Key Financial Priorities to Help Keep Your Business on Track

By: Gina Schenk and Tara Manis from Western & Southern Life

 

Running your own business can make you feel like the ringmaster of a three-ring circus. The upside of this? There’s never a dull moment. The downside? Same as the upside. The trick to avoid being trampled by a wayward elephant is to know how to set your financial priorities.

These wayward elephants can take many forms in a small business, including high employee turnover, the death of a key executive or partner, business ownership issues and the lack of a business succession plan or an exit strategy. And these hazards must be addressed to help keep your business on track.

Fortunately, you don’t have to tackle them simultaneously. While they’re all high-priority matters, you can organize a one-step-at-a-time approach around the most probable timing of when these issues might begin to develop or become more expensive.

Taming Turnover

High employee turnover can keep your business from growing in size and profitability from the very beginning. Sales cannot be generated, customers cannot be served and products cannot be adequately produced when you’re always playing catch-up to maintain a fully trained workforce. Besides base pay, basic employee benefits — like a retirement plan, life insurance and health insurance — play a vital role in keeping workers on board.

As a result, putting an efficient and attractive employee benefits package in place can help provide the staffing continuity you need to achieve your financial objectives. Retirement plans and insurance policies don’t have to be costly to you. For example, a profit-sharing 401(k) can give you flexibility over how much you contribute on your employees’ behalf.

Want to learn more? Gina Schenk or Tara Manis from Western & Southern Life!