I learnt last week that business owners owe the inland revenue about 46 million pounds in unpaid revenue for National Insurance contributions and they are not happy about it. We are one of the companies, but it is good to know we are not alone! We are working hard to get up to date, but cash flow is particularly difficult to come by at the moment. I was advised to put DD's into place so cash flow, flows. When you are cleaning domestic properties, it is more difficult as clients tend to go on holiday etc and are not willing to set up DD's as it still goes out when they don't actually have a clean. I am working on some ideas to get some cash flow flowing. The Inland Revenue are not being very helpful, but we have offered a payment plan and hope that they can see the sense in agreeing to it. If not, who knows......... Tough times indeed.
I sent myself on a Mastermind Workshop for two days in Solihull. Fantastic, Brilliant, Amazing! if I have learnt one thing about being in business, it is to invest in yourself. Nigel Botteril who ran the group, agrees with me. I have lost me right had girlie for a couple of weeks as she had a collapsed lung and spent the week-end in hospital. It has been a testing time, but without the learning I gained regarding helping myself to de-stress and focus, I may have been pulling my hair out by now. I am about to learn all I can about Pay Per Click and Twitter so things can only keep getting better. I have decided to work on a more niche market targeting larger houses and high end properties. With my knowledge and being the cleaning experts on Radio 5 Live, I certainly have the knowledge and know-how to give the best service to my clients.
Work is still coming in steadily, due to I think, the marketing and exposure I have in place. I was featured in the Business news in Croydon last week for my Radio 5 Live 'Help' spot. You can listen in on a Thursday between 3:30 and 4 on the Richard Bacon Show. Things are looking up!! Another thing I learned is to become an expert in your field. On that note, I have also won an award from Constant Contact for my newsletter. Best contributor for 2009! Want help? log onto my website contacts page and send me a message http://www.kingswoodecocleaning.com/contact-us.php
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007lb08 - Richard Bacon link
speak soon bloggers!
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Thursday 4 March 2010
Do you want a Champagne service for Lemonade money?
Most of our customers do! Wouldn't the business world be a wonderful place without customers? Well, it would be really, really, easy to run that's for sure, because without them there would be no business! This was something I had to talk to the staff about today. Customer service is the key to the future. Customers do not want to be fobbed off with second rate services. Today's customers know what they want and have high demands. As a customer myself sometimes, I want good service. I have changed my garage several times over the years, because I thought I was not getting a good enough service. I want to be made to feel important and not just another number in their sales ledger book. I have had a chat with all the staff today regarding putting the customer first. Not easy to get them to understand, because they can't always see it through the customers eyes. If you go to a supermarket and pay full price for your goods, you expect to get good quality merchandise. In this world, you really do get what you pay for. Some customers want a champagne service for lemonade money, but that is what I mean by having high demands.
Been a tough week cash flow wise this week. Customers are not paying as quickly as they once were and added to that, two cars needed Mot's, one car needed a new fan belt and the vat and the NI was due. Still, we made it through. I am sending myself on a Mastermind workshop for two days with Niger Boterill from Best of... I do believe in investing in yourself as much as you can. You need to grow with your business and you can't know it all, you have to put yourself on a learning journey all the time. The End of tenancy has gone a little quiet so next months revenue will be down on this month. I am covering some jobs, so that the company receives a 100% profit. This will compensate for the expenses we have had regarding the vans etc. We did this last year to build a cash buffer when customer's were being a little slow and it worked well. Not what I want to be doing, but it is necessary at the moment.
Attended some good networking events over the past few days. Re-acquainting myself with old colleagues and making new connections. One thing I did want to tell you about was, my newsletter. I send it out every 6-8 weeks and have been doing this for the past 3 years. Last week we received an order from a customer who started receiving it 2 years ago! So it pays to keep sending things out. As all the marketing guys tell me, just because they don't buy now, doesn't mean they won't buy later. It would appear they are right!
See you again next week and thanks for reading.
x
www.kingsewoodecocleaning.com
Been a tough week cash flow wise this week. Customers are not paying as quickly as they once were and added to that, two cars needed Mot's, one car needed a new fan belt and the vat and the NI was due. Still, we made it through. I am sending myself on a Mastermind workshop for two days with Niger Boterill from Best of... I do believe in investing in yourself as much as you can. You need to grow with your business and you can't know it all, you have to put yourself on a learning journey all the time. The End of tenancy has gone a little quiet so next months revenue will be down on this month. I am covering some jobs, so that the company receives a 100% profit. This will compensate for the expenses we have had regarding the vans etc. We did this last year to build a cash buffer when customer's were being a little slow and it worked well. Not what I want to be doing, but it is necessary at the moment.
Attended some good networking events over the past few days. Re-acquainting myself with old colleagues and making new connections. One thing I did want to tell you about was, my newsletter. I send it out every 6-8 weeks and have been doing this for the past 3 years. Last week we received an order from a customer who started receiving it 2 years ago! So it pays to keep sending things out. As all the marketing guys tell me, just because they don't buy now, doesn't mean they won't buy later. It would appear they are right!
See you again next week and thanks for reading.
x
www.kingsewoodecocleaning.com
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