Financial Bits and Bytes

Aside from whatever emotional feelings you might have about those two words, your decision likely reflects the way you run your business. The issue isn’t just about the emotion, it’s about how you lead, think, problem solve and ultimately, how you run your company. And to be honest, neither choice is wrong. But how you answer that question impacts how you deal with the problems and issues everyone faces at your company. Let’s look at this from some different directions. TIMEFRAME – Is the result immediate, or is it far reaching? SIGNIFICANCE – Is it practical, or is it thoughtful?

We truly don’t know when the recession is coming. It might be in six weeks or six months. But historical financial records show that one is coming. So, how can you prepare your company to better handle the recession when it does come? Last month, I discussed how carefully managing your Accounts Receivable and Inventory can help prepare you for what’s coming. This month let’s take a look at some other crucial business matters. Manage your use of credit Carefully use your credit line. A credit line should never be used to cover operating losses. If you are near the

I was visiting with a business owner the other day, and we were talking about his Cash Flow. The chart he showed me had a slow, but steady decline in cash flow over the past two years. I asked him what he was going to do about it, and he took a long ruler, laid it on the trend line, and pointed at the point where the cash flow hit $0. He said “That’s when I leave the company.” This raises a lot of issues. The biggest one, and one I hear from an increasing number of business owners is

The market has hit dizzying heights, the tax bill has boosted corporate earnings, and consumer confidence is up. The effects of International trade trickle down to the small businessman. We all recognize that as the economy goes, so goes the small business. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, it doesn’t matter. You will benefit or suffer just like everyone else will, when it happens. Of course, I mean when the Recession hits. But things are going so well!! Everyone realizes that there is a business cycle. During the highs, many companies succeed in spite of themselves. Some will make

One of my first jobs was working at a Public Utility. My boss was an engineer, Bryon Kustka. He was a really good manager. But, since he was an engineer, I thought that there was little he could say to guide me in my career. One day he told me something that has stuck with me for the past 45+ years “Never tell anybody your problems. Half the people couldn’t care less, the other half will be glad you got what you had coming.“ Funny, right? It also rings true. But the most important thing for me was how to

A key suggestion for all newly minted employees is to “find a mentor.” A mentor can provide valuable advice for a young employee about company politics, work ethic, inner office communications, office etiquette and sometimes even work/life balance. A mentor is often viewed as someone who can help guide you in your career, and therefore someone who is more important early in a career. If a mentor is someone that only guides you in your current job, that becomes problematic when the war for talent is increasing while an employee’s time at a company is decreasing. The Bureau of Labor

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

Part of the I don’t know what I don’t know series This is seemingly a very simple topic, but it certainly can have a dramatic impact on the cash flow of your business, because it can impact both sides of your ledger – your Accounts Receivable and your Accounts Payable. What does it actually mean to give someone Payment Terms? It is the period of time that you give your customers to pay their bills. But it can be more complex than just that. When someone sends you an invoice that gives 2/10N30 payment terms, do you really know what

Lessons From My Father When I was in college I had no idea what courses to take, because I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. My dad told me “Learn as much as you can, about as many different subjects as you can, because the job you’re going to have 10 years from now hasn’t been created yet.” My dad was really smart, so I followed his advice. Now, some 50 years later, after my career has shifted more times than I care to count, I’m still learning as much as I can about as