Time tracking and profitability in service-based businesses, with George Wiedemann

Comments? Suggestions? Text the show here! When running a service-based business, one of your highest costs is your labor cost. You'll need to track your employee's time to ensure your business stays profitable.Timesheets or time-tracking software protects your company, keeps you compliant, and increases productivity. You'll also see how much time each employee is spending on a particular client, which can help set the correct fees for future clients or projects.But if poorly implemented, time tracking can alienate your staff, cause resentment, especially amongst members of your creative team, and negatively impact your business. So what are the benefits of time tracking, how do you motivate your employees to use timesheets, and how can it help with your profitability?In this episode, our guest George Wiedemann walks us through how to manage profitability in a service-based business, in relation to managing your people's time.George was the founder and CEO of Grey Direct - a global subsidiary for Grey Advertising -  for 21 consecutive years of worldwide growth. He was also the CEO of pioneer Silicon Valley email platform Responsys; and CEO of The DRUM Agency. He is the founder and CEO of Relationshipping Consulting, focusing on bringing efficiencies to large-scale enterprises through deep budgetary analysis and process alignment. He also works with agencies on their strategies and plans.  We discuss:02:45 How do you manage profitability in a service-based business like an agency specifically?04:27 What are some of the best practices when using timesheets?08:20 What did you log into these time sheets?  10:16 How did you use all collected time tracking data?12:48 How did weekly client meetings look like? What was the agenda, and what was discussed? 17:05 Does finance play a part in the process? From contract signing to client meetings? 20:17 What happens when you spend too much time on one client and go over the budgeted hours?24:34 What happens when you don't spend as much time on your client and have tons of time left over? 25:51 How do you manage working with creatives, who might feel restricted, and their time sheets?28:25 What is the next actionable step to take this week to get one started in tracking time and how to manage it successfully?  Resources:George Wiedemann, Founder, and CEO, Relationshipping Consulting:https://www.relationshipping.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-wiedemannEmail: [email protected] Svetina, Fractional CFO:https://www.newcastlefinance.us/Blog post | Time Tracking and Profitability in Service-Based Businesses  https://www.newcastlefinance.us/post/time-tracking-and-profitability-in-service-based-businessesIs your growth causing financial headaches? Sales up, but profits lagging? Financial practices stuck in entry level mode?Don't worry, it's not you—it's your financial setup.Introducing NextGen Finance Blueprint by NewCastle Finance. This CFO-led roadmap: • Brings fuzzy finances into focus • Gives you a clear money picture • Creates a step-by-step action planReady to level up? Visit newcastle.finance/blueprint