Spark Blog
BOOKKEEPING. ACCOUNTING. PROFIT.
Every other Thursday we release one new blog based on the comments and questions we receive, the economic climate, seasonal happenings and occasional business and finance events and reviews I choose to undertake.
Have an idea on a topic you’d like me to cover? Send it over to kasey@sparkbusinessconsulting.com, or let us know via our Contact Form.
Fine-Tuning Your Financial Strategy: Advanced Profit First Techniques
Fine-Tuning Your Financial Strategy: Advanced Profit First Techniques In today's dynamic business environment, managing finances with foresight and agility is more critical than ever. The Profit First methodology, pioneered by Mike Michalowicz, has transformed the way...
Becoming Certified as a Restaurant Accountant: Everything You Need to Know
The journey from being passionate about the restaurant industry to becoming a certified restaurant accountant is one that's close to my heart. Having been on both sides of the restaurant world—from the hustle of running a restaurant to the intricacies of financial...
How to Find Your First Job as a Bookkeeper or Accountant
Embarking on a career in bookkeeping or accounting, especially with a niche focus like restaurant accounting, is a journey filled with learning and growth. After honing your skills and maybe even deciding to specialize, the next pivotal step is landing your first job...
The Accountant’s Guide to Working with Restaurants
In the dynamic world of dining, where the sizzle of the grill meets the crunch of the numbers, restaurants stand as unique entities with their own set of financial challenges and rewards. At Spark Business Consulting, rooted in a deep love and understanding of the...
The Accountant’s Guide to Finding Your Niche Client Industry
In a world brimming with competition, standing out is not just an option; it's a necessity. For accountants and financial consultants venturing into the realms of restaurants, caterers, cafes, and all small businesses, carving out a niche is akin to discovering a...
Top 5 Mistakes Most Bookkeepers/Accountants Make (And How to Turn Them Into Wins!)
In the journey of any professional, mistakes are inevitable. They are, in fact, valuable stepping stones to mastery and success. For bookkeepers and accountants, understanding and learning from these mistakes can transform your career. Let’s explore the top five...
11 Compelling Reasons to Transition to QuickBooks Online for Your Business
If you're a business owner navigating the complexities of financial management, you are in the right place. Like many, I started with QuickBooks Desktop, the robust, traditional accounting software that ruled the financial management world. However, as the business...
Harnessing the Primacy Effect: How ‘Profit First’ Transforms Business Priorities
Harnessing the Primacy Effect: How 'Profit First' Transforms Business Priorities In a world where businesses often navigate through the maze of revenue, expenses, and growth strategies, the concept of 'Profit First' emerges as a revolutionary approach. This...
3 Common Mistakes Made When Implementing Profit First
Having spent a significant part of my career in the restaurant industry before moving into bookkeeping and consulting, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of the Profit First methodology on businesses. However, as with any system, success lies in its...
Understanding Parkinson’s Law and Its Application in Business: A Profit First Perspective
Understanding Parkinson's Law and Its Application in Business: A Profit First Perspective In the realm of business management and personal productivity, Parkinson's Law emerges as a pivotal concept that can significantly impact how we approach tasks and manage our...
10 Simple Ways to Increase Profit in your Restaurant
10 Simple Ways to Increase Profit in your Restaurant Optimize Menu Pricing Analyze your menu items to ensure they're priced appropriately. Consider factors like food cost, preparation time, and popularity. Sometimes, a small increase in price and/or a thoughtful...
How Do I Know if Profit First is for Me?
How Do I Know if Profit First is for Me? You're staring at a sea of spreadsheets, your coffee has gone cold, and you're wondering where all the money went this month. If this sounds like you, then it's time to ask yourself: "Is Profit First for me?" I've been down...
Profit First for the Holidays: A Smart Way to Budget Your Festivities
Profit First for the Holidays The holiday season, as we all know, is synonymous with festive joy, warmth, and, let's face it, quite a bit of spending. While our previous blogs have highlighted the importance of preparing for the holidays, checklists, and the...
Key Takeaways from ProfitCon 2023
Key Takeaways from ProfitCon 2023 ProfitCon has always been a whirlwind of information, inspiration, and networking. This year, at the ProfitCon 2023 in Morristown, NJ, it was no different. This marked my seventh time attending, and although the novelty of the first...
Transforming Tables & Tidbits: How ‘Profit First’ is Stirring Up the Restaurant Scene
In the ever-evolving restaurant landscape, especially in a post-pandemic world, maintaining financial health is no longer just a strategy, it's a survival skill. But fret not, because a revolution is brewing in the restaurant industry, painting a fresher, more...
