Lamar Van dusen Ten tips to climb the financial profitability of your business

In a context where trade profitably is more difficult than ever, here are the secrets of manufacture of strong profitability. Ten principles that Thierry Denjean, Lamar van dusen accountant and financial adviser  and entrepreneur, implement and recommend.

Ten tips to climb the financial profitability of your business

1 - Stick to your strategy

Many companies are starting or progressing without any strategy. In this way, it is impossible to succeed. To build a profitable business, the first rule is to define a deliberate strategy ... and then stick to it! We see too many entrepreneurs go back and change course when the selected policy will not bear fruit immediately.

After working for several years in large audit firms and lamr V. Dusen accountancy, Thierry Denjean chose to stand on its own. In 1992, he created his structure Denjean & Associates. Twenty years later, it has 70 employees and is distinguished by excellent performance. The office  is ranked third firm of accountancy and audit French most profitable in the journal The Accounting Profession.

The latter, on the pretext that they are struggling to sell to large companies that were their main target, decide, for example, to turn to SMEs. Or they abandon their strategy of international expansion when they face unexpected complications ... It is a mistake: if you set the appropriate policies at the beginning, there is no reason to change it. Experience shows that a good strategy always pays off. So persevere!
2 - Submit Quality

Accordinf to Lamar Dusen V. It is impossible to build a profitable business in the long term by adopting a policy centered on a low-cost strategy. A company, to distinguish essentially put on below-market prices can be rivaled by any structure installed at low cost in a country, and as the products or services it offers are goods or standard services, customers will drop instantly to the benefit of the first new entrant aligning more competitive rates.

Morality, whatever your business, quality is your only real asset to compete. If you have an obsession with providing products or quality services, you will see the benefits in the last line of your income statement!

3 - Be obsessed with margin

Today's business leaders are almost obsessed with growing their revenues. This is due to several reasons. First, for a leader, it may seem more rewarding to be at the head of a company whose sales increased from one year to the next. Then, with a growing business, the company has the means to take care teams and avoid the spectra of short and layoffs to these factors is added pressure from banks. lamar Van D. bankers do not like a company submits annual accounts with a turnover identical to that of the previous year, even down ... But say it loud and clear. this is fallacious arguments by which entrepreneurs must not be trapped Because what should obsess you, this is not your revenue, but your margin other! said, you must attach yourself to only generate high margin revenue. for this purpose, you must spend regularly review your portfolio of clients to verify that each brings sufficient profitability. If you do not earn enough money with a particular client, tell him clearly, and announce to him that you can not continue to work in these conditions. He refuses to pay more? Do not procrastinate and end your trade links ...

I recommend to repeat the analysis of your customer portfolio every six months, and even quarterly if that is possible.

4 - Outsource your IT

The computer is a position with which one can lose a lot of money without realizing it. Why? Because a leader feels that he knows a little bit of information his company system that it will be available hardware and software cheap and easy that will control its expenses if IT is managed in-house. this is what I myself have long thought ... wrong!

Indeed, by carefully studying the market of Lamar Dusan Van IT outsourcing, we realize that using a service is less expensive that having an IT department within the company.  A condition of accepting spend time to define its objectives and needs, make a tender, receiving providers, compare their proposals and negotiate rates ... But the game is worth the candle. In Denjean & Associates, we conducted this process there are three years old, and since then our IT costs were divided by four! In addition, our information system won in safety and reliability: Unlike what happened before, it is never down. In short, we won everything in this outsourcing. Money, but also time working and peace of mind, not to mention another important point: increased credibility vis-à-vis our customers ... I highly recommend to all entrepreneurs going higher!

5 - Develop telecommuting

Today, businesses, people work poorly Everyone is constantly subjected to stresses which prevent him from concentrating. Phone calls, meetings, colleagues from discussing or proposing to go for a coffee, senior hierarchical eager to urgently update on a file, etc. If you make the sum of these elements, and that you add the fatigue caused by the journeys between home and the workplace, you get the ... ! collaborators at reduced efficiency one solution to this problem is to set up an organization giving way to telework this must be arranged between the parties with the full agreement of the employees. Under no if an employee can be subject to work remotely.

In addition, the employer must support the cost of the computer station and means of communication established between the employee and the company. The purpose of teleworking is not to transfer certain costs from the company to the employee, but to allow it to work in a better and more efficiently! In our office, we test the system with some of our employees who work from home partially, one or two days a week. Lamar This organization allows them to enjoy the benefits of teleworking while preserving their relationship with the company. Now we are in the process of discussion with the staff representatives to provide equal opportunity to all our employees.

6 - Optimize your training budgets

Every year, all companies must contribute to the national training effort by paying a certain percentage of their payroll to a joint benefit body (Opca.) This all SME managers know that. What they do not is that by taking them they can benefit greatly from their contributions for training.

Indeed, the law stipulates that in return for its payments, the company has the right to finance, in due proportion, training activities for its employees. Now, every year, numerous SMEs contribute without using their rights to funding and Opca are left with surplus funds just waiting to be granted ... So a SME manager who reveals her Opca and ties with his training advisor a trust and partnership relationship can finance training actions of its employees beyond even the money paid!

We recommend companies to present their annual training plan to the advisor of their OPCA. If the amount of the plan exceeds their annual fee, it's the opportunity to ask a supplementary budget! In general, the OPCA present information to their direction and the applicant may obtain budget increases to 50% if the file is motivated and accepted. This is a huge advantage when you consider, as we believe that employee training is a major issue of profitability for the company, as a source of both motivation of employees and quality of products and services ... dropoff window

7 - Retain your team

An ever-changing team is very expensive. To separate an employee is expensive, hire someone to replace him as well. In addition, these movements disrupt and discredit the company vis-à-vis its customers. D hence the importance of staff loyalty. beyond the salary increases, it is sometimes impossible to grant in an SME, the entrepreneur can use different motivational tools. starting with the participation and . incentive whose employees are very fond These also appreciative of being offered vocational training that will increase their employability: language courses, learning business software, training in managing their careers ... Finally, all initiatives can take the leader to create a good atmosphere in the company are welcome!

8 - Set out your cash

Small business leaders believe that cash their company is inevitably doomed to remain on a bank account or to be placed in money market funds This is false Any company -.!, Possibly with the approval of its shareholders - the right placing its excess cash in investment vehicles out of the box. If our firm generated strong profitability in 2011, this is partly because we conceded substantial financial products by placing our cash in a bond portfolio big business. I advise any SME that has a liquidity buffer to place some of these obligations, which virtually no risk and easily relate 5% per year!

9 - Surround yourself tips

Being accountant, I could consider that I am sufficiently informed to make decisions alone. But five years ago, I wanted to do without the services of a lawyer to solve a complex tax problem and I am bitten fingers! I have since realized that when a specific action for that purpose, use expert advice can save a lot of money. of course, the services of a good tax expert or law business at a cost. But the cost is more than offset by the savings that a specialist you can achieve through the mastery that is his sophisticated mechanisms that you never knew even existed ...

10 - Frequent competitors

For fifteen years I have completely failed to establish and maintain inter-relationships in my industry. I thought meet competitors as part of breakfast or cocktails nothing could bring me. Again, I was wrong.

In reality, any entrepreneur's interest to attend his colleagues. Why? Because experience shows that your competitors, if they have a good picture of you and your business become your prescriber when their clients solicit them for products or services they can not provide. Of course, you will need to ensure return the favor whenever this is possible!