Business improvement, profit and loss | Articles around the web

Running a small business is risky and demanding and lots of them go under because the owner wasn’t well prepared. You can encourage profit and prevent loss through business improvement measures. There’s a lot of articles out there on these topics, so we collected the best, most understandable and put them here.

Things you need to calculate
Factors that affect the profitability of firms by Economics Help

Having a comprehensive plan in place before any ‘open’ signs go up is a good way to start. But running your shop isn’t just calculating how much stock you have to order and how much you need to mark it up in order to make a profit.

If you want to succeed, you must consider other factors like the competition, the current state of the local economy and management strategies.

Things you need to worry about
8 tell-tale signs your business is going under by Entrepreneur

Cash flow, questioning your motives and the sound of crickets chirping instead of the phone ringing…these are just some of the signs you’re in trouble. Trust Entrepreneur to point them out in easy-to-understand terms that even the non-business people can understand,

Preventative measures
5 excellent business improvement ideas by us!

Andrew Unangst / Photographer's Choice / Getty Images

We wrote about business improvement, so of course we’ll share what we’ve got! You can do any of these five things during the starting phase of your business and all throughout the year. Keeping routine and regular meetings will help you and your staff understand where your business stands, where the profits are coming from and if there’s anything in the red.

What you should think of first
21 Ways an Accountant Can Help a Small Business Owner by The Balance

The Balance is a reliable source of information that’s easy to follow. They’ve broken up ways an accountant can help your business in three chunks. There’s the start-up phase, regular operations and finally the business improvement phase.