1.   Collect your receivables. Almost every business has past-due receivables. Phone the people who owe you the most money, and try to resolve the problem on the spot. If you can’t get the cash flowing immediately, try to negotiate a payment schedule, or schedule a follow-up call.

2.   Chip away at overhead. Review “fixed” expenses, and identify those you can cut. Try this exercise: Review every canceled check for the past 90 days and decide if the expenditure was really necessary. Bad spending habits are developed when cash is plentiful.

3.    Control inventory. Inventory can be a black hole for business cash — money goes in, but it doesn’t come out until the product is sold. Take a careful look at your inventory of parts, supplies and products for sale. Sell at a discount, products that are gathering dust.  Scrap, rework, or return any other obsolete inventory.

4.    Don’t overpay estimated taxes. Many smaller businesses are allowed to pay quarterly estimates equal to either 90% of current-year or 100% of prior-year taxes. Make sure you pay the lesser amount, since that’s all the IRS requires.

5.    Review owner’s compensation. In many small businesses, the owner’s draw, salary or expense account is often a significant cash drain.  Reduce family expenditures. A little financial discipline at home may save the family business. Once you have current cash flow under control, begin to focus on long-range planning.

6.   Develop tight controls over billing and collections. To speed up cash flow, reduce the time between shipping your product and sending an invoice. Consider semi-monthly instead of monthly billing, and send second notices more quickly. Talk to your banker about ways to speed up collections; inquire about lock boxes, wire transfers, pre-authorized checks, and electronic trade payments. And don’t overlook a sure-fire, low-tech system: open your mail everyday, and deposit the checks.

7.   Plan the payment of your bills. Analyze all discounts, and refuse a discount only if the amount that you will earn on the cash by delaying payment is greater than the amount of the discount. Pay all non-discount bills as late as possible without jeopardizing your good vendor relations. Cash should be transferred from savings into your checking account at the rate necessary to cover checks. If a large amount of excess cash ends up in a low-interest account, transfer it to a higher-return account by the end of the day.

8.   Eliminate weekly paychecks. If you currently pay your employees weekly, perhaps they would be willing to accept biweekly or even monthly payment with mid-month advances.  The advantages to you: longer use of your cash and less frequent payroll tax deposits.

9.    Re-evaluate company practices. If certain customers are always late paying their bills, consider dropping them. Look for new business that will help your company’s cash flow, instead of focusing only on increased sales. Consider leasing assets rather than buying them.

10.  Look ahead. Develop a written cash flow plan and follow it. Finally, maintain an adequate line of credit and a good relationship with your banker.

You can read this article and you can do nothing, and nothing will change. But if you take action on these one by one, you will dramatic improvement in your business. I guarantee it.

Joe and Bob were two dairy farmers who each needed a milking stool.  Joe wanted a fast solution to his problem so he scrounged around his barn to find the parts to build his stool, he found a flat seat and 2 pieces of strong wood for legs; but ended up with a scrawny third leg about ½ the size of the others.  The stool worked; but Joe had to sit on his stool with tenderness in case he put too much weight on the stool breaking the smaller leg, sending Joe to the ground.  Joe’s neighbor Bob wanted to make sure he had a good, strong stool that would last a long time. He spent much more time building this stool and made sure that each component was strong – the seat and the legs. Bob’s stool was so strong he started using it as a step to store products up high on shelves. His stool never broke.

Now allow me to explain how the 3-legged stool is like a business. Let’s name the 3 primary legs or functions of a business:

1) Sales/marketing – without sales a business is dead and marketing is the precursor of revenue generation.

2) The product made or service provided by the company – if you don’t have a good service or product to provide to customers, the business is doomed.

3) Finance – money is the lubricant that keeps the business machine running – a machine that is well lubricated – will run forever with few problems.

And finally the seat – that is management, the component that keeps the 3 primary legs of the business together: sales/marketing, product or service and finance.  The better these three legs work together, the better the organization functions.

The key to this story is not to be like Joe, the cheap farmer who did not spend the time to find a third strong leg for his stool.  Joe will spend more time worrying about his stool breaking and disrupting his day than Bob.  Bob will be more efficient and productive – no worries about the foundation he sits on.

