Turnover is up but profit is not: where owner-run businesses leak money
More work, more invoices, same empty bank account. If that sounds familiar, your business is probably not short of sales. It is leaking money somewhere between the quote and the payment.
1. Quotes that do not cover the real cost
When a quote is built from memory, the job can look busy and still lose money. Build every quote from your actual labour, material and travel cost, and check the margin before you send it.
2. Jobs that run late or get redone
Every repeat visit and every correction is time you do not bill. Track which jobs go over time and why. The same three causes usually repeat.
3. Stock that is bought twice or not at all
Over-ordering ties up cash. Under-ordering delays jobs. A simple count and a reorder level for your top items removes most of this.
4. Debtors nobody chases
Outstanding invoices are your money sitting in someone else's account. A weekly list of who owes what, and a standard follow-up routine, brings cash in faster without new sales.
5. The owner doing everything
If every decision, quote and follow-up goes through you, growth makes the problem bigger. The fix is a few clear processes that your people can follow without you.
What a fractional COO does
A fractional COO gives you operations leadership on a monthly basis, without a full-time salary. We review how your business runs, fix the processes that leak, set up simple weekly reporting, and where it makes sense, lock the fix in with a custom app.
This comes from a lot of hands-on experience in operations, logistics, risk management and workforce management, plus a practical guide written for South African owner-run businesses: Surviving and Winning in South African Business.
Not sure where your business is leaking? The free Business Health Check scores your business on 5 pillars in about 10 minutes and shows you the first thing to fix.
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