How Small Businesses Can Make More Money Despite Shrinking Budgets

Productivity Experts Show How to Break Bad Business Habits in Five Steps

Victoria, British Columbia (PRWEB) June 8, 2009 -- Every minute of every day, companies are leaving money - their profits - on the table. It's not because budgets are tight; rather, business owners have gotten into some bad business habits. The irony is that these bad habits are easy to break.

"It just takes guts and focus," says Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms, the CEO of FunctionFox., the leading provider of time and project management software for creative businesses. "Even when budgets are being cut for just about everything, it is possible for small businesses to make more money," she adds.

Here's how to turn things around:
1. Monitor your time. The worst habit, say productivity experts, is not paying attention to how much time you're actually spending to get the work done.

"Many business owners have blinders on when it comes to monitoring work in real time. As a result, they underestimate projects and wind up either having to ask for additional money from clients or swallowing the cost," says Bellamy-Willms. Small creative shops consistently under charge, with the average creative firm billing 42% of its time; while the optimum billable efficiency should be 60%. For many small companies, this represents hundreds of thousands of dollars lost every year, according to business consultant David Baker, who has worked with hundreds of creative companies.

To determine just how much companies are "cheating" themselves, small business owners can calculate billable efficiency using free tools such as www.Recourses.com, or under the "Resources" tab at www.FunctionFox.com.

"Timesheet blinders aren't the only road block to profits. Small business owners have adapted other terrible practices because they mistakenly believe that doing otherwise will make them lose money," says Bellamy-Willms.

2. Fire Some Clients. Once companies start keeping track of time it will soon be clear that they are likely giving a lot of time away to a few 'bad' clients. The best clients are the most profitable. So, be bold. Look to add more 'good' clients, and let go of the 'bad' ones. Although this feels counter-intuitive, it works.

3. Don't sell yourself cheap. Low-balling a budget just to win a new client or project never works. Your company will forever be branded as a cheap supplier. Even with tight budgets, the more you cost, the more clients will value you.

4. Never work for free, even for a good cause. Many firms take on pro bono work to bolster their portfolios. But this costs them double. Working for free means that firms give away valuable billable work time, and ties up staff from doing billable work. Pro bono work can be rewarding, but before diving in, discuss the real cost with clients, including time without profit. Or, ask to get paid your full rate and donate back the profit - 15-20% -- at the end of the year. It's amazing how much more value is placed on your 'donation' this way. Plus, your actual cost will be covered.

5. Declare a specialty. The reason for this is simple: specialists make more than generalists. This is true of every profession. For more information on how to position your firm pick up a book called, "Take a Stand for Your Brand", by Tim Williams.
"If adapting all of these techniques at once can cause company culture shock, introducing one or two good business habits will deliver results," says Bellamy-Willms. Most importantly, she advises, is to know what the work is worth from the start.

About FunctionFox
FunctionFox is the leading provider of time and project tracking software for small creative companies. TimeFox, its web-based timesheet and project management software, is the number one ranked time-tracking system in North America. Graphic design, advertising, communications, marketing, multimedia, public relations, and interactive firms all choose TimeFox as their web-based time and project management application. TimeFox is currently used by thousands of customers in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. http://www.functionfox.com.

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