Most business owners come from the sales or product side of the business, and have little knowledge of finance – this is nearly always the weak leg in a small business. With one weak leg – the whole business is weaker because the business is only as strong as its weakest leg.  The goal of management is to make sure that all three legs are strong and durable.

In finance that means:

1) accurate and timely financial statements

2) a revenue and profit plan for the year defined monthly

3) a forward looking cash flow plan insuring adequate cash flow to run the business

4) a sound financing plan supported by a local lender(s)

5) monthly performance accountability with the managers of: sales, production/service, and finance

I have employed this system for the last fifteen years, and the results – 19 business owners have increased their person net worth by at least $1,000,000.  Think about how you can evaluate and strengthen each of the legs of your business, it will pay you back a hundred fold.

Here is something I am going to give you today for FREE. If you follow it, it can improve your bottom line and show you 127 ways to cut your costs in business. Go to www.dynastybuilder.com and click on the picture to receive your copy today!

There are hundreds of businesses in central Indiana in this predicament, so I decided to do a little research and come up with some guidelines of what it takes to get the attention of a lender in this “NEW” economy.

• Credit score of the owner of 720 or better.
• Decent payment history with vendors
• Debt service coverage ratio of 1.25:1.
• Debt to worth ratio 2:1 or lower
• A history of profitability
• At least 2 years in business
• Accurate financial statements

PROFITABILITY is the primary ingredient that impacts 5 of the 7 requirements listed above. In any economy, it is critical for management to keep focused on profitability. It is critical that the company work to a profit plan. It impacts if the owner gets compensated adequately and regularly; it determines if vendors get paid in a timely manner; it is one of the largest components in cash flow; it grows equity (which impacts the debt to worth ratio); and the longer the history of profitability, the more likely the company is stronger financially and as an added bonus – worth more.

And lastly, a word about accurate financial statements – although this seems like a no-brainer; it is a problem with many companies. Financial statements are the report cards that everyone outside your organization evaluates to see your performance as a manager.  If the information is inaccurate, it reflects negatively on your ability to run your company.  Accurate statements prepared on the “accrual” basis are the first step in managing a company well and getting your bankers trust.

Of course, what was true for the ancient Israelites is also true today.  Planning is the key for any business owner who wishes to build a company that has a solid foundation for future growth and development.  Yet, less than 15% of small business owners surveyed admit that they are doing an adequate job of planning for the future of their business.  In fact, managers rarely fall short of their real potential for lack of technical competence.  Of all the organizations and businesses I have consulted in the last 30 years, the one principle cause for failure is the inability or unwillingness of the executive staff to logically and consistently plan for the allocation of limited resources – labor, money and time – toward all the viable opportunities that exist.

While strategic planning is an integral part of maintaining the growth cycle of a large corporation it is even more critical to smaller organizations because they, typically, lack the resources necessary to absorb the cost of mistakes, errors in judgment, or failure to foresee change.  The planning process allows management to evaluate the future where they want to be and how to get there.  It helps them establish goals and then gives them a performance standard by which to measure themselves.  Better yet, planning allows them a process to identify and resolve problems before they become crises.

Before gathering your staff together – either formally or informally – to begin the planning process for the future growth and development of your company, it’s important to understand exactly what this vital activity will accomplish:

1. Planning formulates the future. The planning process allows the people in your organization to anticipate and, therefore, shape the future.

2. Planning motivates people. Everyone wants to have a part in determining their future.  The greater the feeling of ownership each individual has in determining the objectives of the organization, the more committed they will be to making sure those objectives will be achieved.

3. Planning establishes the organizational structure of a company.  The planning process will clarify what structural issues need to be resolved in a company.  This will determine what organizational model needs to be implemented to address these issues.

4. Planning directs delegation. The key to effective delegation is understanding what assets and liabilities a company has in terms of its human resources.  By determining who is best suited to handle a particular role, the entire organization should be able to live up to its maximum potential. (Tim Collins – Good To Great).

