Posts tagged CPG Financial Strategies
3 Signs Your Financial Reports Need a Revamp
 
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Your Financial Reports are meant to summarize your food business financial data and present it to you in a meaningful way.

financial reports should provide value to you, and help you make key strategy + business decisions.

For example, you should easily be able to answer the following just by reviewing your Profit + Loss Statement (aka Income Statement):

  • Which line of business is bringing in the most revenue?

  • What does it cost to package + ship your online orders?

  • What are your total labor costs with taxes, benefits and fees included?

If your Profit + Loss, or Income Statement, isn't providing this type of valuable info about your food business (without having to do side calculations or dig for additional data) you're working with what I call "Basic" financial reports in need of a revamp.

Still not quite sure if your financials are in need of a revamp?

Here are 3 signs that they your food business financials
need a revamp…

#1 - All of your sales are lumped into one line item

Even though you sell online, wholesale and at farmer's markets... if you've got more than one revenue stream you should see individual income data for each of them.

#2 - All of your Cost of Goods Sold are lumped into a single line item

I know you've got more than one COG!

#3 -Your Expenses are shown in a simple list - likely in alphabetical order

Accounting software includes a "standard" list of common business expenses. Categorizing your expenses to fit into this simple list will NOT help you understand how your business is performing and build a profitable business.

Your expenses WILL be unique, and your financial reports need to reflect that.

Does this describe your reports?

The good news is that you have a say in what your financial reports look like, and these things are easy to change!

When your reports are designed for YOUR business and are working FOR YOU, you can count on them to show you how your business is performing, set meaningful goals + get to work on building a profitable food business!

 

About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 7 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA, serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program. as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

WeStock™ Webinar: How to Price Your Product for Profitability
 

"Setting your prices to achieve product profitability does not guarantee that you'll achieve business profitability."

 
Sarah Delevan, Food Business CFO sitting on a chair pointing and smiling
 
 
 

I was recently invited to host a webinar to discuss how to price products for profitability on WeStock

If you haven't heard of WeStocknow is the time to check them out, but not before you know how to price your product for profitability!

“WeStock helps your brand grab the attention of buyers, increase sales for underperforming stores, and ensure that you own the customer journey for your brand in retail. WeStock converts customers that love your product into authentic and actionable data that helps your brand get on shelf and stay there.”

Attend the pre-recorded webinar and learn how to price your products for business profitability!


In the webinar We cover:

  • The "Accounting"

  • Common Misguided Approaches to pricing

  • Potential problems and outcomes of using incorrect pricing methods

  • MY 3 Rules for Pricing

  • Steps you can take to ensure that you've got your products priced for Business profitability


Click here to watch now!

 

About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 7 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program as well as the host of The Good Food CFO Podcast. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

3 Steps for Building the Foundation for a Profitable Food Business
 
 
 

Building something strong and sustainable requires a solid foundation, right?

What does the foundation of your food business look right now? 
Does it need strengthening?

I’ve learned that in business, it’s NEVER TOO LATE to start building that foundation. 
It’s the work I’m passionate about and I invite you to do!


Here are three things you can do to create, and solidify, the foundation of your business so you can achieve financial sustainability and profitability.

1. Record your financial data.

Yes, ALL OF IT.
Your revenue, your expenses, your costs. Make sure to update this information monthly.


2. Track your key metrics

Your key metrics include your revenue, cogs, operating + labor expenses, and review them as a percentage of your revenue. 

Check out my IGTV video on how this small change causes a big impact!

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3. Find your Financial Success Formula

This formula helps you see the revenue and cost target goals specifically for YOUR business. 
Watch The Conversation Series on Finding Your Financial Success Formula!
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You started with your dream and are working hard to create a successful business.
Your hard work + a strong foundation will lead to profitability and sustainability so that you can continue to do this for years to come! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀


find more details + support in building the foundation for a profitable food business in the the free Profitability Roadmap,

 

About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 7 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.

3 Tips For a Financially Successful “Free Shipping” Offer
 
 
 

Nobody LIKES paying shipping fees…

But for some food business owners, high shipping costs stop online shoppers in their tracks, and keep them from reaching the checkout page.  

Their answer: FREE SHIPPING

Or perhaps I should say, “FREE” Shipping. 

Because, you guys… the shipping should not ACTUALLY be free!

Not unless you’ve got amazing profit margins that won’t be reduced to zero (or lower) by covering your customers’ shipping costs. 

And you don’t mind giving those profits away! 

With the holidays just around the corner and more shoppers buying online than EVER before..

Ensuring you’ve got a profitable shipping offer could be the key to your holiday financial success.  

You MUST incorporate the cost of shipping, or at least a portion of it, into the price of your products to maintain your profit margins. 


If your holiday promotion plan includes free or discounted shipping, listen up!   


here are my top 3 tips for a financially successful holiday shipping offer:

#1. Determine Your Net Shipping Income / Loss

If you currently offer a shipping discount, record and track these 3 key pieces of financial data:

  • Your online product sales number

  •  Your online shipping income number

  • Your costs to pack + ship your products to customers

Once you have recorded and tracked this data, you can calculate your Net Shipping Income or Expense.
And you can determine if your shipping offer is having a negative, positive, or net zero financial impact on your business.

#2. Determine the Cost to Ship Each of Your Packaged Products

Many business owners make the mistake of estimating their shipping costs based on the weight of their products, rather than the total weight of the package that will be shipped.

Additionally, many businesses allow their customers to shop “a la carte” making it hard to determine the weight of every package that they ship, and thus to difficult to determine the appropriate shipping offer or price to build into their products. Grouping your products into “packages” limits the number of shipping configurations that are possible, and can also streamline your fulfillment processes.


#3. Implement and Analyze Your Results

Much like when implementing a new marketing strategy, businesses should monitor the results of a newly implemented shipping strategy
in at least these 2 ways:

  1. Monitor customer activity on your website to identify if the new shipping offer is preventing potential buyers for completing checkout, or if the offer is improving your abandoned cart rates.

    Some of my clients report overwhelming positive response to their new “free shipping” offer despite the cost of their product going up.
    Others say that sales dipped with the increased product price despite the “free shipping offer.
    It’s important to know your customer and to be ok with Implementing, Analyzing + Modifying as needed.

  2. Check in on your Net Shipping Income / Loss Weekly to see how your offer is performing financially and if it is having the financial impact that you need it to. If not identify if packaging costs or shipping costs are the culprit and adjust as needed.

 

About the Author: Sarah Delevan is a Food Business Financial Coach and Consultant with over 7 years of working in the food industry. She received her MBA from Rollins College and In 2017 she founded Sarah Delevan Consulting based in Los Angeles, CA and serving clients across the United States. She is the creator of the Financial Success Formula and the founder of the Profitable Food Business program. To learn more about Sarah and opportunities to grow a more profitable food business Click Here.