July 2010 marks mid year for many small business and time to review mid year financials.

Making good use of past performance data helps chart your future course.  If profitability is down, determine the reason.  Numbers give us clues to performance problems but you must have accurate financials to make the numbers work for you. Is profitability down because of decreasing sales or have unsupported overhead expenses snaked their way into your operation.

A successful small business owner knows which way the profit arrow is pointing.  Keeping track of those numbers is a monthly and quarterly exercise.  You can't wait until the end of year to know if your company has made a profit.  If you use a CPA, charge that person with providing you updated financials monthly or quarterly.  Study your financials and determine if a change is needed to make the profit arrow point in the direction you want it to go.

In August, the Upper Coastal Plain SCORE chapter will present an important workshop - 10 Ways to Improve Profits in a Stagnant Economy. More details on this workshop will be coming your way.

I hope you can attend.