5. Planning promotes communications. The planning process affects each division of a company, including the finance, marketing, sales and operations divisions.  Thus, for each area of a company to achieve their respective goals, they must cooperate and communicate with divisions that they normally don’t communicate with.

6. Planning fosters the process of monitoring.  The planning process establishes standards or goals that an organization must achieve to accomplish their overall objectives.  Without a monitoring system, management will not be able to assess how well these goals are being achieved.

Planning is essential for the survival of the company. If the organization does not have the time or manpower to do adequate planning, then the company should utilize outside resources to help them set, monitor and achieve their goals.  Time spent on planning is time well spent, and money spent on planning is money well spent when the plan is utilized.

WHAT DO YOU DO?  Here are 6 steps you can take that will have immediate and positive impact on your ability to maintain positive cash flow:

• Profitability - This is the most important – your company MUST be profitable. Look at your last three months profit and loss statements. If you are making money, your chances of maintaining a positive cash position are very good.  If you are losing money – your chances of survival diminishes with each month that you show a loss. The reason: losses deplete your cash position and each month you lose money, your cash position (and cash flow) deteriorates. Lose money long enough and you will not have enough money to make payroll and/or purchase inventory for future sales.

• Revenue - develop a game plan to improve revenue. Pull out all the stops: Ask your sales people to commit more time, ask them to make more calls, ask for more work, quote more jobs, see more people and get better connected with customers. Start measuring weekly what is important in your sales area and review the data. You’ll be shocked at what you learn.  Also, selling is about building relationships; if your sales people are not doing that, your competition is.

• Accounts Receivable -improve your collections:

1. Review you’re A/R report weekly
2. Read the notes on each account that is over 45 days old on what is being done, promises made, etc.  Get informed on who is paying slowly.
3. Get out in the market and talk to your customers that are slow – see what is going on.
4. Invoice weekly instead of monthly
5. Fax or email each invoice – don’t rely on snail mail
6. New customers – get a deposit on the new job
7. Get yourself and your employees involved in collecting past due amounts
8. On slow accounts – consistency is the key
9. Track the percentage of receivables over 60, 90 and 120 monthly, the amount of money over terms should decrease – if not, ACT

• Inventory – less is better.  Inventory is not cash and the less you have to stock the better.  Work out a plan with your supplier to see if they can deliver more often, convert your old inventory to cash (especially if it is old, even at a discount), and measure your current inventory level against your current revenue level – you probably have too much inventory on hand.

• Borrowing - make sure that you have maximized this ability. If you can restructure or refinance some existing long-term assets at today’s low rates, you should jump at it. Although credit is harder to get than it was 18 months ago, there are still lenders out there looking to lend money. Exhaust this ability by putting together a good business plan with your company’s last 2 years performance and start looking. Ford Motor Company went out and re-leveraged their key assets and built their cash up before the economic downturn – they are the only car company that didn’t need government money.

• Accounts Payable – more is better. Although suppliers are also tightening up on credit policies, you can normally leverage this relationship for longer terms on repayment. If you’re in trouble with your suppliers already, talk to them and show them a plan as to how they will be repaid and how they are going to make more money in your account by selling you more product. But don’t make any promise you can’t keep on repayment because that will hurt you in the long run.

Over the last 35 years, I have worked with hundreds of businesses.  Successful businesses do the things I have outlined in this article. If you’re not doing them, you are lessening your chance of succeeding as a business owner – which may end up feeling like a sharp stick in the eye. If you do them, your chances dramatically improve, and the pain goes away. If you need help, some direction, or a complete plan of action, call me today – 765-644-8887. An initial meeting costs you nothing and can help get you on the right track.

This workshop will cover an array of business topics including sales, marketing, and financial know-how for small business owners. We’ll teach you how to:

• Increase profit by $25K by learning how to leverage your break even point
• 7 steps to never running short on cash again
• 4 ways to identify and penetrate your best customers
• Learn how to break all the rules & get more sales in a down economy
• Get your phone to ring – learn what advertising works for your target market
• PLUS- 2 hours of 1 on 1 coaching from any of the instructors

If you’re serious about pushing through the boundaries you’re currently up against, this seminar will teach you everything you need to know, plus put you face to face with some the best of the best in their industry.

