Checks and Balances!

Checks and Balances

 

As I sit here and write this, I must tell you that this will be one of the realest blogs that I will ever write. The reason is that it takes complete transparency and the willingness to help others in order to bare your own mistakes. I don’t want to only share the latest trends and tell you how fab the cut throat world of fashion is, I want you to gain knowledge and growth from my own perils.

 

Okay, so I named this post after a very popular YELLOW dress that we sell but it has so much significance in so many ways. As a business owner you are constantly bombarded by

1. OPPORTUNISTS
2. OPPORTUNISTS
3. People that are “friends” that are really…. OPPORTUNISTS!

BEWARE….

 

Although you will find that there are many people that are willing to take up you cause and make your business be the next Fortune 500 Company… proceed with caution and all eyes open… as they say, NEVER get caught slipping.

 

You may employ someone to take care of certain tasks for your business. Tasks that often seem mundane or not in your JOB DESCRIPTION as the BO$$, but let me remind you, as the boss you must make sure that you can FIT every HAT and wear it well! And let’s say that you can’t wear that hat- well you better find away to squeeze into it… LITERALLY!

 

Use your resources and learn as much as you can about that particular job and/ or task. See you don’t have to be the CPA but you need to know how to balance that check book, create a profit and loss statement, know COST OF GOODS SOLD (COG), what is your PROFIT MARGIN and how much you have to pay in TAXES… just to name a few of the TRILLION things that you need to know to successfully run a business.

 

Don’t ever make the mistake of trusting people too much. You have to understand that it is HUMAN NATURE to get away with as much as you CAN! Think about it, as a child you would push your mother’s buttons until one finally “popped off” and she popped off on you. Well, it is the same thing with business, the more that you allow to SLIDE the more OPPORTUNITY the OPPORUNISTS see to TAKE what you have.

 

Speaking of taking… people will take many tangible and intangible things from you that will leave you sleepless at night. Think about the things that we often take for granted that an employee or colleague may be robbing you blind for (brief silence while I allow you to ponder)….

 

1. Time
2. Energy
3. Creativity
4. Quality of work
5. MONEY
6. Products

 

 

 

 

Now the six things that I just named are essential in the creative field, especially. The one that I am going to touch on is MONEY because it is the most important element of a business. You need CASH and you need CASH FLOW and if the cash is not flowing, it can cause that business to not have the resources it needs to continue to thrive.

 

You must have a system of CHECKS and BALANCES! This BIG BROTHER system keeps everything and everyone in line. Everyone should always have SOMEONE to answer to and that someone should ALWAYS answer to you in order to keep things flowing as efficiently as possible. When people are aware that you are watching, looking, lurking and yes, even STALKING they are more careful about the things that they do and how they perform that job or task.

 

Let me point out that I am not talking about just glancing over things, NO! I am saying that as a business owner that you must go through every single thing with microscope… every nook and cranny should be looked at and analyzed. No one should just hand you an invoice and you just pay it. You or your bookkeeper / accountant/ CPA / CFO; whomever is in charge of the financials have a responsibility to dissect every single price to the PENNY! Yes, the penny- no room for error, not even one red cent.

 

Make sure that you know your COST OF GOODS up front and the minute that deviates, you should be on the phone with you vendor or manufacturer asking why??? Honestly nothing should change without prior knowledge, you are paying them and every single price increase or deviation should be accounted for. There should be no surprises when it comes to you spending your money. Price increases have to be passed on to this customer and if you are not notified of these increases then you have no idea what to charge your customer which causes you to lose profit, which in turns decreases your profit margin and can very well be the demise of your business.

 

In closing, remember that trust is something that is often lost in opportunity. Whether in business or personal, keep your eyes OPEN at all times. When the opportunity arises… the OPPORTUNISTS are all over it!

 

Well GLAMSTARS! I hope that you all enjoyed this one because I certainly enjoyed sharing the TRUTH with you!

 

Smooches,

 

Your FAIRY GLAM MOTHER… Pink Lucy aka T’Shemise