Your hosts Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan CBSE, and Ed Selkow dive into the final area of the business planning wheel: Finance. This episode closes out the planning series with clear, actionable insights into how to run your janitorial business by the numbers—without getting overwhelmed.

From understanding cash flow and labor costs to learning how to job cost and forecast smarter, this episode will help you get a grip on your numbers—without needing an accounting degree.

If you're ready to build a more profitable, cash-flow-conscious cleaning company, this is the episode to bookmark.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

• ✅ The 3–5 Critical Success Factors that drive your bottom line
• ✅ Why every business owner needs a simple financial review routine
• ✅ The difference between plan vs. actual vs. last year’s numbers
• ✅ What to do when clients aren’t paying—and how to track it
• ✅ Why “when” money comes in is just as important as how much
• ✅ How to job cost and price accurately using real-time data
• ✅ The importance of treating your budget like a living document

⏱️ Episode Breakdown (Chapters):

• 00:00 Introduction and context
• 02:57 Understanding financial health
• 06:01 The importance of numbers in business
• 09:09 Critical success factors in finance
• 12:01 Job costing and pricing strategy
• 14:58 Budgeting as a living document
• 18:01 Final thoughts and key takeaways
  
  
  

📌 Resources:

• ➡️ Catch up on Part 1: Business Planning Simplified - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDwpXwJHIOw 
• ➡️ Watch Part 2: Sales & Marketing Planning That Works - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsrWO8sk2Fo 
• ➡️ Watch Part 3: Mastering Service Delivery for Growth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vleZIr4jfFw  
• ➡️ Subscribe to The Profitable Cleaner  to never miss an episode!

🔗 Where to Find Your Hosts

• Sharon Cowan, CBSE – LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
• Mark Anderson – LinkedIn | Facebook
• Ed Selkow – Facebook

About Polishing Profits

Polishing Profits is hosted by three of the most respected and experienced leaders in the janitorial industry: Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan, and Ed Selkow.

With over 140 years of combined experience, they’ve built and scaled commercial cleaning companies, coached hundreds of owners, and helped countless teams go from stuck to thriving.

 Each episode brings you real stories, real strategies, and practical tools to build a cleaning business that actually works.

Produced by The Profitable Cleaner Network.

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