Achieving peak performance in business – Get a coach and plan for success.

To those in the know it’s no surprise to find out that many high performing business owners are also high performing athletes in their “spare time”. This is because achieving business success takes much the same path as achieving athletic success.

Like all good athletes, good business owners surround themselves with good people, the coach being the most important of these for athletes. For business owners a good accountant can act like a good coach. While you still need to have the passion and drive to put in the hard work, a good accountant can direct and guide you on your path to business success.

Like a good coach, a good accountant should be able to answer your questions in a way that you understand. Have you ever been confused at the difference between cashflow and profit or asked yourself why you are making profit yet there is no cash in the bank? When paying for an accountant you’re paying for their knowledge. If they’re not explaining things clearly to you and transferring their knowledge, you are not getting value for money.

A common phrase bandied about by athletes is “failing to prepare is preparing to fail” and the same can be said about business. Planning is the key to business success, and your accountant, like a coach to an athlete, should be the facilitator of this. When thinking about planning for a business you need two things; a forecast model which acts like a decision maker, and a budget which acts like the training plan – showing you what you need to do to achieve your goals.

Like a coach an accountant should be able to help you make difficult business decisions like when to start, end or change a business. A good accountant will build a forecast model to act as an unbiased decision making tool which answers key questions such as:

• Will my proposed business model make money?
• If not, what needs to change?
• If I change something in my business how will that affect my cashflow and profit?
• What financial and time investment will I need to make in the business, and when can I expect a return?
• Which finance option will be best for my business in the long and short term?
• What do I need to change to increase my business profitability or to entice a buyer for my business?

The end outcome of the forecast is a budget. A budget is the best guess of what we think is achievable for your business and acts as a quantification of your business objectives. Like a training plan it marks out your goals, and the steps you need to take to achieve those goals.  Like all training plans good forecasts and budgets will be unique to you, and be able to respond to key changes in your business.

While planning is key to business success, true peak performance is only achieved by businesses that change, adapt and strive for improvement. The key to achieving this, as in sport, is timely review and monitoring of the business. No good athlete would wait 12 months to talk to their coach about their performance, and by the same token no business should wait until the end of year financial statements to review there financial data.

High performing businesses conduct regular management meetings, where up-to-date financial figures are compared to budgets, and where budgets and forecasts are updated to reflect predicted future trends. By doing this, businesses have clarity and accountability on where they are now, where they want to be and how they will get there. Like athletes, high performing businesses are not content with meeting budgets, they update budgets and goals in the constant quest for improvement.

Key steps to achieving peak performance in business:

1. Do something you have drive and passion for;
2. Surround yourself with good people;
3. Choose people that understand your business, and can explain things in a way you understand;
4. Plan to be successful by using a forecast and budget;
5. Evaluate what has worked and what hasn’t, by having regular management meetings using up-to-date reports.

If you need help achieving peak business performance then Easdowns Business Specialists can help. We specialise in forecast and budget modelling for new or established businesses; performance monitoring and improvement strategies, product and service costing and analysis; cash flow management as well as all your standard accounting and taxation services.

About the author -Laura Darlington is a Client Service Manager at Easdowns Business Specialists with 10 years accounting experience including extensive commercial experience. In addition she is also an elite cyclist with National Road Series team Suzuki-Brumby’s.   You can contact Laura at laura.darlington@easdowns.com.au or (02) 62571488 for further information on the above or an obligation free meeting about your business and our services.