I can't wait to turn the page from 2022. When I think about the future, one thing that always strikes me is how much my team has grown. But with my growing team, costs are also increasing accordingly. That's the main financial concern I have - to control stability when there's so much from now on at once! So to keep up with all these new employees and their needs we need more financial tools! But before generating any tool for our company's stability we must first ask—is this really necessary? So we'll be able to gauge the performance and usage to make the right decisions instead of useless expenses. To give you an idea, we had a big team of accountants in my company before and no financial analysts. The problem is that this group only looked at the numbers. Hence, I am going ahead with hiring financial analysts just for this role! They'll tell us if our expenses were justified as well as help reduce expenditures on things not necessary anymore.
One financial concern that small business owners may have... is the uncertainty of the future. Especially with the recent climate, many business owners are unsure about what to expect for their future. Coming from a 100-year-old 5th generation family business we have seen plenty of market climate changes and have survived. To address this concern, I plan to focus on offering the best zero to low interest financing and diversifying my portfolio of product inventions to meet the new needs of my customers. This will help me better plan for a variety of scenarios in the future to rest a bit easier. Marc Werner is the CEO & founder of GhostBed. https://www.ghostbed.com/pages/marc-werner
CEO at Live Poll for Slides
Answered 3 years ago
The coming year has all the hallmarks of a financially strained year. The economic uncertainties of this year look likely to pour into next year with devastating effects. Staying afloat will be my biggest concern for next year since a recession seems to be looming on the horizon. The businesses’ emergency fund looks to be the most reliable go-to point for any bailout, but the uncertainties make it doubtful that it will be enough. Not having enough money in my emergency fund is my biggest financial concern for 2023. Signing up for SME support loans and government grants is my contingency plan to keep the fund and the business alive.
Sales have been erratic for the last quarter of 2022. It was not stable. There are days when it is good, yet there are days also when it is very low. It has been unpredictable. There are no clear and steady patterns or trends. There are many factors to consider. The increasing prices of raw materials are one. Inflation has set in to affect many industries, all over the world. The fuel crisis has been a major setback too. We must reassess everything to survive. Data analytics is one very useful tool that we can use. We must go back to our sales history and see what products sold well for the year. We can also check our market’s demographics – including their buying habits. These are the items that must be at the top of our priorities. We need to use them up for our marketing plan for 2023.
As a seasoned freelancer, I don't charge bottom-of-the-barrel rates. But with more newcomers to the freelancing arena, coupled with an economic downturn, I see freelancing becoming more competitive in 2023. In turn, this will lead to pricing wars that will make it hard for experienced freelancers to charge what they're worth AND make the same or better income as they have in years past. It will be more important than ever for freelancers to deliver the highest quality work, maintain good client relationships, market themselves, and grow their services and skills to increase their value. All of these things can help to justify higher-priced services and win against lower bidders.