Does your business need parental advice?

You too can increase profits without necessarily increasing sales!

How?

The “Profits Leak Detective Newsletter” offers regular tips and strategies to help you identify and plug those leaking profits.

You may never have known you have them.

Subscribe to receive a FREE Case Study on the success of just one strategy.

BONUS free report “7 Clues to a Profit Leak”, valued at $47.

How do you know that you should be looking for leaks?

Are there some clues or symptoms that are telltales saying that a

bit of drilling down into your business might pay some dividends?

Possible leaks could be anywhere.

This report provides 7 clues that should put you on alert for a profit leak.

Be alert - SUBSCRIBE NOW

"Adam, over the past six years, I've had the pleasure of 'bumping into you' on at least three business and marketing related forums. Your contributionsto discussions have always been courteous, astute, incisive and practical,delivered with good humour, and based upon 'real-world' business experience. You are clearly an experienced business professional who actually knows what he is talking about. I wonder if your clients know what a gem they have in you? As one business professional to another, I salute you.

Good Wishes,
John Williamson - The Wealth Coach
www.thewealthcoach.com
www.retaildisplaysecrets.com

+++++++++++++++++++

I just LOVED "7 Clues to a Profits Leak".

Steven Walker - Profit Improvement Advisors
Calgary, Canada

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You will be proud how your protégés are proceeding! We have expanded the business to Katherine and Alice (Tennant is also on the list). T he catering side of the business is far less stressful and is actually profitable, now that we only take the good jobs.
We will never forget the assistance you gave us in re-inventing our business!

Karen Sheldon

Managing Director

Karen Sheldon Catering

Darwin, Australia

+++++++++++++++++++

The chap is Adam Gordon whom I have known for many years. He is a former resident of Darwin having lived here for perhaps 25 years, is an excellent communicator and has a very good appreciation of small business, business plans and all that goes with it. In fact Adam is regarded as a business guru.

Charles Wright, QS Services, Darwin, Australia

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Thanks for the catch-up the other day. It's great to be working with a legend in the small business community.

AJ Kulatunga, BLKMGK ICT

Darwin, Australia

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The 7 Clues is a great.

What I like the most in the Seven Clues report is that it clearly explains that accounting is merely a subset of proper financial management and

that only the business owner can practise financial management. The accountant does the accounting, and in doing so supports the business owner's financial management. And the business owner uses the accountant's information, but relying on the accountant to do full-blown financial management is short-sighted.

The report nicely "grounds" an otherwise complex topic which many business owners are afraid of touching, so they often move ahead in blissful ignorance. The water hose and the soggy soil under the leak makes an excellent and easy-to-comprehend example, upon which the financial management concept is nicely built.

Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur Dynamic Innovations Squad
Personal and Firm-Wide Performance Improvement for Management Consulting Firms

Vancouver, BC Canada

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You have played a very important role in my development in business.

You were there with the right information at the right time, I thank you for that.
By adding the next level of systems, and marketing knowledge that you brought to the table we able to identify our objectives, acknowledge the gaps in our business and put in place the planning so as to achieve those objectives. Within 5 years we achieved 9 of our ten stated objectives. In that same year we won the NT Telstra Small business of the year"

Greg Haigh
Director - Trade Group
Regional And Northern maintenance services
RANms

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Recent newsletters include:

How well do you know your market?
How turning away customers leads to profits
How to create Superior Value
How to win against your competition
Do you need to make changes to your business?
"Our customers are costing us too much!"
Why competition is good news
What makes a web site effective?
Most businesses have one, but...
How to improve your quotations
How to raise prices without losing sales
Is your business resilient?
How to develop a new product in your niche
How big is your profit gap?
How discounting destroyed value
Benchmarking for best practice
From all customers to some customers
How to take the guesswork out of growth
Should your USP be based on logic or emotion?
How to triple your quotation success rate
How to dramatically improve your quotations
How to make more effective decisions?
How to develop your USP
Do you want to make better planning choices?
Are youmaking these mistakes in planning?
How to use SWOT properly
Does your sales conversation balance the scales of justice?
The perils of profitless cash flow!
So what is more important, cash flow or profit?
Are you getting value from your pricing?
Do you report to yourself monthly?
Follow the money trail!
Performance also counts!
Get more bang for your buck!
Without measurement there can be no improvement!
Where would your business be without customers?
Using your monthly report to improve your profits
Just who is your customer?
And what do you know about your customer?
How branding can increase your profits!
Can branding make you more money?
How to balance the value equation
Tilting the balance in your favour
How to pin the tail on the donkey
Are you groping in the dark with your real cost of labour
Mastering core marketing principles
Building a 5P marketing plan
Profit leaking processes
Should you be trying to increase or decrease cash flow
At times it is folly to hasten
5 steps to create your future
What will be the X-Factor in 2009
Lies, damn lies & statistics
How to use a squad profit leak detectives
Confidence leads to action
Increase sales - so easy to say
So you want to know how to increase sales
Is selling a necessary evil?

Does your business need parental advice?

How to "smarten up" your business

At some stage in your youth your parents may well have admonished you "Smarten up, you must work harder and spend less". And it is quite possible your bank manager is finding other words to say the same thing, managing the relationship in these troubled times. After all, when times are tough, businesses need to be a little sharper.

So let's look at some of the positive steps you can take to smarten up over the next few months.

Increase sales - as the previous blog discussed, make sure that your promotional efforts are clearly focussed on your target market. If they are not your promotions will not be making effective use of scarce funds. Remember that existing customers are the most likely to buy from you. And because they know and trust you they are more likely to buy more often and in larger amounts than a customer with whom you are yet to develop a relationship.

Protect and improve your gross profit margins - cutting prices is not the only way to get sales, and it can severely damage your bottom line. If the only reason people buy from you is price then you have done little to differentiate your product or service from the competition. A better alternative to discounts is to put together bonus offers, adding value to the basic offer.

If you know and understand your key customers you will be more likely to be able to develop a value package that suits those customers. A trick I have found useful is to write a couple of paragraphs about your ideal customer, a profile of their likes and dislikes, buying patterns, preferences, demographics, education, entertainment requirements etc. You'll soon identify points you on which can build value for them.

Reduce Cost of Sales - in times such as these look to negotiate better terms with your suppliers. They may be willing to offer discounts to win sales (even though you will be protecting your gross margin) or offer prompt settlement discounts.

It may also be time to give your business to a few key suppliers only. That will both give you the opportunity to negotiate better deals, and reduce your administrative costs.

If your business involves labour which you charge out either directly for services, repairs and maintenance, or manufacturing, look for better ways of doing things such as reducing cycle time or process improvement.

Reduce Overheads- Reducing overheads is often the first thing businesses turn to when they seek to reduce costs. It can also be less effective than the suggestions above, but that does not mean it should not be examined. Be careful you don't end up cutting the very things you should be concentrating on, such as marketing.

Turn the Working Capital Wheel - better management of the working capital wheel will reduce the amount of cash you need to run the business. Three ‘cogs' in the wheel can tie up precious cash; stock (inventory), Work in Progress (WIP), and debtors.

Improving your stock turn will enable you to achieve the same sales with less money tied up in stock. Funds tied up in WIP can be reduced by better scheduling, improved processes, and progress payments. Debtors can be reduced by encouraging customers to use their own credit, shortening your terms of trade, and actively managing your debtor list.

I'm sure your bank manager, or other advisor, is finding better ways of saying to you that you need to smarten up in these times. If she does, you'll be able to tell her that your are already taking some positive steps.

If you need further assistance or guidance, contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .