Daniel W. Elliot, CPA

Are you a business owner who struggles with differentiating between what customers want, versus what you believe they need? Do you just focus on delivering wants, or is there a way to change customer mindset to align with your offering? Sometimes people do not know what they need until they are faced with a problem they had no idea was there. This comes from a variety of places including being reactive versus proactive, and not looking forward envisioning challenges which can get on the way of achieving goals. A second problem is called prioritization; If you do not believe me, how about this: ‘I have some extra money and really want this new boat’ versus ‘my roof is twenty years old and will need replacing soon.’ Considering the cost of a new roof is as much as the new boat, and more if it leaks and damages your house, which will you choose? If the new roof is a no brainer for you, congratulations… otherwise, best of luck to you. There are hundreds of scenarios where we can apply this

One of my favorite topics is Business Continuity Planning. Why? Because storms come in many forms, and you need to be prepared for the storms which will prevent you from delivering goods and services to your customers. Be the one standing while others are scrambling.   It starts with a Risk Assessment also called a Business Impact Analysis: Identifying what can go wrong, what is the probability of it happening, how will it effect the organization if it happens regardless of your best efforts, and what can be done to mitigate the potential loss?   If we look at what can go wrong, the list is endless: fire, flood, break-in, accident, sickness, snowstorm, and even civil unrest. Other business factors may include labour disputes, broken machinery, or disrupted supply chains.   The Probability is the likelihood of the event happening; for example, there is a 25% probability of a supply chain interruption during the winter months.  The impact is what affect such an event will have on the