Five Ways Disorganization is Costing You Money and Clients

Over the years, I feel like I’ve seen every way that disorganization can cost a business time and money. Nothing surprises me anymore and when I talk with business owners, I always let them know they are in a “no judgment” zone with me and my team.

So, take these examples as what they are – illustrations of the various ways that being disorganized can cost you time and money:

1. Getting Clients: if a business owner has no system for handling potential client information, that’s money down the drain. You get a voicemail or email sayings, “I’d like to discuss…” and that info goes…nowhere. It never gets followed up on again unless you accidentally stumble over it.
2. Doing the Work: as projects multiply in number or complexity, details get lost in the shuffle. Changes aren’t noted – or billed. Parts of projects are never completed – until the clients asks. Then the business owner goes into CYA mode or into apology mode.
3. Getting Paid: No way to track money coming in or out. I’ve found checks stuffed in books and files years after a client paid the business owner. In the process of working together on A/P and A/R details, we’ve found evidence of vendors being paid twice – or more! And I’ve discovered instances where clients were never billed for work done (and who wants to work for free??).
4. Running the Business: I’ve seen business owners have their companies dissolved for not filing their annual reports with the Secretary of State; or have their website shut down because they forgot to renew their domain name; or have an audit take forever because their paperwork was SO disorganized that nothing could be found quickly or easily.
5. Owner’s Mindset: with all the details of running a business, something is bound to be forgotten without reliable systems to capture, process, and manage all the information coming in and going out. Good time management, a healthy relationship with email, and dedication to being in response rather than react mode go a LONG way in running a business that you love.

So, if those are the ways that businesses lose clients and money through disorganization, why don’t all business owners just buckle down and get their act in gear?

The truth is, many business owners would rather have their toenails pulled out than do the work required to get organized.

Why?

Because they don’t know what they don’t know and it can *feel* overwhelming.

Mostly, business owners don’t know:

• Where to start
• Whom to call
• If they can “find the time”
• How to overcome their embarrassment or inertia
• If they can afford help
• How long it might actually take
• If they are ready to commit to making the necessary changes – in their businesses OR in themselves

The beauty of working with a company like mine here at Your Organized Guide is that we as a team can help a business owner with all of these questions.

We love disorganization – because 9 times out of 10, we have a simple solution to what seems like an overwhelming problem. We LIKE getting our arms around chaos and creating order. Give us a messy office and a frazzled business owner – by the time we’re done, everyone is feeling calm and peaceful. Found an area of your business that isn’t working or is causing tremendous frustration? We love to get everyone in a room to hash out the details, put logical order to it, and get agreement from everyone involved that “this is how we’ll do it going forward.”

We love accountability, clarity, and order – AND we love creativity.

If you’d love that too, call us. From office organization, to filing systems, to email management, to getting business systems and processes written down, we’re here to help small businesses get out of overwhelm! Call us at (704) 293-7559 or email us: [email protected].