Investment | Teik Oh

How much should I pay myself?

Jul 28 2015

When I’m consulting to startups or small businesses there is a perennial question: “am I paying myself the right amount?”

That really is a difficult question to answer.

On the one hand, I’d like to say that you should pay yourself what you would have to pay someone else to do what you do. That’s difficult enough as it is. After all, as business owner you are almost certainly doing things above and beyond a normal Job Description – long hours, things “beneath” a manager’s role, the literal bottle-washer. How much would you pay someone for all that?

On the other hand you did not start your business to earn a salary. What you put into the business will reap you the rewards a salary earner will never get – even though it may take a few years to eventuate. You will have equity, you will have the satisfaction of working for yourself, and perhaps the most powerful of all, you will fulfill your dream – the reason you started in business.

Watch this video for a discussion of what you will have to think about when you try to work out what you should pay yourself.

Let’s be honest. At the beginning, what you are likely to be able to pay yourself is simply what’s left in the bank at the end of the day! That can be difficult for business owners who are single income families with mortgages especially in the early days when cash available in the business is in short supply.

I’ve written before about how business owners need to realise they may have to make sacrifices, and this may be one of them.

However your reward really comes from the future, the building of a sustainable business with a base for growth, steady profitability and a structure that you can mould to your vision. Stick to the vision. Focus on what it takes to make your business successful. Be clear about quality and customer service. Stay determined and constantly on track.

Sure it gets hard from time to time, but work smart and work hard, plan your way forward and you will get there. When you do, the celebration is worth the sacrifice!

In the meantime, subscribe to our newletter here so that you can get all our resources, tools and tips to grow your business sent directly to your inbox for you to read and prosper from in your own time.

Comment 13

10 Business Opportunities in good or bad times

Jul 14 2015

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about 10 business survival strategies in difficult times.

I received a ton of email telling me that you guys are actually having it good out there!

John from Sydney said that his office design business had never seen it so good! Peta, also from Sydney, said that while she did see ups and downs the sales in her online home-wares business was growing steadily. Anne and Peter told me that their cafe in Adelaide hit a rough patch last year but they seem to be recovering now. From London, Geoff who runs a house-clearance company (Steptoe and Sons?) says that with a little smart management he has maintained his sales while reducing costs.

That’s great!

So I thought this week I’d “balance the books”. Here’s a video about 10 business improvement opportunities that you can take advantage of in good time (or bad – see, I’m hedging my bets).

These are 10 things you really should look to do whatever the economic climate – they just make sense if you want to make your business be more efficient, be more responsive, be more profitable, and grow.

Improve your business position, whether physical (better location), market share or quality products;
Look for opportunities to buy out your competitors or their equipment;
Increase the quality of your employees;
Reorganise your finance facilities;
Renegotiate property leases;
Increase margins (by increasing quality and service);
Eliminate unprofitable business segments or products;
Restructure and reorganise operations for more efficiency or customer-responsiveness;
Reorganise your office – put in more efficient systems to save time and cost;
Review your long term personal goals.

OK people, send me more email about how you’re going! I love getting your ideas and your stories.

Or, if you don’t mind sharing, get over to https://teikoh.com and leave a comment. While you’re there, or click here to subscribe to our newsletter and receive great valuable tips, tools and resources to grow your business.

Comment 13

10 Business Survival Strategies in Difficult Times

Jun 30 2015

We are in uncertain times for business at the moment. The economy seems to do well one moment, at other times there is doom and gloom.

I’m not an economist, yet even I understand that despite some good signs there are fundamental economic indicators that are worrying, including interest rates, international GDP trends and unemployment. I’m a business owner just like you, and while I look after my business as best as I can, I do realise that there are things happening that is outside of my control.

However what is important is that we keep track of wider economic trends and see how they affect us, and, even more importantly, implement strategies that mitigate risk. So when I received an email last week from Sheryl, a follower of my blog, asking me what “common sense” things she should do to ensure that she was prepared for whatever might happen, I reached into my toolbox and pulled out 10 strategies that are useful in difficult times.

In over 30 years’ of consulting to business and other organisations, I have found that history often repeats itself. So why reinvent the wheel?

In this video I run through 10 business survival strategies for difficult times that are “common sense”, can be instigated now, and that I have seen work in other times of economic woe. Would you believe the first paper I wrote about these strategies was for a conference I presented to in 1987? Since then I have refined them at least three times as the world economy fluctuated over the last 28 years.

There’s no secret really – here they are again:-

Comment 13

How to grow your business with no external capital

Jun 05 2015

You’ve started your business. You may have been running a few years and you are now at a stage where you need some capital to organically grow your business to its next stage.

We all want to see our businesses grow into something bigger, but finding external capital is difficult these days. Where are the angels when you need them, especially if you don’t want to go into debt?

Well there are things you can do to grow your business from within. Watch this week’s video to see what you can do.

Remember – there are always innovative ways to find capital from within your business. Sure, if you could get an injection of $250,000 to half a million, what you could do to your business! But when it’s not there, it’s not there and your growth will have to be organic and a little bit slower. But grow you can.

As always the fun starts after you watch the video – what do you think? What are your ideas or experiences in finding organic capital?

Get over to https://teikoh.com and leave a comment. Better still, sign up at here and be part of the Masterclass conversation!

Comment 13

Starting a business involves sacrifices – what might they be?

May 29 2015

Well, the title says it all. Starting your own business involves making sacrifices. I’m sure you have been thinking of some of them already but I think it’s useful to be prepared for what might come.

Starting your own business can be incredibly rewarding. It’s usually about following a dream. Some of you are perhaps a little more down to earth. “Oh no'” you say, “it’s not a dream, I just want to work for myself!”

Well, that’s a dream isn’t it? Whatever the form, you have decided to start your own business to achieve something – your independence, a lifestyle, to make a difference, to be recognised, to create.

However the reality for most of us is that the startup phase is long and hard. Your dream is not going to be achieved in that first few months or even year. In that time you have to work hard, work smart, spend a lot of time on it, choose to invest in it instead of something else. This is when the sacrifices start to be asked of you.

So, it’s better to recognise that some of these sacrifices will have to be met now rather than be surprised by them. But remember your dream – that’s why you are making these sacrifices.

I’d love to hear about your journey. Get over to the website and leave a comment about what you have sacrificed and was it worth it.

At https://teikoh.com you will find more tools and resources to create strategies to grow your business. Sign up with your email and name and I’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing!

Comment 13

Increase your sales through a highly focused marketing plan!

SMART Marketing: In this book, the owners of a small business are led through the SMART Marketing 7 Step Process to produce a marketing plan targeted at their most desirable customers. Any business can use these principles and in 4 to 6 weeks implement a plan to get them through the door! Find out how...

The SMART Marketing Workbook: Companion to “SMART Marketing”, this workbook sets out the SMART Marketing process in 7 workshops for you and your staff to complete questionnaires and templates that at the end, form the marketing plan you need to sell your REAL product to your REAL customer! View now...

Category - Investment

Get FREE weekly ideas to grow your business

How much should I pay myself?

10 Business Opportunities in good or bad times

10 Business Survival Strategies in Difficult Times

How to grow your business with no external capital

Starting a business involves sacrifices – what might they be?