Since
1992,
NSPG has been providing the tools that allow contractors to
increase profits and minimize business hassles. With our
simple-to-use-tools, you can make being a business owner
what you always wanted to it be -
successful, profitable and rewarding.
Is Your Business lost in
the fog?
This month we have an
article by Mike Conroy
(See the second picture
below). He
relates an actual experience to the absolute necessity
to use the correct business tools and techniques to deal
with the current business climate.
Some of you may know that
a good adrenaline rush is what
I look for when I am looking for a relaxing break.
These days, my activity of choice is kiteboarding.
Two weeks ago there was a good forecast for wind at our usual
kiting spot. Our spot is a sand Island
four miles out in the middle of Barnegat Bay.
 Three
other kiters and I met at
the marina, and we packed up two Wave Runners with our gear. However, there
was an unanticipated
problem. Heavy fog was severely reducing our visibility. So we decided to
wait for the fog to clear. After about an hour the fog
cleared just a bit, so we decide to take the trip to the
island. Now, we
have taken this trip no less than 50 times, and it’s only
a 15 minute ride north so a little fog shouldn’t be a
problem. RIGHT!
Once we got out in the middle of
the bay the fog got thicker. So thick we could only see
about 20 feet in front of us. Now this is starting
to feel like a Stephen King movie! After about 90
minutes of
riding and passing a small sand bar island twice, I knew we
were lost in the fog. We were cold, nervous, running
low on gas, running out of daylight, and in danger of getting stranded
in the bay.
Get a grip man!
Since
I keep a map of the bay and a compass on my Wave Runner, I decided to find a buoy marker, get the number, and
locate it on my map, and break out the compass. We find
buoy #49, and locate our position on the map. We charted
the course we need to travel.
I handed the map
and compass to Vince, the kiter behind me, and appoint him
my navigator. I told him to point me in the
right direction which for some strange reason was still
North after ripping through the water in that direction for
90 minutes. Well we now
are ripping along for another ½ hour, and no sign of kite
island. Suddenly, a thought pops into my head. Maybe
Vince can’t read the map and compass!
I immediately stop
and have that discussion and find out that’s exactly
what was happening. I made an error in assuming
Vince could read the compass and the map. How may times
have people been hired as service manager only to
discover they can’t manage people?
 I
had a quick discussion with Rob, the passenger on the
second Wave Runner, and this time I confirmed that he could read
the map and compass. I hand off the compass and map to
him. Got him up to speed on our location, and within 10
minutes we spotted kites in the air. We had arrived
at kite Island. Wow, that’s was an interesting journey!
Getting
back home was much easier even in the fog because we
were using the map and compass. Now, you’re asking,
"What
the hell does this have to do with my business?"
We
had all been out to that island many times, however, this
time something changed. The environment changed, and we
needed to approach the journey in a different way. We
needed a compass and a map, and we needed to follow our
bearings to keep us on course.
Many of the clients I’ve
talked to recently are experiencing a very different
economic climate. Now
more than ever, they need a compass and map to navigate
these treacherous economic waters. They need to set
their coordinates or bearings towards a profitable course.
A working budget is your map and
compass, and your business'
coordinates are the key performance indicators that you
track on a regular basis. Without these critical
business tools and techniques to measure your
progress, you may wind up running in one big circle just
as I did on our simple trip.
The other problem you
may face is giving the wrong person the map and compass.
So even if you have your budget, you must have
your key performance indicators set. This way you can measure
your business' progress, and adjust your course
if you start to drift.
In this worsening economic climate, build your
working budget based on realistic productive hours using
a tool like Numbers Cruncher. But, you can’t stop there.
You need to measure your progress to your own profit island.
You need software, like
Performance Dispatch Plus, to keep you on course by
showing your key daily, weekly, and monthly performance indicators.
Visually graphed indicators will keep you on course to
profitability, and even help
to ensure you have the right person using the map and compass.
Mike Conroy
Give me a call to discuss your
business, your
numbers, or your flat rate books.
Maybe I can help you navigate to your own business success.
Measure Monthly, Adjust Quarterly
& Achieve Annual Profit Goals
NSPG News
Performance Dispatch Plus
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Performance
Dispatch Plus (PDP) makes running your business easier and more organized.
PDP combines
your Customer List with easy to use
Dispatch Software, connects to
Flat Rate, creates the
Invoice, and syncs it all with
QuickBooks. Along the way, it remembers
everything so you can evaluate and improve your business
without retyping anything.
At the end of
the day, you can evaluate individual employees or your entire business
performance with the built-in reports without retyping any information.
Just choose a report, and the information is there.
 Most
of your daily operations like taking calls, managing estimates, employee
scheduling, and invoicing can be controlled in Performance Dispatch Plus to
simplify and organize everything you do.
PDP remembers everything so you can evaluate and improve the
critical aspects of your business without retyping anything. That saves you
time and money, reduces errors, and you can be sure it will get done because
it’s automatic.
For more information about Performance Dispatch Plus, visit
nspgweb.com or call
800-841-8542, and let us show you how our system can work for your business.
Ask about our Special Introductory Pricing!
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Automatically Graphs 10 Tech Benchmarks |
1. Billable Hours Sold
2. Time In Field
3. Close Ratio
4. Tasks per call
5. Ave Sale per Invoice |
6. Ave Sale per hour
7. Total Sales
8. Net Profit%
9. Net Profit Dollars
10. Billable Hr Efficiency |
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Finally! Your business can be easier to
manage every day. |
On-Line
News
Gas Price Affects the Bottom Line
Florida Backflow Mandate
ISS toilet fails to suck.
Electrician Immune to Shocks?
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In This Issue |
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Phone 800 841-8542
Numbers Cruncher
National Standard
Price Guide
Performance Dispatch Plus
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The freebie of the month is a web site or
product that we feel gives you something worth looking
at or using that costs you little or nothing.
OpenOffice is a free, open source replacement for
Microsoft Office. Instead of spending hundreds of
dollars for software that you may use for a few letters
or a quick spreadsheet each month, you can take
advantage of the free download of OpenOffice.
OpenOffice
includes a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program,
database, and presentation manager. Each of these
modules can read and write to Microsoft Office formats.
If you install the free Microsoft Compatibility pack,
you can even read the latest Microsoft formats.
OpenOffice
operates just like its commercial counterpart, so
someone who has used older versions of Microsoft Office
should not need any extra training. It doess not
have 100% of the features of the Microsoft product, but
most users will not miss the features that it lacks
because they never used them anyway.
If you
need light word processing or spreadsheet applications
for your home or office,
OpenOffice
deserves your consideration.
If you have
a favorite Free site, let us know.
nspginfo@nspgweb.com
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Quotations
It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you
don't know too much about the problem.
Malcolm Forbes
There's an old saying about those who
forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.
Stephen Colbert
A large income is the best recipe for
happiness I ever heard of.
Jane Austen
A banker
is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is
shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.
Mark Twain
I'm a
great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the
more I have of it.
Thomas Jefferson
If I only
had a little humility, I'd be perfect.
Ted Turner
Some e-mail
providers consider any e-mail message from an e-mail
address not in your address book as "unwanted"
or "spam." To continue
receiving your NSPG Newsletter in your inbox, please add
plumber@nspgweb.com to your address book now.
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