Improve your Cashflow in your Art & Design Business

Have you heard the phrase "a starving artist".

Isn’t the notion of the starving artist such a cliche? Yet why does it persist? Why do we have the expectation that artists must "suffer for their art"?

Well, we're here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way.

You can be an artist and also live well!

The first step along that path is to acknowledge that you're actually deserving of living well. Yes. it's something that seems obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many artists and designers that we've worked with start off with a belief that they can't (or shouldn't!) make money for following their passion and doing what they love.

It's been our experience that the subject of finances and "cash flow" is generally low on the list of priorities, if not avoided altogether.

At Quantum Compass we work through a simple "cash flow concepts" formula to help our clients start on the path of increasing their wealth and generating the incomes that they truly deserve for simply doing what they love.

At the start we work with you to get a clear understanding of your current cash flow. Ask yourself these questions: Where is your money going right now? How do you generate income?

Once you have an understanding of what's happening for you right now, you have the perfect opportunity to make some real decisions.

• Are you happy with the ways you spend your money?

• Is your income sufficient for your current lifestyle? 

• What will you need to sustain the lifestyle you aspire to?

Moving to the next level is all about having a plan, and increasing the number of ways that your art & design practice can be making you money.

We’re very clear that it's certainly not about "selling-out", or making some crass compromises. Many artists & designers assume that they somehow have to change their art to be successful financially.

In fact, we're very clear that the opposite is true. You don’t necessarily need to change your art; you need to get very clear about who you really are, and find those things that are unique to you and your Wow Factor.

Cash flow is one of the key fundamental elements of a design practice that we focus on during the ArtShine Coaching Program.

Why?

Because financial stress doesn’t usually enhance creativity. We believe it’s critically important for designers & artists like you to understand the power of financial control.

Financially successful designers & artists focus on what you’re good at; your art and creativity.

Successful designers also understand and use “cash flow concepts” to manage finances and leverage the analytical help of advisors like accountants, agents, business coaches, IP advisors, etc as they're needed along the way.

Want to learn more about “Cash Flow” the Quantum Compass way?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1: Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2: Come along to the next “Cash Flow Concepts for Creative Professionals” workshop. E-mail Quantum Compass: CashFlowConcepts@QuantumCompass.com.au ) for details of the next half day session near you.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

Make Tomorrow Today!

Download Happy New Year 2012 HD Wallpaper from ZoomCatch Easy and Free

Don’t wait until the new year to plan your business goals for 2013... Make Tomorrow Today; and do it now!

Here’s a quick approach to planning in your business.

“Our greatest lack is not money for any undertaking, but rather ideas,

If the ideas are good, cash will somehow flow to where it is needed.”

                                                                                                   -Robert H. Schuller

CASH FLOWS: Take some time now to review your current cash flows and make some projections for where you’ll see yourself in three to six months. When we work with our clients we look forward in three month blocks as it keeps us all in touch with the day to day and month to month fluctuations in the business.

SEASONALITY: Understand the nature of your business. Look at how demand and cash flows varied over the course of last year, and think about how this seasonality will play out in the new year. Project your sales and cash flows accordingly.

TIME OUT: When you plan and project your cash flows, map out your “time out “ too. You are a critical part of your business, so it’s important that you’re looking after yourself. By planning ahead and building in some “down-time” you will always be able to afford to take a break knowing your cash flows are still manageable.

“If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind

before you actually arrive at your goal” Zig Ziglar

GOALS: It’s the time to set your goals and business strategies to support your cash flow.

EXISTING CUSTOMERS: Plan your sales strategies. Ask yourself how you can retain your existing customers and come up with new ways to encourage them to spend more with you.

NEW CUSTOMERS: Plan and implement steps to introduce new clients to your business. Focus on your your “competitive niche”. Ask yourself why would someone want to buy your products or services? How can you best communicate with them?

Want to learn more about planning for the new year the Quantum Compass way?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1: Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2: Come along to the next “Action Planning” workshop. E-mail Quantum Compass: ActionPlanning@QuantumCompass.com.au  for details of the next half day session near you.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: www.quantumcompass.com.au/freecoaching.ph 

Payment options to bring cash into your business faster

Cashflow remains a key priority for creative businesses. "Cashflow is King" and there’s evidence more businesses are reviewing their payment options to bring cash into the business quicker.

Here are some of the choices that some of our clients have taken in order to bring cash into their bank account faster:

When D Jenkins started her business D Jenkins Designs a graphic Design company in November 2009 one of the decisions she had to make was around payment options.

