Profit Growth Exceeds $100k for Electrical Services Company

“An electrical services company was referred to SCORE through another business already being served by a SCORE mentor. The business owner had a decent income from his business, but was always cash poor. A quick review of the books showed the business carried a lot of debt at high interest rates, the field electricians were lax turning in paperwork for the jobs, and mis-ordered parts were piling up in the warehouse rather than being turned in for credit. Further, they were behind paying their suppliers so not only were they not taking a prompt-pay discount, but they were also paying monthly finance charges.

The owner had a friend who worked for him part-time staffing the office and providing the book keeping role. We immediately asked her to increase her hours, had a meeting with the field staff to talk about timely submission of paperwork and mandated all purchases had to have a PO # assigned to the purchase by the book keeper.

Today, the owner has refinanced the expensive debt, managed his delinquent accounts and kept his focus on timely and accurate invoicing. He’s begun reviewing his costs on jobs, once they are completed, to help better estimate jobs in the future. All these efforts have resulted in his business’ profitability growing to over $100,000 compared to losing a few thousand dollars last year.”

Scott Loggins
SCORE East Central Iowa (Chapter #736)
Cedar Rapids, IA