A Hand To Mouth Existence Won't Benefit Your Consulting Business - But The Good News Is, It's Not The Only Path
Jessica Fearnley
10 Years+ Helping 6 Figure B2B Consultant Women Get To 7 Figures | 180+ Podcast Episodes | Work less, earn more, and be seen as a trusted advisor
Welcome to the latest edition of the Seven Figure Consultant LinkedIn Newsletter for Women in Consulting. Don't forget that you can get daily updates from Jessica in your LinkedIn news feed by accessing her LinkedIn profile and hitting Follow. She will be sharing insights and discussions through the week that she would love to hear your views on.
I questioned whether to write this.
It might seem a little unhelpful to be pointing this out now.
Isn’t it kicking someone when they’re down to offer a postmortem analysis of their business problems? How does it help to have this discussion now?
But, I’m not writing this for the business owners who have been forced to close already because of Covid. I’m writing it for the people who are still up and running, and worried they may be next.
There is so much we can learn in any situation where a business has to close.
What tripped people up?
What is the biggest issue that small businesses are struggling with at the moment?
It’s easy to look at the surface issues and say, for retail and hospitality businesses the loss of footfall has meant many have been forced out of business.
But when you dig a little deeper you’ll see the loss of footfall doesn’t have to be the end of the business, or at least it wasn’t the only thing that tripped them up.
When a business is forced to close, the surface issue is the loss of footfall. But the underlying problem was there was an assumption in operation that the cash would keep flowing in. The business was set up in a way that meant money had to come in every month in order for the business to stay viable.
The example I’ve given here isn’t talking about a consultancy business. But the idea is still highly relevant and highlights an issue that many businesses aren’t aware of.
A hand-to-mouth existence isn’t a good way to run a business. And yet it’s something that many businesses use as their default mode of operating.
In some ways, it might seem like this discussion is like closing the barn door once the horse has bolted. But focusing on business reserves is a really important topic to be featuring at the moment because many business owners, and many consulting business owners, are way more aware of their vulnerability than they have been previously.
And that makes it a great moment to take stock of this, and to put in place some simple, but fundamental, changes in your consulting business so that next time a storm comes (whether it’s another wave of coronavirus, or something completely different) your business has the ability to bounce back in a way it didn’t the first time around. That’s what makes it a great time to be thinking through some of these broader issues.
In this week’s episode of the Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, I discuss:
- What business reserves are, and why they matter
- How much cash you should be holding in your business
- What to do right now if your reserves are zero (or near to zero).
?? Head here to listen to this week's episode in full - 039 How To Build Reserves In Your Business
And I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Do you have a reserve of money in your business bank account? And a strategy for growing it month on month?
Free Report - The Six Elements of a Seven Figure Consulting Business
I've created a free PDF report called The Six Elements of a Seven Figure Business. It’s my most popular free resource and in it I outline the 6 areas of unscaled businesses that need to change in order to move past being ‘booked up and burned out’ and shifting into that higher gear that gets you cruising again.
It’s the framework that helps consultant women like you find their feet and get back to leading the business, rather than being buried in client work and back-end business operations.
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To find out more about the work I do, visit jessicafearnley.com or message me here on LinkedIn if you'd like to hear more about private coaching and how I can help you transition from booked up and burned out to THRIVING as the CEO of your 7 figure consulting business.
Dad | Husband | Ghostwriter/Ghostblogger | Area Facility Manager II @Fermilab
4 年Jessica, thanks for framing this post the way you did. As a business student we've covered the topic business financial continuity repeatedly. It so imperative. Interesting story. I was talking to a banker during the PPP loans beginning and I was surprised to hear from my friend how many people couldn't put an accurate number to how much it costs to fund their small businesses for a month.
Leather Goods experience
4 年I think
From Burnout & Chaos to Thriving with Clarity | Sharing Unique Perspectives & Exploring Fresh Possibilities | Practical, Psychological & Spiritual Guidance & Support
4 年So much TRUTH with a capital T shared here Jessica and very important for ALL business owners to explore for themselves along with gaining an understanding of Profit First. Thank you for sharing, especially in the current environment.