“I went to my bank and my business specialist gave me several options, including cheque, mobile EFTPOS and BPAY. I did not like the sound of Cheque so I avoided it completely and mobile EFTPOS was going to cost me at a minimum $55 a month whether I use it or not. BPAY was the best option because it helps keep my costs down,” she explains.

FSD is a furniture outlet. The business offers Cash, Eftpos, Fund Transfer and Credit card. The business sees a huge amount of customers now using Visa and Mastercard to earn reward points. Initially, it was difficult to charge an extra 1% fee on top of the purchase and now it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore, customers are now getting used to the extra fee when using credit card payments. It’s a matter of working out how to handle fees associated with these payments.

The business is also launched for online customers to pay their purchase by Paypal as many online customers are using this payment method too as it is safe & secure. They also made a clear decision not to accept Amex or Diners due to heavy fees and "we know every customer would have a debit card or a credit card on them so declining Amex & Diners was not an issue or loss of sales".

Scoops Design invests in a mobile EFTPOS and participates in regular trade shows & Designer Market events. Offering this service was one of the keys to get funding faster into her business. She is now looking into B pay facilities for her wholesale business as this method will assist in reducing her cost down and more customers prefer to use this option to pay on line and by phone.

Food for thought:

At the end of the day, you need to make decisions and payment options that suite your business, even better if you could come up a win win situation for you and your customers.

• Accepting cash or cheques - means you need to go to the bank several times a week to deposit the cash and cheque.
• Although cheques are probably a safer option than walking around with cash. But you have to wait for the cheque clearance that could take up 3 working days 
• EFTPOS and credit cards you can access the funds on the next working day except on the weekend.
• BPAY, a shorter one compared to the time for cheques to clear. The funds normally clear within 48 hours.
• With Paypal the funds clear normally within a day or two however, the only concern is access to funds you need to get to transfer to your nominated account and that will take up to 48 hours or more. This of course depends on the bank you with bank with. Paypal will take a fee for handling the transaction too.

Systems Implementation

• Accepting cash involves a cash register or investment in a point of sale system particularly for business owners who have shops or studios.
• If you don’t have a retail outlet, the cheaper options are EFT, BPAY & Paypal. BPAY has recently worked with a number of banks to offer smaller businesses a simpler sign-up process. More small businesses are offering BPAY because it’s now easier to implement and adds credibility.
• A plus for small businesses that some credit cards offer is automatic downloading of statements into popular accounting packages like MYOB or Quick Book. Most of the major banks allow you to download statements directly into a software accounting package, which means bank statements and accounting records are in sync, no matter how people pay your invoices. If you have a simpler booking system like an excel spreadsheet you can too download your statement into a excel spread sheet that will save time so you can do your account reconciliation.

So deciding which payment options to offer is about the balance between meeting customer needs and increasing business efficiencies, which depends on the nature of your business. Sometimes it is a matter of test and measurement to see what options are suitable for your business. The key is to make sure any system you have implemented into your business is communicated across to your people and ultimately to your customers.

Image Source:

http://www.supremetechnology.com.au/

The clients mentioned above are happy for us to use as a case study and we have their permission to mention in this blog post.

What is "OPIC CashFlow" ?

How do you ensure your Business LifeStyle operates entirely for the purpose of providing you with a profit so you can live the lifestyle you always want to live. 
 

Successful business owners can tell you exactly how much money they earn, spend and what they have in their bank accounts... the last one being the most important because that's how you get to have a business lifestyle you really want. 
 

We refer to this as the OPIC CashFlow, and it's the one aspect of the business that tells you how you're doing?

The OPIC CashFlow is one of Eight business concepts that we use to coach Artists, Designers & creative business owners. It's also part of our business workshop series that we run throughout the year. 

ArtSHINE's 8 Business Concepts:

1.    OPIC Planning

2.    OPIC CashFlow

3.    OPIC Quirk

4.    OPIC Sales

5.    OPIC Service

6.    OPIC System

7.    OPIC Team
8.  OPIC Leveraging

When we discuss financials with our clients, we often hear "That's the accountant’s job!" Yes you're right, it IS their job, and it's great you can delegate those tasks that you don't like to do in your business to your team member or outsource to someone else, but that doesn't mean you don't know how to do those tasks, or what needs to be done too. If you decided to do it this way then you are an abdicator, rather than a delegator. The successful way to run your business is you need to understand or know how to do it first before you can delegate to others. 
 

Managing your creative business requires you to know the basics in all aspects of your business. Financials such as cash flow concept is one of the areas that creative business owners often shy away from. Did you know financials aren’t that hard to handle? Think of it as "Money in and Money out".