The Art of Productivity: Lessons from a Life in Restaurants and Business Consulting
The Art of Productivity: Lessons from a Life in Restaurants and Business Consulting If you've ever wondered what juggling looks like in the real world, step into a busy restaurant on a Friday night. Picture a waiter managing five to ten tables, coordinating with the...
How to Hire a 5-Star Employee
How to Hire a 5-Star Employee Finding a 5-star employee is no small feat. A streamlined, thoughtful hiring process can make all the difference. At Spark Business Consulting, we've crafted a meticulous 10-step gauntlet to ensure we bring aboard only the best. While we...
How to Open a Catering Business
How to Open a Catering Business Are you passionate about enjoying the hustle, joie-de-vivre and pride that a catering business can provide? If so, opening your own catering business might be the perfect business for you! But where do you start? Follow this...
How to Open a Food Truck: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to Open a Food Truck: A Step-by-Step Guide Are you passionate about enjoying the freedom and spontanaeity that owning a food truck can provide? If so, opening your own food truck might be the perfect business for you! But where do you start? Follow this...
My Self Care Journey Through Writing Profit First for Restaurants
The process of writing a book can be an intense and transformative journey. It requires dedication, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to bringing your ideas to life. Throughout my 18+ month adventure of crafting "Profit First for Restaurants," I discovered...
Profit First for Restaurants is AVAILABLE!
Profit First for Restaurants is AVAILABLE! 4 Things You Should Do Now You and I have been in the restaurant industry for a little while now, right? (Can you believe it's been 25+ years in my case?!) That doesn't make it any easier when a major shift occurs and...
How to Open a Bar: A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Dream Venture
Are you passionate about creating a vibrant atmosphere for people to unwind, socialize, and enjoy quality drinks? If so, opening your own bar might be the perfect venture for you! But where do you start? Follow this step-by-step guide to navigate the process of...
How to Open a Café: A Step-by-Step Guide to Your Dream Business
Are you a coffee enthusiast with a passion for entrepreneurship? If so, opening your own café might be the perfect venture for you! But where do you begin? Follow this step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process of launching your dream café. Step 1: Develop a...
5 Ways to Find your Business Community
5 Ways to Find your Business Community As an entrepreneur or business owner, finding your community can be crucial to your success. A business community is a group of people who share common interests, goals, and experiences, and can provide support, advice,...
5 Tips to Bounce back from the Holidays & Kick-Start 2023 STRONG!
The most recent holiday season was one of the most challenging times of year for pretty much everyone I know - especially my colleagues and team members. Two of our Divisional Directors were out at the same time with Covid and related illnesses that affected not only...
Spark Tank 2.0 is LIVE
Cue the confetti everyone! We’re super happy to announce that Spark Tank 2.0 is coming up! This year, we hope to make it local - so where are all my Boston peeps!?. Although we ‘heart’ pretty much all entrepreneurs, we just have that ‘local love for Boston’ and...
July Restaurant Spotlight
It is no secret that I love restaurants. I love restaurants of all shapes and sizes. I love expensive and inexpensive, big restaurants and small restaurants, different cuisines and concepts, indoor and outdoor, fancy and casual – I just love them. But that’s not to...
We Love Restaurants!
I love going out to eat. And I probably do it way more than I “should” for health and wallet purposes. And then there are my kids, 12 and 15, who are now pretty much spoiled by going out to eat too often, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I want them to...
![How to Navigate Your Balance Sheet and P&L [VIDEO TUTORIAL]](https://sparkbusinessconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IG-Thumbnail-Balance-Sheet-Tutorial-400x250.png)
How to Navigate Your Balance Sheet and P&L [VIDEO TUTORIAL]
Not everyone is a numbers person. I get it. And thank god for that – that’s why we have work! But, when you’re running your own business, you have to know your numbers. It is so important to have some idea behind the story YOUR numbers tell you about your business and...
Don’t Make These 5 Business Mistakes!
In the 13+ years I have owned Spark, I have met with a lot of business owners - literally hundreds. And we all make or have made mistakes - literally hundreds (if not thousands). In this blog, I am writing about the same mistakes that I see currently as well as from...
Goal Setting for 2022
Today I'm going to talk about goal setting for 2022, and just in general. I get the vibe when I talk about it with potential clients, current clients, and my staff, that some people might think that planning or projecting or budgeting or goal setting is just one of...
Prepare for Emptier Holiday Shelves!
