Financial Metrics - Cash versus Statements - Where to Look

In dealing with business owners and entrepreneurs, we are often asking questions about the financial health of a business.  This is also true when we deal with departments in a larger corporation.  Knowing the financial state and status of your business or department is truly critical.  

It is scary to see how infrequently some business people are monitoring their financial metrics and also understandable.  Most people that start out in business get annual statements from the accountant or perhaps quarterly.  Managers get a quarterly summary or see published quarterly numbers.  People get conditioned to waiting long periods before knowing how they are performing.

It is critical that finances and cash are monitored weekly and even daily and this doesn't mean waiting for the accountant.  Financials serve their purpose and update you on the health and condition of a business.  Unfortunately, changes in a balance sheet are often slow to demonstrate trends and a business owner need to know where things are constantly.  Cash is King in business.  Knowing your cash situation is the timely and critical means for managing business tightly.

We work with clients to ensure they are running at least a weekly financial/cash performance summary.  This includes, sales, accounts receivable (current and also immediately expected), accounts payable (current and also must pays), then current cash positions.   We can see cash shortfalls and manage our clients and suppliers.   We have seen people grow a $15 million dollar company on cash management without being able to read a financial statement ... this isn't ideal but does show the value of cash metrics before statement reviews.

Establish your weekly Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) for team performance and responsibilities AND then set the weekly cash flow KPI's next.  It is the key to growing a performing, profitable, company and team.

Strategic Plan or Strategic Execution - Where is the Best Value?

Most companies have some form of strategic planning, strategic development, goal setting and business planning.  In fact, when was the last time a major corporation didn't go through annual budgets or a start-up business didn't submit a business plan to the bank?   All forms of business strategy.

Developing a business strategy and a high level plan is critical whether you have 1 employee or 500.  As the organization grows, the need for more strategy to unify the team and their efforts compounds.   It is critical the plan is strategic and high level but also that it has ties down to the actions required every week.   This is the downfall of most plans/strategy work; it gets done in a boardroom and never makes it into the hallways of action and tactics.

At Evolve, we love to help clients develop their strategic plan AND then help them start to implement it.  Too often we find struggling companies with a solid strategic plan that is sitting in the president's office on a shelf.   A plan without action is a waste of the time committed to thinking up the plan! 

So the best value is in being able to know each week, month and quarter, what actions each person is undertaking to move the strategy forward.  This requires a review and discussion of strategy every week, and even daily, at times.   The regular review of strategy keeps what is important out in front of what is urgent (where most people exist). 

Use some tools like the gazelles.com one page plan as an example of how your strategy should get down to a single page outline.   We then recommend you take each strategic mandate and break it into pieces that can be executed weekly.

Strategic business is like marathon running.  You know when the big race is, you know what training will be required AND you know what distance and speed needs to be implemented today to make it happen.

The Key to Time Management is Condensing Time

It comes as no surprise that most of us struggle with managing our time and controlling our time.  With the on-going interruptions of the blackberry, the endless emails, the days of meeting after meeting and even the old fashion phone ringing ... where does someone find time to work?

Most people think the issue is FOCUS.  In some ways, it is.   But the second dramatic improvement that can be made for all of us, in terms of time management, is CONDENSING time.   When you book a meeting is it always 60 minutes?  When you sit down to do email, is it a set period of time, like 30 minutes?   How many 15-30 minute breaks do you have between events in a day?

One of the best exercises to condense your time is taking a 5 day week and being forced to condense it into a 3 day week.   You are instantly forced to look for opportunities to save time and put limits on things that can be limitless (ie. email).

Here are 7 other tips:

1) Set time to review email ... and then TURN IT OFF.   Yes, I am saying that to really maximize your time, you need to cover off emails early in the day and again later in the day but turn off the incessant bings, alerts and notifications.

2) Cut your meetings from 60 minutes to 45 and then to 30 minutes.   Try odd numbers to make the time limit more obvious and conscious - 28 minute meetings work better than 30 just like 43 works better than 45.

3) Stop accepting every meeting that is requested of you.   Review all meeting requests once a day and book in only those that add value to your role or work.   Have someone else in your office cover the meetings that "might" add value - get a report in 5 minutes instead of a 45 minute meeting.

4) Know what the top 3 ways you create value are and ensure that 80% of your time is dedicated to these focuses.

5) Move weekly meetings to bi-weekly with slightly more time.

6) Have stand-up meetings and daily huddles with your team - 10 to 12 minutes tops!

7)  Set meetings back to back with 5 minutes to transition;  have your meetings 3-4 in a row to cover them off in a half day and then enjoy a half day back at your desk where you can get some work done.

8) Work outside of your office in a meeting room or outside place (a coffee shop) to avoid interruptions and distractions.

9) Don't set any meetings until 10am.  Create a work period for yourself which your team and colleagues know is a Do Not Disturb period.   Buy a sign for your door if it isn't clear to others.  If that fails, buy a lock.

10) Review meeting agenda's and participate in only the pieces that affect you.  Excuse yourself when you are not vital to a conversation.  A 60 minute meeting may only require you for 20 minutes.

As you start to condense your time and create urgency it will be something people begin to respect and honor (maybe not in the first 4 weeks but soon after that).   Move your 5 days into 3 days and watch how you suddenly feel a new control on your time and your workload.

