Are you really a business owner?

Back in February I wrote about my two favorite business-advice reality shows. I still follow Tabitha Takes Over, in which a very successful hair salon owner helps other small businesses get themselves out of trouble.

Usually about 90% of the problem is weak or misguided management (the rest usually come down to staff and marketing). She often asks owners a few quick question to determine how good a handle they actually have on their business. Can you answer these questions about your business?

• How many people do you have in your client base?
• How many of you clients are "regulars"?
• How many hours of hands-on time do you average in a week and month?
• How do most of your clients find you?
• How much money do you gross in an average week and month?
• What is your net income in the average month?
• How much is your business growing financially?

These questions are an example of the kind of information you need to know about your practice. These questions give you a truer picture of your business than "how full is my schedule?" They are critical questions to tell you how healthy your practice is.

If you do your bookkeeping in Quiken or Quikbooks or a similar program you can answer the last 3 questions pretty quickly. The first 4 questions may require you to do some digging in your appointment book. The 4th question requires you to actually ask your clients, either when they book an appointment or during their first appointment.

If you aren't (currently) able to answer these questions, you need to start tracking the data that will help you answer these questions. You can't really move your practice forward till you know where it really is right now.