Instructors

SALES: Aaron Prickel – 15 years sales experience and current sales trainer at Lushin & Associates

FINANCE: Dan Lacy – 25 years experience in financial management coaching

MARKETING: Lloyd Easters – 15 years marketing experince

The cost of this workshop is $995 with 100% money back guarantee if this doesn’t work in your business. For more information, contact Loisann@dynastybuilder.com or call 317-370-6626.

As the Commander of your company, what is your battle plan for 2010?  Do you even have one? Economically, next year should be slightly better than 2009.  Credit will still be tight, there won’t be much growth in the economy and your competitors are doing everything they can to take your market share because they need the revenue to keep their doors open.   If you struggled in 2009, it won’t be much better in 2010.  Do you have a BATTLE PLAN for 2010? Are your chances of success much greater if you do have a strategy or do you believe in the “wait and see” strategy by commander Obama?

Hopefully, you will be one of the 15% of business owners who believes that your chances of succeeding in 2010 are much greater if you do have a battle plan for next year.  If so, here are 31 questions that will help you succeed in 2010:

1. Where are we likely to finish (sales/cash flow/profits) in 2009?
2. What went right this year?
3. What went wrong this year?
4. What should we have done in 2009 that we didn’t do?
5. What did we do in 2009 that we should not have done?
6. What are our remaining three biggest sales problems?
7. What will be the consequences if we fail to overcome them?
8. What new initiatives (sales, marketing, organizational structure, cash flow, financing) should we explore?
9. Besides solving problems and launching new initiatives, what must we do better than we’ve done in the past?
10. What can we do, for example, to insure that we will attain 100% of our monthly revenue targets?
11. How can we increase margins?
12. How can we reduce account receivables on a monthly basis?
13. Where are we wasting and/or spending too much money?
14. What can we do to maximize non-traditional revenue streams?
15. Where is our largest “growth market”, how are we going to identify that target market, and how are we going to sell them?
16. How can we do a better job of prospecting for new customers?
17. How can we improve the revenue from our regular and biggest-spending accounts?
18. How can we up-sell smaller accounts with big-account potential?
19. Should we consider any changes in organizational structure?
20. What additional people do we need for 2010?
21. What additional other resources do we need for 2010?
22. What additional training do we need to improve performance?
23. What “unique expertise” that is not available from our competitors – can we offer our customers?
24. What standard of performance have we set for our salespeople?
25. How do we get the sales staff to buy into our 2010 goals and strategic game plan?
26. What can we do to better manage each salesperson for the good of the company?
27. How can we make our employees jobs more enjoyable?
28. What monthly profit targets should we set for 2010?
29. What monthly cash flow targets should we set for 2010?
30. Does this management team believe our goals are realistic and therefore achievable? Why?
31. Am I willing to commit, without reservation, to hitting my targets and planning for them?

Create a plan of action based on your answers, and you’re on the path to great success. My monthly business owner workshop can help you work through these issues. I take 10 business owners, just like you, who are going to thrive in 2010. This is a hands-on monthly workshop that will help you create the battle plan that will drive you to greater success. Call 765-644-8887 or email Dan@DynastyBuilder.com to reserve a spot in the next group.

There are a lot of negative trends, percentages, etc. But you CAN grow revenue next year. Fully understanding the economy, YOUR market, and how you ATTACK will make all the difference for you. Here is a bullet point review of what has happened over the last 18 months that will help you get a macro perspective on what you think your company is capable of doing in 2010, based on your target market, geographic focus and product line:

