Our Work With Jenni Davis: Optimizing Her Agency’s Profit First Processes and Her Client’s Profits
Profit matters in business. Sure, revenue numbers are important, and big revenue feels amazing, but if you’re not using that money wisely and setting aside a healthy dose of profit, your progress will plateau—or worse—you’ll risk not paying yourself!
Jenni and her team provide high-touch Profit First strategy and implementation so their clients can have a solid grip on their finances and the systems around those finances. This process is getting massive results for clients, however, Jenni wanted the process to be more streamlined internally so she could better facilitate a one-stop shop and have all the data in one place. She was investing hours creating new plans and results dashboards for each client and needed a solution that saved her time, gave her clients exactly what they needed, and was simple enough for her team to use (thus, saving her even more time for founder activities).
About JMD Business Solutions
JMD Business Solutions supports 6-figure, service-based businesses by providing high-level Profit First financial strategy and operational support in the background of their business. It is their mission to optimize the daily financials in businesses so they can reclaim their profits AND truly have the freedom to get back to doing what they love as the visionary in their business.
JMD’s Challenges
Although JMD already offers solid profit strategies and financial insights for their clients, it was taking too much time to produce these results. Jenni felt as if she could provide better service to her clients by bringing in a KPI specialist behind the scenes to produce measurements that would better serve them and offer more visual and automated financial reporting. For example, they really wanted one master Profit First spreadsheet that could house the entire process from assessment to implementation to reporting results, which could then be customized by client. Because...there’s many ways to slice the Profit First pie, which is why you need a professional like Jenni and a killer spreadsheet to facilitate it!
What JMD Already Tried
JMD has always used spreadsheets to collect and deliver data to their clients, so Jenni wasn’t needing a completely new process--just one that would serve the business and the clients better as she scales her Profit First offerings. And as all of us in finance believe, spreadsheets are only as good as the user, right? Yes and no. Spreadsheets are as good as their creator, and when designed correctly, can do lots of powerful (and simple!) things that even the spreadsheet averse can get down with.
After: Forms and check figures, like in the below images, can automate most things and drastically cut down on user error and data inaccuracies (those totals below should add up to 100% profit allocated).
Why Jenni Reached Out
Already familiar with Innowik’s work and the immense value of using visual dashboards, Jenni knew right away that she needed us. We work together on mutual clients (and coach DOOs together!-affiliate link) and she has seen our products in action. Once Jenni decided to get serious about how she was delivering data to her clients, she knew we’d be a great fit!
What Jenni Wanted to Accomplish
Jenni and I worked on several successful projects together, but the one that lights her up the most is the Profit First allocation spreadsheet she’s using with her clients. She needed the best of both worlds—something that allowed her and her team to customize by client and dig deeper into the nerdy numbers, but also simpler, separate views for her clients to easily read their KPIs.
What We Accomplished Together
We left no stone unturned with this project. I worked to understand Jenni’s needs and over-delivered a dashboard that she could replicate and customize for each client. Jenni had a great vision and trusted me to grow the concept into something that blew both of our minds. (Spoiler: this internal tool could eventually spin off into a simpler version that we sell to individual biz owners so they can facilitate their own Profit First journey!)
After: In all of these dashboard pictures, the user only needs to enter information into the dark blue cells, and the rest is automatically calculated and checked. There is also an automatic script that allows Jenni and her team to push a button and produce another (prettier and simpler) copy for her clients (pictured below).
The Results, in Jenni’s Words
“I now have a one-step process that takes minutes to produce the deliverable to my clients. My team can easily go in and enter the information in the clearly laid out format. There is no room for error and as a business owner, it gives me such peace of mind.
This has changed the way I produce assessments and deliver monthly allocation to my clients. My team loves the simplicity and I love that I know it's right every single time because of the tool Kelsy created.” - Jenni
New Possibilities in Jenni’s Business
With Jenni’s extensive Profit First knowledge, and Innowik’s spreadsheet and dashboard skills, we co-created something that currently cuts the original processing time in half. These dashboards are allowing Jenni to reclaim more time back for herself and for business building, which alone was worth her investment.
Jenni is currently using our initial dashboard tool but we’re not done working together—we’re moving into phase two of this project, building out the quarterly and annual requirements and the presentation details. We estimate this processing time to be cut by 75% within the next quarter as these improvements are completed. Additionally, the tool is visually pleasing and simple enough for Jenni’s team to use! (She used to run these assessments all by her lonesome.)
“I have reclaimed time and money in my business because of Kelsy and her amazing skills. I would recommend her to any business that needs this type of service, as a matter of fact, I have! Kelsy and I now have several shared clients and she is making a difference in these businesses as well. I recently showed a client a rough draft of his new dashboard and he was so excited! He told me he never wanted to look at a traditional financial report again. All he needs is the Innowik dashboard and he is right!” - Jenni
After: These comparison graphs (not all pictured) are automatically populated within the same above-mentioned tool and organized in a concise, quick way for Jenni to put into her presentations. And bonus! If she chooses to use Google tools for her presentations, these can be embedded & automatically feed.
After: The above graph shows the client’s beginning state of how they were distributing their money, and what can happen after Profit First consulting with Jenni. Also known as “plan details”. A remarkable difference of what can happen when you effectively reduce expenses through the behaviors and routines of this plan!
After: The graph above shows “plan vs actual” - for example, you can see that for the most part they are sticking to their plan, but left a little bit of money on the table in Q1 for owner’s pay (due to operating expenses being higher than plan). This allows Jenni and her client to be very proactive in making the necessary adjustments. Note: this is similar to real plans with real results, but the actual dollars have been stripped out to protect client confidentiality.
About Jenni Davis
Jenni Davis is the founder of JMD Business Solutions. Since 2007 Jenni has been working with 6 figure businesses as a trusted advisor and profit strategist. She has worked in many different industries to clean up and maintain the financial structure of businesses through operational efficiencies. She has had the privilege to see success with her clients as they build wealth and increase profits.
Jenni is a self-described nerdy numbers girl, who teaches that profit does not happen by accident; it is a well-crafted machine that is developed over time with streamlined systems, proper finance management, and teaching business owners to find their passion and purpose while watching the profits grow.
When Jenni is not partnering with her clients, she can be found spreading time with her three grown children and husband of 32 years. She also enjoys riding her bike on the beach or cuddling up with a good cuppa tea. You can follow Jenni on LinkedIn here.