Financial Bits and Bytes

I was watching a movie the other day, and a company executive walked into the office, a large room with row upon row of desks, filled with women typing on typewriters. It was sometime in the 50’s. My, how things have changed. The advances in mobile technology have changed the way we live, but the changes in the way companies get things done is just as significant. The typical new age company no longer has assigned desks for employees, and cubicles are a thing of the past. The office is an open environment. People have flexible hours, and since working

Every business owner is buried by information. There aren’t enough hours in the day to read, digest and then decide what you should act on. So how do you decide what to deal with today that can’t wait till tomorrow? Many business owners have dashboards that tell them how their companies are doing. Some electronic systems continuously scroll information about the company. Some use reports that are created weekly or monthly for the management team. It’s nice to have that information, but all those reports and all those numbers could cause your eyes to glaze over. TMI – Too much

Business owners make decisions daily, either by using Intuition or Knowledge. In the initial stages of their business, entrepreneurs use Intuition in making those start-up decisions. Then, the practical pieces of running a business come from Knowledge. To learn as quickly as possible, magazines are thumbed through, books are scanned, emails may be largely ignored. As a result, decisions are made from the gut. How many business owners give their financial reports that same indifferent stare? Your business is built on data. Are you making use of your available tools to make the right decisions? You need to know in

Scalability is the key to growing your business. How can you serve new customers, additional inventory and manufacturing space? Can you do it now, or do you wait and hope you don’t lose customers? It’s a balancing act, and there are no easy answers. Cash Needs – Understand the cash needs of ANY expansion plans. Some plans require long-term commitments. A cash flow forecast showing each expansion opportunity will alert you to upcoming problems. If you run out of cash – everything stops. Plan so that you know how much cash is needed not just today, but down the road.

How do you make decisions? How do you gather the information you need? How long do you wait for that information? How much time do you have to make the decision? What happens if you DON’T decide? A business owner’s day is filled with decisions. What resources that will need to be allocated? What’s the impact of moving or hiring staff? Should you buy more inventory now? Sometimes decisions get delayed. They may be delayed because information isn’t available. They may be delayed because there is still time to decide. But, sometimes you’re just not ready. You feel that delay