So... Thanksgiving just happened - that came up super fast as it always does, right? Kids had 2.5 days of school last week and of course, after Thanksgiving came the mad dash to every store imaginable to try and fill underneath the tree. Holidays 2021 are Going to Be...
3 Tips to Get Ready for the Holidays
3 Tips to Get Ready for the Holidays Looking for some useful tips to get ready for the holidays? Look no more! I've compiled a list to help you stay centered and organized with an action plan to take care of your holiday essentials. 1. Get everything off your plate...
ProfitCon 2021 Recap
A Quick Overview Last week was ProfitCon 2021 - this is our annual conference, usually held in New Jersey or New York. We were in Weehawken, which is just right across the river, although I was told it's not a river. I guess it’s some body of water...any who... We...
3 Key Qualities to Become a Great Manager
Quality #1 - Treat Others as You’d Like to Be Treated Speaking from almost 30 years of managing employees, the most important thing to remember when you think of how to become a great manager is to treat them exactly as you would want to be treated. That’s step one,...
How to Create a Brand Board
When we have a business idea, one of the first steps we have to think about to create a brand board for the business. This consists of a solid set of specific colors, fonts, and a few variations on a logo that we will use throughout any business materials, the...
The Importance of Team Building
The Importance of Team Building I don't have all the answers. Never even for a second have I thought that I was supposed to have all the answers, and by answers I mean answers to anything - how to grow my business, how to grow a team, how to be better, how to sell,...
My Secrets to Success
My Secrets to Success Apparently, there are not a lot of 7 figure bookkeeping firms out there. Or so I have been told. For years it has been said that the only way to get to 7 figures would be to add tax services, which can generate a lot if income in a short period...
Second Quarter Estimated Taxes! – Due 6/15
It's time for Second Quarter Estimated Taxes I know, no one wants to think about taxes – now or ever. I get it. We don’t like them either. But here is something we do. By not sticking your head in the sand and actually being proactive about your taxes will you will...
Wahl Street – The HBO Documentary
This post is going to be my review of the documentary show on HBO Max called “Wahl Street”. If you haven't seen it, and you like shows like “Shark Tank”, or “The Profit”, you're going to love this. Wahl Street stars Mark Wahlberg, everybody's favorite Bostonian and...
How to Run a Business That Works Without You
Run a Business That Works Without You When I was meeting with my marketing team a couple of weeks ago, we were discussing what we were going to put out as content for May - they believed a hot topic would be putting out information on how to run a business that works...
The Importance of Time Tracking
Today we're going to talk about time tracking and planning. This is going to be such a simple little topic to talk about. However it is one of the most impactful, powerful things that you can do. If you find that you're one of those people that says: “There's just not...
Setting Quarterly Goals
Why Quarterly Goals? Today we are going to talk about setting quarterly goals… woo-hoo! I wish I knew the best way to get across how extremely important, fun and tremendously useful, goal-setting is. My earliest memory of goal-setting. I was in gym class in high...
Believe It Book Review
Believe It ‘Believe It’ is amazing - definitely in my top two or three business books of all time. And it's getting a ton of press right now so you may have heard of it if you're into business books. It came out toward the end of February, and I think it's already at...
How to Start Your Own Client Love Journey
Today we are going to talk about the Client Love Journey, as we like to call it here at Spark. This covers the journey on how a client goes from a lead, or a prospect, to becoming a client. And then what happens before and after that - the “courting stage” and...
Taxes for Normal People
We’re very close to the first tax deadline, and that's what we're going to talk about today - taxes for normal people - yay! We’re going to cover what to have ready because it shouldn't really be a daunting time. Especially if you've been in business for long enough...
The Alter Ego Effect
What if the games we played as children held the greatest gift to helping us achieve more today?” That's how this book grabbed me. This is a frickin’ fantastic book. This book, The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman is a life-changing book for business and personal...
How to Use Self-Care to Fuel Your Entrepreneurial Journey
Today, something I am terrible at (but getting better) is self-care. I have definitely realized as I get older and busier and as business is growing, that self care is vitally important. ‘Vital’ is the word I really want to use there, as self-care really is vitally...
Working from Home as a Parent
Working from home as a parent can be both a blessing and a curse. There have been plenty of times where I thought it was the greatest thing in the world because I can be with my kids while I work! It's dream, right? However, in some ways it has also started a new era...
3 Business Tips For Small Business Owners
Today we’ll be talking about 3 business tips for small business owners, and ones that are reigniting, restarting or revamping their current business model. No 1. Know Your Business Model Whether you're starting out, or restarting, know your business model. This...