If you want to invest in your business, looking at your company’s day-to-day operations and your eventual succession plans can be helpful.
When you have a seamless plan for your company’s present and future, you and your employees can enjoy a smooth-running business. Here are some of the most effective strategies you and your accountants can pursue to make the process as efficient as possible.
Outsource Your Bookkeeping
If you’ve been with your business since the beginning, you might be used to doing everything yourself. But as you’ve likely discovered, handling your company finances, filing your taxes, and tracking all expenses can quickly become overwhelming when you have other responsibilities.
Still, the decision to pass along your bookkeeping responsibilities can be a difficult one. After all, if you hire someone whose bookkeeping skills prove to be lacking, you might find your business in deep financial trouble.
Fortunately, there’s an easy answer: outsource your bookkeeping to a professional service like Thrive by Vesta. When you do this, you can trust that your payroll, invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and more are in good hands.
With your bookkeeping taken care of, you’ll be free to focus on your other business responsibilities. There’s another advantage as well — some studies have found that outsourcing bookkeeping and similar functions can increase the profitability of a business.
Professional bookkeepers offer your business another benefit, too. Because these professionals have a considerable history with business finances, they can provide valuable advice and insights when making key financial decisions and decisions regarding your business strategy.
Have an Exit Planning Strategy
How detailed are your future plans? You may already be planning on the personal front. You might have a retirement fund or even sought wealth management services to make the most of your money.
But have you taken the time to plan for the day you walk away from your business? Whether you retire, decide to take on another career path, or pass away, a day will come when your business needs to change hands. When you plan ahead, you can ensure your business’s continued success.
Here are some common transition strategies to get you started:
- Start Working with a Partner or Investor: This option allows you to maintain some involvement if you wish, but you can also sell your entire interest in the company to the investor.
- Pass Your Business Down: If you have interested children or other relatives, this can be a great way to keep the business in the family.
- Sell Your Business: This strategy has the bonus of letting you leave with a lump sum, and your business will continue to operate.
- Liquidate Your Business: This lets you recoup some of your investments, but it results in the business closing.
- Merge with Another Business: This may increase your business’s valuation, and you can also sell your stake to the company you merge with.
As you can see, developing an exit strategy or business plan is more complicated than it sounds. When you work with Vesta, you’ll have the chance to work with a true expert: a certified exit planning advisor (CEPA). This kind of business succession planning can help you navigate all the difficult decisions that come with an exit or transition plan.
Get an Accurate Business Valuation
You can’t be vested in how your business runs if you don’t have a thorough understanding of your company. One of the best ways to understand your company is to get an accurate business valuation.
When you objectively assess your business’s value, you’ll have a much easier time applying for loans or seeking out investors. And if you’re currently working on business transition planning, you’ll be glad to know that having a valuation will make selling your business much more manageable.
If you’re navigating the sales process yourself, knowing your business’s value (and having proof of it) puts you in a better position to negotiate.
When you know your business’ worth, you can also identify ways to improve. For instance, once you clearly understand your profit margins, you might decide to allocate more funds to advertising or take other steps to increase your sales.
And lastly, having a business valuation also makes business exit planning much smoother. When you understand your business’s financial status, you and your exit planning advisor can make informed decisions about your business’s future.
Vesta Can Help You Invest in Your Business
At Vesta, we’re proud to be your one-stop solution for business management and business coaching services. Whether you need help with business strategy, planning, accounting, analysis, or developing a small business transition plan, our experts can help!
We strive to be the most sought-after firm in our practice areas of accounting, analysis, planning, and strategy. We’re committed to providing an experience focused on a better future for you and your business.
Our expertise can save you the time and headache of business management, enabling you to focus on your company’s vision. Contact us to take your business to the next level!
