Below, you’ll find three recent client case studies with details of the business, what the owners were experiencing in the business and what they wanted to change, and how we approached the project together.
- Sports Masseur/Yoga Studio Owner
- Outsourced IT Services Provider
- Equestrian Centre
I hope you enjoy reading the case studies, and that you get something helpful for your own business. If you think there could be a project for us in your business, please email rhoda@rhodagold.com, and we’ll set up a call.
1. Sports Masseur/Yoga Studio owner
Business owner who was way too busy, stressed, wearing all the hats in the business, frustrated that he couldn’t take time off without disappointing clients. He had employees who he treated very well but always felt they were somewhat unreliable. They were well paid and they took all the time off they needed while he shouldered all the responsibility of the business. He felt like a hamster on a wheel who was running all the time, and he could never get on top of everything that needed to be done.
He wanted for himself:
- time and money to enjoy memorable experiences with his children
- to buy a second property for extra income and eventually to retire to
- to save for retirement
He wanted for his business:
- to be in control of the business
- to enjoy his work again
- to serve his best clients
- to have his employees take on more responsibility
- to be able to take time off without jeopardising his income
- to have time to take action on ideas he had to grow the business and make more money
The project consisted of an analysis of the business finances, including a breakdown of where the revenue was coming from, the profitability of the various services on offer, an analysis of where the owner was spending his time and how this related to the profit and also importantly, how it related to his stress levels.
The financial analysis was greatly beneficial for this business, as it gave clarity, showing in black and white what the problem was for this business owner. He had had the feeling that he should just work harder and be more organised, and things would sort themselves out, but the analysis showed very clearly that his problem was in the employee pay structure and in the division of labor in the business. He didn’t need to work harder, he needed to change the things he was working on.
So it was a relief for him to see that the problems were entirely fixable, and all suggestions he could implement with my guidance and the help of his existing staff.
An unexpected benefit of the analysis was that we found the business was underutilising its resources (it was actually running at approx 25% capacity), and that he could reallocate certain resources to employ a new manager who was an instant asset to the business.
*****FREE RESOURCE*****
Business finances case study video
See the full-length business finances business finances case study video, and discover how we used this business owner’s financial data to find out:
- why he had reached his earning limit
- why he had no spare time
- why he found it hard to cope with demand
and HOW WE TURNED THAT AROUND.
Here’s an excerpt from the show notes:
8.11 The reason for this business owner’s stress and demotivation, according to the financial data
8.55 Why popular business wisdom wasn’t going to work for this business owner, and what was going to work instead
9.40 How to increase profitability in this business
10.17 Why it’s sometimes ok to lose money on a product or service, but why this business owner didn’t have to
11.09 How to make the whole business profitable
11.27 Find out the secret to having great quality staff and what to pay them
12.30 How this business owner employed extra help without sacrificing his profits
13.02 The results of part one of the project – $4k/month to $4k/week
13.29 How he can earn more than this if he chooses
13.36 The small changes that gave great returns
There’s much valuable information in this video, get instant access to the full-length case study below.
2. Outsourced IT Services provider
Solo business, providing outsourced IT help for a growing number of local businesses. He knew he needed help but couldn’t afford to lose profitability. As a one-man business, he was frustrated that he couldn’t take time off without disappointing clients and losing business. He had had several part-time employees in the past but they were unreliable and cost him more in managing them than they were worth to the business. His income came from mostly ad-hoc work, which he was constantly worried would dry up. This ad-hoc work was doubly frustrating to him because he constantly felt he was fire-fighting other people’s problems, rather than building his own business. He knew how to get better contracts but didn’t have time to do that and also keep up with work for the present clientele.
What he wanted for himself:
- time with his growing family
- time with friends and for the gym
- to build a house
- to invest in property
- to do his private pilot’s licence
- to be successful
- his next financial goal was 10k/month in hand after tax
What he wanted for his business:
- to be more aware of what he’s doing, and how
- to be on a better path
- to transform from self-employed service provider into a business
- to work with a team of driven, like-minded people
- to learn how to delegate as he was used to doing things alone
- to have time to work on the things that he knew would be more profitable
- to develop the business into the biggest in the region
The project consisted of an analysis of the business finances, which didn’t appear too complicated in this self-employed model. However, they were important in revealing the cause of his stress, and the constant feeling that he had to say yes to every call that came in, just in case it would turn into a good client, and that he couldn’t decline any calls, in case he lost a client:
The analysis clearly showed the ranking of his clients in terms of long-range profitability (specific to the services he wanted to offer). While he was inundated with work, we found the majority of his present clients were actually in the low long-term value bracket. It was also clear exactly who the good clients were, and with this knowledge he could prioritise looking for that same kind of client and start to scale/upsell from there. After the analysis was finished, I provided support and was available for brainstorming/guidance/mindset help, while he implemented the changes and went through the hiring process for his new employee.
My client on this occasion was especially motivated because there was a new baby on the way! When he saw what the business needed, he was happy to dive in and sort it out. I particularly enjoyed this project 🙂
3. Equestrian Centre
The farm and equestrian centre serves the local area for horse boarding, leasing, and riding lessons, and nationwide for training and horse sales. Shows are an important activity for the school, both for income and marketing purposes.
The business was in its third year and building in income and reputation, but it wasn’t yet profitable. Reaching profit was foremost on the mind of the owner, who had invested a lot of money and all her time and energy in buying the land and building the business.
The project was very simple: the owner wanted to know how long before the business would be in profit, and what could she do to accelerate the process.
What she wanted for herself:
- to make a living from her business, which still relied on borrowing
- to be able to employ more staff so she wasn’t working non-stop
- later, to build a house on the property
What she wanted for her business:
- to enjoy her work free of fear of whether she could meet her bills without going further in debt
- to run a thriving business which was her dream since she was a girl, and there was no plan B!
The analysis showed how much of her revenue was coming from each source, so then we could compare one source to another in terms of profitability and efficiency. We crossed this with the business’ present max capacity for income from each source. To get to profitability as quickly as possible, the owner needed to focus on the things that were bringing in money, although still with a view to how she wanted to build things up longer-term.
We then projected out how the profits could look if she focused on X income source vs Y income source, and the owner was able to make an informed and empowered choice about where she would spend her time and efforts.
With that as our foundation, we then made an action plan for certain revenue targets per week and per month.
Other projects
Other projects involved businesses in a variety of industries, including an engineering/manufacturing firm, an accountancy practice, a fashion stylist, an event planning agency, an independent school, a golf club, a nutritionist practice, an interior design studio, a charity, a music school.