Last week I posted a short quiz, and in case you didn’t see it, take another look:
How many “Yeses” can you answer?
1) I have a financial statement for my business that is no more than 30 days old.
2) I reviewed my financial statement with my bookkeeper or accountant within the last month to pinpoint the potential trouble spots and identify pockets of easy cash.
3) I know exactly which products, departments and services give me the highest ROI (return on investment).
4) I have a year-end tax strategy based on my figures to date.
5) I know how much cash I have and how much I will need next week.
6) I can sleep at night, knowing that my record-keeping will support my deductions if the IRS audits me.
7) I have a plan for how to conform to upcoming FLSA changes to overtime rules.
If any of these are concerns for you, especially with upcoming regulatory changes, let’s discuss ways that we can fix it for you.
Every Newtown Square, PA business is a little bit different, of course. But every Newtown Square, PA business owner likes to think of their business as so unique that there is “no comparison”.
But that’s simply not true, is it?
And it’s actually even worse than what you might think…
Who Is Your Real Newtown Square, PA Business Competition?
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
From time to time, I like to think about some of the truly great entrepreneurial businesses, and how my firm can model from them.
One of my favorite ones to look at is Disney, and there’s a great book about it — Tom Connellan’s Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney’s Success.
The concept I’m writing about today is borrowed from this book — and it can give you an edge that no competitor can overcome. In fact, it is exactly this type of thought that created the concept of our Real World Business Strategy Note.
Here it is:
The competition is anyone the customer compares you with.
(Yes, I know that sentence ends with a preposition, but I’m a finance guy, not an English major — and I like how it sounds, ok?)
Think of it this way: One of the ways that people experience Disney is by telephone. Disney gets thousands of call every day. Many of them are from the same people who call Zappos.
So, when people call Zappos, or L.L. Bean — or anyone with superior telephone service, Disney understands that they are being compared to the service people receive when calling Zappos or L.L. Bean. Disney then does what they need to do to “compete” with Zappos’ telephone service.
So the lesson is this: don’t just think of your competitors as the businesses that sell the same things you do. Think of your business competition as anyone who deals with your customers in any way that is the same as you do.
Learn the best practices from any place you can, and then use them in your business.
I hope this helps!
I’m grateful for our chance to serve you and your business — and we are dedicated to its success, in every measure.
Feel very free forward this article to a Newtown Square, PA business associate or client you know who could benefit from our assistance — or simply send them our way? While these particular articles usually relate to business strategy, as you know, we specialize in tax preparation and planning for Newtown Square, PA families and business owners. And we always make room for referrals from trusted sources like you.
Warmly,
Stephen Venuti
610-353-0686
Stephen J. Venuti, CPA, MST, LLC
