidst the daily hustle and bustle of running your business, it's easy to forget the financial side of things. But understanding these seven key numbers can help you make informed decisions that will ultimately build a successful and sustainable business - without sacrificing more time or yourself.
1. Net Income
This is perhaps the most obvious number that you need to be aware of in your business. Simply put, net income is your total revenue minus your total expenses.
This number gives you a good overview of whether your business is making or losing money and by how much.
To calculate net income, you simply take all the income to the business over a period of time and then take away all the expenses the business had over the same period of time.
If you are not tracking this at least monthly, now is a good time to start.
2. Net Profit Margin
Net profit margin is a crucial metric that provides deeper insights into your business's profitability than just net income alone. It reveals how much profit you are generating for every dollar earned.
This is calculated by dividing net income by total revenue. For instance, if your net income for the month is $30,000 and total revenue is $100,000, your net profit margin would be 30%. Ideally, you want to achieve a high net profit margin, with a target of around 45% if your revenue has not yet reached $1 million.
This implies that 45% of your income should be allocated to profits and owners' pay. To improve your net profit margin, you can focus on increasing revenue or reducing expenses, or a combination of both.
3. Overall Costs
Effective cost management is an essential component of running a successful business, and it requires close monitoring of both fixed and variable costs.
Fixed costs refer to expenses that remain relatively stable, such as rent, salaries, and utilities, while variable costs are expenses that vary depending on the level of business activity, such as materials and labour costs.
By closely monitoring your costs, you can identify areas where you can reduce expenses and improve your profits without compromising on the quality of your products or services.
4. Product Performance Indicator
The product performance indicator will tell you how well your products or services are performing as well as how they support future growth.
It’s calculated by multiplying the product’s profit margin with scalability and effort. It is easy to forget about scalability and effort when assessing products but these are really important to see to understand the real performance and fit in your business.
This number is important because it can help you to identify which products or services are selling well and which ones aren’t. If you see that certain items have a low PPI, it might be time to reevaluate their place in your product line-up.
On the other hand, if you have a high PPI, it could mean that you’re leaving money on the table by not charging enough for your products or services.
5. Revenue per employee
Essentially, revenue per employee measures how much money each employee generates for the company. It is ideal for a company to aim for the highest revenue per employee ratio possible because a higher ratio indicates higher productivity, which often means more profits.
So look at where you are with this today and aim to increase this every quarter - achieving this will be a good indicator that you hire for growth and that you are increasing productivity in the team.
6. Cash Reserve Ratio
Another important number to be aware of in your business is cash reserve ratio. This will indicate how many months your business will be able to cover its costs.
Having a strong cash reserve ratio is important because it gives you the flexibility to cover unexpected expenses or take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
If your cash reserve (liquidity) ratio is low, it is time to start building it up. A profit plan will help you get started, you can download a free template here.
7. Cash-Flow
In order to grow your business, you need a strong cash-flow. This means that the money coming in needs be greater or at least on par with what's going out - it can't just work one way!
Businesses can improve their cash flow in a variety of ways, including reducing inventory, reducing customer payment terms, and managing costs better.
If you don't manage your cash flow, you might go out of business simply after one bump in the road, so do make sure you stay on top of this regardless of what stage your business is at.
Conclusion
These seven will give you a good snapshot of how your business is performing. Knowing and understanding these numbers will help you make better decisions about where to focus your time and energy as you continue to grow your company.
What number do you find the most challenging to track and why?
Hanna Girling is the founder of i-BIMP- When she’s not serving her clients, she loves spending time outdoors with her family and friends, as well as training for the Swedish traditional cross-country skiing race - Vasaloppet, not the easiest challenge living in country without snow.