• The economists predicted that the 2009 U.S. economy would contract by 2.4 percent and they were right.
• Employers shed 7.3 million jobs since December 2007. The official jobless rate last month jumped to 10.2 percent , a 26 ½ year high.
• Even with the bear market rally in equities and the recovering housing in 2009, household net worth has contracted nearly 20% or $12 trillion in lost net worth – a degree of trauma that we have never before seen.
• The birth in baby’s after World War II (baby boomers) has driven the U.S. economy for the last 5 decades.  There are currently 78 million baby boomers over the age of 53.  This mass of people realizes that they will live another 20 or 30 years and will never fully recoup their net worth loss in the 2008 – 2009 recession.
• People under 55 years of age are finding it difficult to get employment.  Those that are unemployed and under-employed is closer to 17%, this U-6 number is the highest since the statistic was developed in 1994.  There is a youth unemployment crisis in the United States of epic proportions and there are a record number of Americans that have been out of work for longer than six months who cannot find employment.
• Indiana has been hit harder than the rest of the nation in terms of jobs lost, percentage-wise, since manufacturing makes up a great number of jobs in the state.
• Credit availability for small businesses contracted dramatically in 2008 and 2009.  Small businesses that depend on access to credit account for more than half of all new jobs created nationally.
• The personal saving rate hit a high of over 12% in the early 1970s through early 1980’s and dropped for 30 years to 1.5% in early 2008 and reversed in the second quarter of 2008 and jumped to nearly 5% by the second quarter of 2009.  The largest reversal in the shortest period of time since 1952.

How the experts expect 2010 to stack up:

• The Financial Forecast Center predicts that the gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2010 will be flat, increasing ½% in the second quarter and steadily improve in the third and fourth quarters.
• Consumers will be cautious in their spending and will continue to save.
• Credit availability for small business will be hampered.  Most businesses are going to find it more difficult than normal to finance investments and expand their business.
• Prime rate is projected to remain at 3.25% through the first half of the year with a slight change of an upward move toward year end.
• The unemployment rate will drop to 9.6% by year end, small businesses will start adding new jobs.  It will take another 3 to 5 years to reach full employment.
• Inflation will remain low due to cautious consumer spending and continued high unemployment.
• The housing market will show some growth; but, like the overall economy, it will be muted.   Home prices are expected to rise slowly in most markets.  Nonresidential construction will be weighted down by excess supply and tight credit for firms seeking to buy or lease space.
• The only part of the population actually seeing any job growth in this recession is the people over the age of 55.  This age group that recently retired is finding they must go back to work to satisfy their retirement lifestyle.

You can probably spots some trends in the data that will have a positive impact on what you’re offering to your customers. If not, then perhaps you need us to help you figure it out.

Have you put together a specific plan? Have you prepared a detailed financial forecast for 2010 with revenue, margins, overhead expenses and profit?  Will you have enough cash to operate successfully in 2010?  Is your banker fully confident in your ability to improve your performance in 2010?   Will you sleep better in 2010 than you did in 2009?

Don’t have a success plan for profit, expenses, revenue and cash flow for 2010?  Contact me before December 22 and I will give you a 100% guarantee that if you use our program to develop your strategy in 2010, you will be miles ahead of your competition and you will sleep better at night.

My record in 2009:  70% of my clients had between a 15% and 40% reduction in revenue between 2008 and 2009.  82% of them are projected to beat their profit budget for 2009,  27% will make more money in 2009 than the in 2008, 100% of them have adequate financing in place, and only 8% are not performing up to budget levels.  Let me help you.

Zig Ziglar said it best “Every choice you make has an end result.”

So, we’re now into February. The Super Bowl is over, the holidays are especially over and it’s got me thinking about your New Years Resolutions for your business. Have those fallen by the wayside now that January is over?

I’d like to focus on getting refocused…yes? I want to do this by giving you the Top 10 New Years’ Resolutions Your Business Should Make. That’s right….in February.

Based upon what happened in 2009 and the nominal growth predicted for 2010, it’s not too late to develop some resolutions that will boost the performance of your business.

Here are 10 proven “Resolutions” that will make your business stronger and more resilient in 2010.

1. Develop a strategic plan for the year. Define what you want to accomplish and then develop a plan to get you there.You’re not going to get where you think you want to be, unless you know where you want to go. You should be able to write it down for all the people in your organization. That way, they’ll understand where it is you are going.
2. Put time down on your calendar to work on your business. Continued planning and reviewing your plans on a monthly basis is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Take time to evaluate what did and didn’t work each month. That will help you set new directions or adjust old goals. This will help you stay on track and get to your destination.
3. Focus on profit. Over the years, I’ve met business owners who are ecstatic about the growth in their top line or expansion of territory or new product lines. However, profit is one of the key lubricants of a business. Profit enables expansion, strengthens borrowing ability, reduces costs, pays down debt and funds growth.  Profit is critical to the survival of any business and most business owners focus too little attention on this most important concept.
4. Learn something new that will help you manage better. Set aside a couple of hours a month to improve an area where you have a definite weakness.  Traditionally most business owners are weak in understanding of their financial data. There are a lot of great seminars that will enhance your understanding of financial information and how it is used in your company.  My seminar series for example, will greatly strengthen your financial understanding from reading the numbers, profit, cash flow, business value and management.
5. Get to know your top 10 customers. Opportunity knocks when you are face to face with your customers and learning about their challenges and obstacles.  There is tremendous synergy created when you take the time to meet and understand your customer’s needs. They appreciate your time and they like seeing the president in their facility.
6. Get a coach or mentor. A recent survey of business owners indicated that over 1/3 of them missed not having a sounding board or someone to talk too. Research has quantified that coaches will help business owners set better goals, maintain focus on key goals, improve profit, reduce stress and improve quality of life.
7. Promote your business regularly and consistently. Too often marketing and advertising fall to the bottom of the to-do list in a fast paced, crisis driven business.  If you want to grow your business, you have to make marketing and advertising a priority.  Take the time to create a marketing plan, it will help in your budgeting process, help in making poor, spur of the moment decisions and keep you focused on a monthly schedule.
8. Don’t make do, get a new one. Not every leader is eager to address poor performance, but weeding out a small number of “under performers” has a big impact on the rest of the workforce It gives the message that the organization is serious about tackling poor performance. Losing the worst and keeping the best helps improve organizational performance and re-energizes people.
9. Learn how to delegate and do more of it. There are many things to do when running a small business and it’s easy to deceive ourselves that we are the only one that can do it. Determine what your personal time is worth or your personal ROI and use that number to decide if someone else should do the task.  Delegation strengthens your management team and builds strong leaders.
10. Reevaluate all suppliers in search for the best prices and services. There have been alot of pricing changes in commodities throughout 2008 and 2009.  Checking your pricing between competitors may reveal that prices have in fact dropped and you were not getting the best pricing. Service is nearly as important so make sure a good price doesn’t detract from the level of service you need.

We help businesses create strategic plans. If any of the things above sound intimidating or time consuming, call us today. We’ll help you get organized and understand the things necessary to create abundance in your business.

During this current economic downturn, if you run or own your own business, it is highly probable that you’re facing more challenges and tougher decisions than you have in years. Stress is amplified for the business owner due to the relative isolation, unique responsibilities, long hours, and constant threats that affect the survivability of their company.

As one of my instructors in graduate school, Peter Drucker, always told us, “If we identify and truly understand the problem before we implement a solution, our life will have much less stress.”

In light of Dr. Drucker’s wisdom and our years of working with business owners and managers, we have put together a list of the “BIGGEST STRESS CREATORS” in hopes that it will enable you to identify the causes of stress in your business and take corrective action.

• No communicated vision for the future of the business, no shared goals to the management and staff
• No written or communicated financial goals for the business
• No clear chain of command (no written or published organizational chart
• No clear guidelines for job performance
• No written policies
• No marketing plan
• No defined “key performance indicators” that drive results in the business
• No systems that measure the “key performance indicators.
• No requirements on the quality or timeliness of financial information
• No cash flow forecast that predicts cash shortages in the future
• No effective communication in the direction of the business to their capital partners, their lenders

It’s important to identify and tackle those issues that create stress in your life because added stress has a cumulative effect. In many cases, it will start to affect your physical well being, impact your relationships with others in your organization, and impact your bottom line.

We have helped hundreds of businesses identify and solve those issues that are causing stress in their business and their lives. In just a few months, with corrective action, management is much happier, the employees are more engaged, cash flow improves, outlook improves, and work becomes fun again.

Here’s to your business success!