Please forgive me. But I am needing help. I am running a business for 15 years. And another for going on 3. You would think that I would be good at this by now. How do I have a profit if I’m barely surviving. I don’t have any money left over to pay taxes let alone call it a profit. It’s like I’m struggling. And can’t figure this crap out. -Mr. Overwhelmed
I’ve been there. Was making over six figures in revenue but barely scraping by each month, sometimes not able to draw a paycheck. It’s obvious you’re doing something wrong. Could be a lot of things. Main culprits that hit me:
I wasn’t charging enough. I had clients that wanted the cheapest possible service. Those tend to be very bad clients. You don’t make much money upfront and if they complain/want rework, you’re actually losing money. Find these bad clients and fire them as soon as possible.
Bad sales. You need to be out there selling and looking for better/more profitable accounts. Figure out your most profitable type of client and find MORE like that. When money is tight you feel like you need to work with anyone for any amount and that just makes matters worse. The only way to fire bad clients is having better clients ready to go and for that you need sales.
Bad advice. You need to find other business owners to network with. Just like this sub, but in person. Join that chamber of commerce, cleaning business association, go to events etc. I even found this podcast about cleaning businesses https://youtu.be/oiatXFvh3g4?si=7nRs_UAsMNyGcE2K Find a way to talk to more experienced and successful business owners and ask them for help.