You must challenge yourself to master it, you must have fun on the way too... this journey might appear daunting, but it can be exciting ... especially when you see how much money you can make by understanding some basic cashflow concept. 
 

The OPIC Cash Concept is to ensure you recognise the value of understanding your financials and being able to ask the right questions if needed from your team. 

Want to learn more about your CashFlow for your business? 

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3... 

1. Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page 

2. Send an to OPIC Cashflow@quantumcompas.com.au  to find out workshop events

3. Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

Email: vinh@quantumcompass.com.au

+61 2410 636 138

Cash Flow is King in your Business

“Cash is King” is a phrase we've all heard before and sometimes over a conversation. However, to a creative business owner, this phrase should change to “Cash Flow is King”.

In the Art & Design business, it is more critical than ever for an artist or a designer to monitor his or her cash flow. It's doesn't matter whether you have an existing business, or a new start-up, it's vital to understand the financials yourself and not "pass the buck" either such as leaving it to the book keeper or an accountant. You ARE your business and wouldn't you want to learn and monitor the cash flow yourself firstly before you delegate to others?

Here is what you need to do...

New Starter:

· Learn the cash flow concept

· Create a system that works for your creative business.

· Create a cash flow projection for the next twelve months.

· Define your Break Even point

Existing business:

Ask yourself these questions:

When was the last time you ran a cash flow projection for your business?

If you overlooked your cash flow may I encourage you to do it as soon as you can! It's critical for you to do a cash flow health check.

Here are the areas you should pay attention to when you run a cash flow health check:

Income- Where are you now and where would you like to be in the next 12 months. Look at different opportunities to increase your income. Create different income streams into your business.

Cost of Goods- review your costings and look st ways to reduce cost.

Margins- review your product prices. When was the last time you had a price increase in your product range.

Fixed & Variable Expenses- review and update your expenses and look at ways to reduce your expenses.

Break Even Point:- revisit your break even point in your business. So you know at what point your are breaking even and after that point and beyond your are now making profits

Want to learn more about “Cash Flow” the ArtSHINE way?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1. Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2:Send an e--mail Quantum Compass:CashFlowConcepts@QuantumCompass.com.au and get more info about our workshops for creative professionals.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching 

session:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

Vinh:+612 410 636 198

vinh@quantumcompass.com.au

Cashflow Concepts for Designers and Artists

      Image Source from artist depot

                                                       

Have you heard the phrase "a starving artist".

Isn’t the notion of the starving artist such a cliche? Yet why does it persist? Why do we have the expectation that artists must "suffer for their art"?

Well, we're here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way.

You can be an artist and also live well and live the lifestyle you have always wanted.

The first step along that path is to acknowledge that you're actually deserving of living well. Yes. it's something that seems obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many artists and designers that we've worked with start off with a belief that they can't (or shouldn't!) make money for following their passion and doing what they love.

It's been our experience that the subject of finances and "cash flow" is generally low on the list of priorities, if not avoided altogether.

At Quantum Compass we work through a simple "cash flow concepts" formula to help our clients start on the path of increasing their wealth and generating the incomes that they truly deserve for simply doing what they love.

At the start we work with you to get a clear understanding of your current cash flow. Ask yourself these questions: 

• Where is your money going right now? 
• How do you generate income?

Once you have an understanding of what's happening for you right now, you have the perfect opportunity to make some real decisions.

• Are you happy with the ways you spend your money? 
•  Is your income sufficient for your current lifestyle? 
•  What will you need to sustain the lifestyle you aspire to?

Moving to the next level is all about having a plan, and increasing the number of ways that your art & design practice can be making you money.

We’re very clear that it's certainly not about "selling-out", or making some crass compromises. Many artists & designers assume that they somehow have to change their art to be successful financially.

In fact, we're very clear that the opposite is true. You don’t necessarily need to change your art; you need to get very clear about who you really are, and find those things that are unique to you.

Cash flow is one of the key fundamental elements of a design practice that we focus on during the Quantum Compass ArtShine Coaching Program.

Why?

Because financial stress doesn’t usually enhance creativity. We believe it’s critically important for designers & artists like you to understand the power of financial control.

Financially successful designers & artists focus on what you’re good at; your art and creativity.

Successful designers also understand and use “cash flow concepts” to manage finances and leverage the analytical help of advisors like accountants, agents, business coaches, IP advisors, etc as they're needed along the way.

Want to learn more about “Cash Flow” the Quantum Compass way?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1: Become a Quantum Compass Artshine  member and sign up free  http://artshine.ning.com

2:Send an e--mail Quantum Compass: CashFlowConcepts@QuantumCompass.com.au and get more info about our workshops for creative professionals.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery