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Other Added - Discover 10 Tips on How To Avoid Financial Disaster in Your Business
What's next after someone becomes your client? What's next is to deliver on what you said you would, and more! As they say, "Under promise and over deliver." People expect you to deliver results. Surprise them by also going the extra mile over and over again.As soon as you get a new client, thank them for doing business with you. Send them a thank you note, an extra report or something of value. Let them know that you appreciate their business and show them you care about them. One small act that shows how much you value your new client can create a client for life.The formula for having your clients turn into raving fans is: good product + great service. Interestingly enough a good product + bad service gives you unhappy customers no matter how good your product is.A study has shown that it takes 16 times the effort to get a new client as it does to sell to an existing one. So treasure them all and treat them like a $1m client.When you have satisfied clients, they will buy more and more from you. They have already experienced you, your services/products and your quality of service so the decision process is so much easier for
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
It's really quite easy to convert Microsoft Word to a pdf file, or rather, a Microsoft Word document to a pdf file.Method 1. This is the easiest if you have Adobe Acrobat installed in your hard drive. Take note that you need the full program of Adobe Acrobat and not just the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free to download.If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, you can purchase it from http://www.adobe.com or you can read on to find out where you can convert Microsoft Word to a pdf file.Assuming you have Adobe Acrobat in your hard drive, we can also assume the conversion program, Acrobat Distiller, has been automatically installed as well. In this case, open the Microsoft Word document you want to convert to a pdf file.Click on 'File' at the menu on top of the document. Then click 'Print.' A dialogue box will appear. If you have one or more printers connected to your computer, they will be listed there. One of the options will be 'Acrobat Distiller.' Click on that. The conversion will then begin.After a few moments a dialogue box appears prompting you to save the document. It will have the same file name of the original Word do
Your business continues to grow, new customers are gained, orders taken for the next generation of products that will secure the future of the business - or is the future clouded with some nagging uncertainty? The outlook is fine but things are not running as smoothly as they did a short time ago.
You took the decision to market your business more aggressively and since that time small distractions keep happening that cannot easily be explained but they need your attention to resolve.
Maybe all growing companies go through this phase. All these "little things" are resolved quickly, but there does appear to be more of them. You know, or hope, that no major surprises will adversely arise and hit your company.
But what steps can you take to give you greater comfort?
Working "on" the business rather than "in" it, has meant delegation of work to your staff. After all you cannot be with prospective customers and be talking to existing ones on day to day administrative matters. Your staff have been loyal, hard working and always done what you asked. They have worked their way up in the business.
Now, however, they are in positions where they must make decisions. Decisions that will impact upon you, your future, your wealth!
The important decisions are always referred to you, but it is the impact of all the small ones that could be catastrophic. So what action can be taken to give you some comfort?
The business cannot afford a full time administrative professional and there is not enough time for you to grow the business and run the day to day affairs. Help is required to understand the causes of some common failings within the business. An ‘early warning' system of impending problems that may create a financial disaster is necessary, so that appropriate action to eliminate concerns can be taken.
All businesses are different. However, 10 tips on how to avoid financial disaster that are useful in all businesses are:
1. Control your Business
Be sensible, practical, but above all else know what is happening in your business. So often owners think they know, but through a lack of understanding, the use of incomplete or inaccurate information, wrong or ill-timed decisions are taken. Some business owners opt out completely and take no decision at all.
Control your business by ensuring that:
- good management and accounting systems are in use
-if you do not understand the "numbers" seek help - be trained!
-all information on which you base your decisions is accurate, if in doubt have the data audited
-short and long term goals have been set
-financial information is prepared in a timely manner and at regular intervals
-all management information is reviewed in a timely manner and when necessary corrective action taken
2. Be honest and realistic in your decision making
If the data upon which you are taking business decisions is suspect, the business decision making process is suspect.
Further remember what you are in business for - to achieve your goals, your vision. Your goals will be more difficult to achieve if the quality of the data used to base decisions upon is suspect.
Discipline yourself to:
-write off bad debts immediately
-write down the value of obsolete or slow moving stock in the Balance Sheet
-record incomes in the correct accounting period
-record expenses in the correct accounting period
-be honest in all financial matters
-accrue for known future non-recurring items of cost and income that relate to the current period
-remain focused and take decisions that only support meeting your goals
3. Reconcile your Cash
Know your cash balance at all times. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. Do not let it drip away in waste.
Forecast your cash flows on a regular basis and be in control and manage your cash position.
Conserve all cash and recognize the dangers of:
-spending cash on items that are not necessary in meeting the goals of the business
-buying new when second hand would suffice
-structuring incentive schemes to sales instead of cash and profit
-creditor chase letters and writs may indicate cash outflows not recognized in your forecasts
-a "cheque in post" and post dated cheques mentality may further lead to errors in forecasts
4. Pay on Time - Receive on Time
Make all payments on time. If this is not possible then negotiate revised terms with suppliers. Always avoid late payment of taxes, including VAT, NI and PAYE.
Negotiate acceptable credit terms with your customers, and enforce them as appropriate.
Take control of the situation and not be a bystander!
Avoid:
-unnecessary cost and waste through not acting proactively
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
-
Having been involved in the franchising industry I have seen a lot of well-intentioned advertisements that simply did not pull and often I would cringe when I looked at some of those ads. But it was not just our franchise company franchisees that needed help, truly it is most all small business people.We finally instituted a plan that our franchisees had to fax us a copy of their ad 24-hours prior to sending in for publication, if they did not hear back from us in 12-hours it was automatically approved. The turn around had to be fast, as we did not want our franchisees to miss a deadline or marketing opportunity and we know people wait until the last minute. Also we wanted sales and for them to make money as that is the goal in business.That first year we rejected about 50% of the advertising display type ads and radio blurbs. A funny thing happened by not too unpredictable. You see the franchisees would send fax in the ads on Saturday night at 10 PM hoping we would not see them and they would be automatically approved for fear we might reject them at HQ. It was obvious we needed some help here. So, we revised the advertising in our Confiden
Now, however, they are in positions where they must make decisions. Decisions that will impact upon you, your future, your wealth!
The important decisions are always referred to you, but it is the impact of all the small ones that could be catastrophic. So what action can be taken to give you some comfort?
The business cannot afford a full time administrative professional and there is not enough time for you to grow the business and run the day to day affairs. Help is required to understand the causes of some common failings within the business. An ‘early warning' system of impending problems that may create a financial disaster is necessary, so that appropriate action to eliminate concerns can be taken.
All businesses are different. However, 10 tips on how to avoid financial disaster that are useful in all businesses are:
1. Control your Business
Be sensible, practical, but above all else know what is happening in your business. So often owners think they know, but through a lack of understanding, the use of incomplete or inaccurate information, wrong or ill-timed decisions are taken. Some business owners opt out completely and take no decision at all.
Control your business by ensuring that:
- good management and accounting systems are in use
-if you do not understand the "numbers" seek help - be trained!
-all information on which you base your decisions is accurate, if in doubt have the data audited
-short and long term goals have been set
-financial information is prepared in a timely manner and at regular intervals
-all management information is reviewed in a timely manner and when necessary corrective action taken
2. Be honest and realistic in your decision making
If the data upon which you are taking business decisions is suspect, the business decision making process is suspect.
Further remember what you are in business for - to achieve your goals, your vision. Your goals will be more difficult to achieve if the quality of the data used to base decisions upon is suspect.
Discipline yourself to:
-write off bad debts immediately
-write down the value of obsolete or slow moving stock in the Balance Sheet
-record incomes in the correct accounting period
-record expenses in the correct accounting period
-be honest in all financial matters
-accrue for known future non-recurring items of cost and income that relate to the current period
-remain focused and take decisions that only support meeting your goals
3. Reconcile your Cash
Know your cash balance at all times. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. Do not let it drip away in waste.
Forecast your cash flows on a regular basis and be in control and manage your cash position.
Conserve all cash and recognize the dangers of:
-spending cash on items that are not necessary in meeting the goals of the business
-buying new when second hand would suffice
-structuring incentive schemes to sales instead of cash and profit
-creditor chase letters and writs may indicate cash outflows not recognized in your forecasts
-a "cheque in post" and post dated cheques mentality may further lead to errors in forecasts
4. Pay on Time - Receive on Time
Make all payments on time. If this is not possible then negotiate revised terms with suppliers. Always avoid late payment of taxes, including VAT, NI and PAYE.
Negotiate acceptable credit terms with your customers, and enforce them as appropriate.
Take control of the situation and not be a bystander!
Avoid:
-unnecessary cost and waste through not acting proactively
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
When looking for a job you can take advantage of many methods: either you turn to your friends’ protection, or surf the net and peruse the newspapers or finally use the services of the recruiting agency. Even if your friends have no influential connections or can’t assist you in employment at the present moment, let them know that you are seeking a new job. A worthy position may turn up in a week’s time. And during this week you are to conquer the net, newspapers and recruiting agencies. So, let’s start...Composing a resume. There can be two approaches here. You write it yourself or entrust this mission to one of the most reputable resume writing services. Each of the approaches has its strong and weak points, though of course a resume writing company has more chances to turn your nurse resume into incarnation of the employer’s dream. You want to write the resume yourself – Ok. Before setting yourself to do it, look through a number of resumes for the identical position. It will help you to define the salary and to formulate the necessary skills and experience. There are a lot of books and internet sources explaining how to win over your future emp
- good management and accounting systems are in use
-if you do not understand the "numbers" seek help - be trained!
-all information on which you base your decisions is accurate, if in doubt have the data audited
-short and long term goals have been set
-financial information is prepared in a timely manner and at regular intervals
-all management information is reviewed in a timely manner and when necessary corrective action taken
2. Be honest and realistic in your decision making
If the data upon which you are taking business decisions is suspect, the business decision making process is suspect.
Further remember what you are in business for - to achieve your goals, your vision. Your goals will be more difficult to achieve if the quality of the data used to base decisions upon is suspect.
Discipline yourself to:
-write off bad debts immediately
-write down the value of obsolete or slow moving stock in the Balance Sheet
-record incomes in the correct accounting period
-record expenses in the correct accounting period
-be honest in all financial matters
-accrue for known future non-recurring items of cost and income that relate to the current period
-remain focused and take decisions that only support meeting your goals
3. Reconcile your Cash
Know your cash balance at all times. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. Do not let it drip away in waste.
Forecast your cash flows on a regular basis and be in control and manage your cash position.
Conserve all cash and recognize the dangers of:
-spending cash on items that are not necessary in meeting the goals of the business
-buying new when second hand would suffice
-structuring incentive schemes to sales instead of cash and profit
-creditor chase letters and writs may indicate cash outflows not recognized in your forecasts
-a "cheque in post" and post dated cheques mentality may further lead to errors in forecasts
4. Pay on Time - Receive on Time
Make all payments on time. If this is not possible then negotiate revised terms with suppliers. Always avoid late payment of taxes, including VAT, NI and PAYE.
Negotiate acceptable credit terms with your customers, and enforce them as appropriate.
Take control of the situation and not be a bystander!
Avoid:
-unnecessary cost and waste through not acting proactively
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
Have you ever noticed that the ‘unsuccessful’ business owners seem to be always working – yet never really get anywhere?And they may seem to be frayed around the edges and noticeably tired?And they seem to be surprised when the BAS statements and payments are due. Surprised when their staff leaves them, or they never have any money when big bills are due…And at tax time they are surprised at the amount of tax they have to pay?And they are constantly wondering why if they ‘made so much profit’ why it isn’t in my bank account?These type of business people go on to blame the tax man, the government, or the economy for their worsening business.On the contrary… have you noticed that successful business owners always seem to be in control? Seem to be calm and focused. And prepared for any thing that may ‘come up’.To them business isn’t a surprise any more.Why is this?And how do they do it?Because they have prepared for it.Yes – that’s right, they have prepared for it.Super Successful business owners plan their business growth. They prepare months, quarters and even years in adva
-remain focused and take decisions that only support meeting your goals
3. Reconcile your Cash
Know your cash balance at all times. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. Do not let it drip away in waste.
Forecast your cash flows on a regular basis and be in control and manage your cash position.
Conserve all cash and recognize the dangers of:
-spending cash on items that are not necessary in meeting the goals of the business
-buying new when second hand would suffice
-structuring incentive schemes to sales instead of cash and profit
-creditor chase letters and writs may indicate cash outflows not recognized in your forecasts
-a "cheque in post" and post dated cheques mentality may further lead to errors in forecasts
4. Pay on Time - Receive on Time
Make all payments on time. If this is not possible then negotiate revised terms with suppliers. Always avoid late payment of taxes, including VAT, NI and PAYE.
Negotiate acceptable credit terms with your customers, and enforce them as appropriate.
Take control of the situation and not be a bystander!
Avoid:
-unnecessary cost and waste through not acting proactively
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
In professional sales we measure our success against some fairly common benchmarks – quota, commissions and sales ranking. Only the best sales managers and consistent top performers take performance measurement a step further. Beyond talent and hard work, they know a disciplined process of measuring and evaluating their sales activities is the key to delivering an outstanding sales performance. Here’s a quick reality check.What is your current proposal to sale ratio?No answer? While most sales professionals agree that they should have the answers to this basic question, they don’t. Why are sales professionals so resistant to monitoring the performance indicators that create a road map for success?Unfortunately we can trace one reason back to sales management and the dreaded daily, weekly or monthly activity reports. Sales activity tracking has a bad rep. When management places more importance on making 100 dials rather than what those dials produce, the sales professional faces an ethical dilemma. Should they present fact or fiction?Regardless of whether your manager requires it, the reason to track your activity is the
-offering credit terms to customers who fail to meet their contractual agreements
-failing to take up credit references for all new customers
-offering substantially improved credit terms to customers who have purchased small but now suddenly want to purchase big
-expensive debt recovery agencies
-failing to communicate with your suppliers should you be unable to meet your payment commitments
-not meeting with your bank on a regular basis
5. Communicate
Do you communicate with your staff, customers, suppliers and other groups connected with your business? Do they know that you do in fact communicate?
How do you communicate? Meetings, letters, email, telephone or other? Are your communications understood and interpreted in the manner that you intend? All too often much communication is not effective.
Consider all management and financial information that is prepared by a business. All too often there may be a cursory read, then filed and not acted upon.
This form of communication is expensive to prepare and no benefit is derived.
Organize yourself to:
-attend regular internal and/or external review meetings with staff, customers and other stakeholders alike
-chair meetings in a constructive manner and follow an agenda
-avoid a "talk shop or blame" culture
-listen to others
-encourage feedback
-engage an "open door" policy
-ensure action points are recorded, designated to individuals and followed up
6. Re-engineer your processes
Frequently business systems remain unchanged for long periods, become outdated and fail to satisfy the demands of a changing business environment.
This shortcoming is often found in administrative as well as manufacturing processes. Over time processes cease to be appropriate, are tweaked to accommodate changing environments and result in inherent waste.
Review and benchmark your processes to avoid:
-unnecessary work that does not add value
-work duplication that constitutes waste
-stand alone systems - integrate wherever possible
7. Involve your Employees
Often it is quoted that employees are the greatest asset of a business. But also it is found that in some organizations employees are not always respected, involved with or empowered to participate in the decision making processes of the business.
Train your staff and delegate responsibilities:
-in a controlled manner
-involve the appropriate staff in decision making
8. Maintain High Customer Service Levels
Retaining customers is hard, winning customers more so. During a financial crisis, your customer service level may be adversely impacted. Be proactive and agree with the customer an acceptable level of service that will meet the needs and expectations of the customer during the period of concern.
Customers are more discerning and expect all service to be right first time, do not surprise them by falling service levels after failing to communicate your changed circumstances to them. Be proactive and manage the situation.
Take remedial action when adverse trends are recorded in the following areas:
-delivery times
-customer complaints
-customer returns
-warranty claims
9. Provide an adequate Capital Structure
An expanding business may require additional funding to sustain growth. Ensure that there is the potential to raise long term funds for the business, to enable financial stability and long term planning to materialize.
Examine the following sources of funds:
-increase share capital
-leasing
-hire purchase
-business angels
10. If all else Fails seek Expert Help
If you are unable to quickly resolve your problems - seek HELP. But seek help BEFORE the situation becomes a catastrophe. Time is money, and catastrophes are costly! Financial management consultants, banks and solicitors are examples of organizations that can help you.
The sooner remedial action is taken, the sooner normality is resumed and it will almost certainly be more cost effective.
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