Plan for Booming Business Year-Round

So many people return from holidays and realize they haven't done nearly enough planning, scheduling and preparation with clients. They spend most of January trying to connect, get started or re-kindle lost momentum. In order to reduce slowdowns and eliminate being at a standstill, you’ve got to have a plan in advance! There are 2 key things to remember to ensure you are ahead of the game, not falling behind….

Plan Future Projects

Whether you’re a business owner or in sales, often our relationship with clients is only planned out as far as the next transaction. Ideally you want to engage clients in conversations that get them thinking about their future purchases and also the timelines to those things. Often clients say, lets tackle it in the spring. Well, let’s set some dates! The other issue is does the client realize what type of preparation and lead time is necessary to hit "spring"? We need to be asking clients about future projects and purchases while they are in the thick of the existing ones. We need to educate them on all the steps and time requirements (which often educates them on just how much value you provide).

Know your Client

When I go buy clothes in the winter, my favorite clothing salesperson, Carmen is already asking me if I golf and telling me when the spring/summer lines come in. Then she always asks if she can call before then to book a VIP appointment so I have first pick on new items. She made me feel special by taking an interest in my hobbies, positioning things so I was a VIP and ensuring I committed to a future appointment.

Another great example is the printer that calls 3 months after you order business cards as a courtesy to ask if you need cards again now or in one more month – note that NOT re-ordering wasn't a choice.
Or how about the pumps/compressor salesman asking clients about 24 months of upcoming projects and selling 5-10 units at a time simply by suggesting clients look at their long term needs (and again created more value for customers as a planning facilitator versus just a salesperson).

Sit down with clients and plan for this coming summer now. There is no reason to be slow this summer if you start to book up the whole spring now. When you're in demand and make the effort to plan and guide people on when they need to buy, they will!

Your Elevator Speech

How do you respond when someone asks 'what do you do?' There are a couple of key things to consider and unfortunately most people do it wrong. Most people just answer the question: their role, company they are with and products/services they offer.
Unfortunately, they stop there.

It results in something like:
"My name is John, I work for Johnson Manufacturing, we make kitchen countertops and pre-fab stone structures."

Wow! Gripping! Who wouldn't walk away from John after this uninspiring speech?!

This is where the elevator speech comes in. Basically it is your short window of opportunity (similar to a ride in an elevator) to educate someone on what you do in a way that is inspiring, intriguing and BEGS for questions to be asked!

1. Start with what you offer: Your audience is judging whether they want to keep talking to you based on what is in it for them. So tell them.
2. Make it sound exciting: Don't just manufacture something - own the industry, be cutting edge, hold a record. Your tone of voice will also say everything you're not - BE excited, smile and share your passion and energy!
3. Ask a question: Engage people in order to get them talking about what you do and what they need. Make it an open ended question not a yes/no answer.

A replay on John's speech should be more like this:
"My name is John, I turn people's kitchen into works of art that make having dinner parties thrilling for our customers. I work with Johnson Manufacturing and we lead the industry in creativity. When was the last time you had your kitchen upgraded?"

Final tip: Practice it. Moving to a new, interesting elevator speech is awkward for most people. Repeat it to yourself 50 times, to others 20 times and then take it out to the next meeting or network event.

4 Client Gift-Giving Guidelines that make YOU stand out

So often this time of year your mailbox is bombarded with holiday cards from business associates, your realtor, and friends. The ones from friends tend to be the most effective because they usually take the time to write a personal message that sticks and impacts you. As well you get boxes of chocolates at the office … how many pounds of sweets do you really need? Here are 4 great ideas for giving gifts that make an impact and stand out:
1) Give gifts or cards to clients, employees and key alliance/vendors/partners. Don’t leave people out.

2) Make the card handwritten. Pre-printed cards or a Hallmark with just your signature actually can send the message that you don’t care enough to actually write something yourself.

3) Gifts should be for the individual and not for the office (unless you deal with a whole group of people). So often I get a gift for the company (coupon for discount) or for the office (giant box of cookies).

4) Call an assistant or co-worker to really find out what makes that person tick or where their interests lie. A gift card from their favorite running store (if they run) or for the movies (if that’s a love of theirs) is a always more memorable. Memorable means relationship and relationship means more business in the new year..

Get 2011 off to the right start. Many companies have good ideas ... at Evolve we ensure that action and accountability are in place to make it a reality. Our philosophy is that any business can move from being good to great with the right tactics, strategies and implementation. What is your goal and how can we help you achieve it? Contact us for a free assessment.

Tips on Tactfully Collecting Receivables

First off, stop being so apologetic. It is your money. It is owed to you. You and your team have worked hard for it, so make sure you remember that you are in the right and not the wrong. Often people dealing with receivable calls will try to put you in the wrong, will be vague or occasionally, even aggressive. When you call about a receivable owing be prepared, have the reference number, invoice number, date sent, all ready to go for quick reference. The best way to dodge calls and commitments is to say "its in process" or "we have it in for payment". Most people then are satisfied and hang up. Wrong!! Its in process?! How long is that? It's in for payment? This year?


The objective is to get specific commitments. When someone says it will be ready next week, you have to ask, Is that Monday or Friday? (because next week is a period not a time) What day will it be ready? Will that be morning or afternoon? Ask people to hold the cheque for pickup. Then it never gets lost in the mail (It's in the mail; a classic!). I often send a courier because $8 on a courier is always cheaper than not having control of money owed to me.

Be as friendly as you can be. Try to kill the person with kindness but be firm and persistent. The person who is pleasant but calls consistently get the early payments.