Part of Business Problems
What should I fix first in my business?
Start with one recent job, one week of work or a question that keeps coming back. The examples below show what to check and what to do next.
The examples use invented businesses and numbers to show the thinking. They are not client results or recommended targets. No form or calculator is needed.
01 · Busy, but little cash
Did the work leave too little, or has the customer not paid?
A full calendar cannot tell you which problem you have. Open one finished job and put the agreed price beside what it actually took to deliver.
Illustrative example · A completed service job
A $2,400 job. Two different shortfalls.
- Agreed price
- $2,400
- Materials, as expected
- − $600
- Labour expected
- − $800
- Expected amount left
- $1,000
- Extra labour actually used
- − $400
- Actually left before overhead, tax and owner pay
- $600
The customer has paid $1,800 so far. Materials and all $1,200 of labour have already been paid: $1,800 received − $1,800 paid = $0 cash left so far. Another $600 is still due.
Next decision: follow up the unpaid $600 and check why labour exceeded the quote before pricing the next similar job. Collecting the balance fixes the delay; it does not restore the $400 spent on extra labour.
What this example tells you: extra labour reduced the amount left. An unpaid balance also tied up cash. Both happened on the same job.
Still unknown: whether this happens on other jobs, and how much must cover overhead and owner pay.
Do this with one job
Put its quote, actual hours, supplier costs and payment record together. Mark any extra work the customer was not charged for. If little was left even after full payment, inspect the price and delivery costs. If enough was left but payment is late, inspect the collection dates.
02 · Need help, unsure about the cost
What work would someone take off your week?
“I need help with everything” is hard to hire for. Start with recurring work a person could own, then include the time you will spend teaching and checking it.
Illustrative example · Ten hours of weekly support
A smaller job description makes the choice clearer.
- Scheduling and customer updates
- 6 hours
- Preparing job files
- 4 hours
- Owner’s first-week training and checking
- 3 hours
- Owner time freed in week one
- 7 hours
Suppose the full cost of this support is $340 per week, including employment costs and tools. That is an assumed total for this example, not a wage or market benchmark.
Next decision: check whether existing cash can cover $340 each week, plus any startup costs, without needing a sales increase. If it can, agree the tasks and training before committing. If it cannot, change the amount or timing of help and recalculate. Seven free hours are useful time, not automatically new revenue.
What this example tells you: ten hours of support could free seven owner hours in the first week. It adds a weekly payment even if sales stay flat.
Still unknown: the real employment cost, whether those tasks fill ten hours every week, and whether available cash covers the commitment.
Do this with last week
List the tasks you would transfer and the hours you actually spent on them. Get the full cost and payment timing for the help you are considering. Put those payments on your existing cash calendar with sales unchanged. Do not count hoped-for sales as money already available.
03 · Cannot step away
Which question keeps finding its way back to you?
Pick a routine question, not the hardest decision in the business. Find out whether the person is missing information, practice or permission before telling them to “just handle it.”
Illustrative example · A customer changes a delivery slot
“Can I move this delivery to Thursday?”
The coordinator has asked similar questions three times this week. They can read the live schedule and explain the promised delivery window, but expect the owner to approve every change.
Next decision: let the coordinator make the next change that meets these conditions. The owner remains available for the named exceptions.
What this example tells you: the coordinator has the schedule and can explain the customer promise. Permission is what is missing.
Still unknown: whether the agreed rule will cover the next real request. Check that request together afterwards.
Do this with the last question
Ask the person to show you the answer they would choose and why. If the information or skill is missing, supply it first. Otherwise, agree what they may decide and exactly when they should call you. Keep an in-bounds decision in place even if you would have chosen differently.
If all three sound familiar, choose the one with a real deadline.
A payroll date, a promised delivery or a decision already holding up work gives you a place to start. Use one real record before choosing a bigger fix. If it contradicts your first explanation, change the next action. You do not need to redesign the whole business to learn something useful.
If the pressure is elsewhere, there are also practical checks for marketing that is not working, a proposed website rebuild and work that gets lost in handoffs.
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Work through the next business decision.
A job that left too little, a hire you are unsure about, or work that keeps returning to you is enough to start a conversation. In ongoing work, we look at what happened, choose a next action and return to what changed. You bring the records and make the business decisions.
Ongoing 1:1 business work starts at $1,500/month. Larger work is quoted by scope.
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