4 Reasons to be Grateful for Independence
4 Reasons to be Grateful for Independence
As we approach another 4th of July, we commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of the United States of America as an independent nation. This is a day when we should put our differences aside and come together in gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy.
Here are 4 reasons why:
Freedom
- We have a right to freedom of speech, press, ownership, religion and economic opportunity.
Respect for the common law
- In general, the United States is a lawful country that is conducive to a functional business climate and peaceful society. It is through the living of those laws that we are liberated together.
Technology
- Technological advances promoted in the US have made life much more livable, comfortable and convenient. Yes, this applies to entertainment and pleasure but consider the advances in medicine we all enjoy. Technology has provided many opportunities for a better life.
Entrepreneurship
- The story of America is a story of pioneering, independence and industry—probably not unlike your own as an entrepreneur. In the United States, you can make your dreams happen.
So, today let’s take today to reflect on the opportunities we’ve been given and consciously be grateful for the freedoms of our nation.
We hope you have a wonderful and happy 4th of July!
Analysis for Managers: The Most Important Measure
Analysis for Managers: The Most Important Measure
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Today’s post is to help you as a leader, manager, entrepreneur, family member and/or individual to perform perhaps the most important analysis of them all. And it begins with a question posed by management scholar and innovation strategist, Clayton Christensen: How will you measure your life?
After all is said and done what is truly most important to you? What are your deepest goals and desires? When you look back, what will be your measure of personal success?
No doubt, the vast majority would put family, relationships with spouses and children, faith, values, positive impact in the community, etc. as their measures of success. Now the question is, how well do you allocate your personal resources to reflect those desires?
When you analyze a company, you don’t look at it in terms of its intentions, you look at it in terms of how it actually spends it’s time, money, physical and human capital. Is it investing in new products, markets, technology or talent? Or is it grinding at the gears chugging along without much current investment in hopes of finding another organization to purchase?
Now what about you? As you look back on today, how did you spend your resources? Did the investments you made today align with your deepest goals and desires?
If not, it’s never too late to reallocate your resources and decide how you’ll measure your life.
This may be the most important executive decision you ever make!
Analysis for Managers: Financial Ratios
Analysis for Managers: Financial Ratios
If I were to tell you that someone weighs 75 lbs, you might say that he/she is a very light person. But what if I told you that person was a one-year-old? You would probably either fall off your chair, drop you phone on the ground or just flat out think I was bluffing.
And what if I told you that a certain company made a $1 million profit last year? Sounds like a big number, right? Does it change your perspective if I tell you that this company did $100 billion in sales last year? That’s only a 0.1% profit margin. Pretty slim in all reality.
The lesson here is a lesson on relativity. Measurement often becomes much more insightful when taken in context and shown with or in contrast to another measure. Weight to height, cost per square foot, profit to sales, short term assets to short term liabilities, etc.
Going along with our last post on cash flow, today we’re going to provide you with a quick list of places to go to find financial ratios that will help you dig a little deeper into your business’ financials. Here are three very useful sites on the subject:
- Simple, easy to understand explanations of key financial ratios
- Provides a quick reference guide separated by topic with easy calculation references
- A detailed guide to analyzing your small business financials—very helpful!
We hope these three resources, along with any others you find, will help you to do an even better job managing your business in order to keep serving your customers and taking care of you and yours.
Analysis for Managers: Cash Flow
Analysis for Managers: Cash Flow
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Have you ever been confused at the fact that you can sit at your desk and wonder, “How on Earth am I going to make payroll?” and yet the P&L (Profit and Loss statement) your accountant or QuickBooks just showed you says that your company is turning a healthy profit?
Welcome to cash flow problems!
This won’t be a completely comprehensive article on the subject but it should be enough to at least get you started or pique your interest. And for many, this will just be a quick review.
Below are four key points regarding the ever important concept of cash flow.
First: Understanding why cash flow analysis is important
Jonathan Moreland put it well when he said:
“At least as important as a company’s profitability is its liquidity – whether or not it’s taking in enough money to meet its obligations. Companies, after all, go bankrupt because they cannot pay their bills, not because they are unprofitable. Now, that’s an obvious point. Even so, many investors routinely ignore it. How? By looking only at a firm’s income statement and not the cash flow statement.”
A cash flow statement removes the noise of accrual accounting and helps us talk in terms of money in the bank here and now. This is essential because in business, “cash is king.”
Second: Building a cash flow statement
In most cases your accountant will be able to do this for you (but you may need to request it!) and oftentimes your small business accounting software will build one automatically. Do some clicking to find out.
For those who want to take on the exercise themselves (which is a fantastic way to truly understand), here is a helpful link.
Third: Analyze the information
The cashflow statement will end up giving you four net figures:
- Cash flows from operations – how much money your company brings in and out during it’s day-to-day operations
- Cash flows from investing activities – how much money your company brings in and out as a result of investments such as capital expenditures, purchase of securities, etc.
- Cash flows from financing activities – how much money your company brings in and out from loans, outside investor capital, issuance of dividends, etc.
- Net cash flows – the sum of them all, or the total net cash in the door
In addition to a standalone look at these metrics, another key here is benchmarking. You can compare to previous periods, other areas of the business or against key competitors in your industry. Just make sure that you’re using strategic benchmarking, or benchmarking against the best-in-class, rather than just an industry average. A good place to find industry benchmarking data online is found here.
Fourth and finally: Take action!
Now that you see where you’re netting positively or negatively in a given timeframe, or that you tend to dip into the red during certain periods of the year (using multiple period comparisons) or perhaps that you have some headroom when considering best-in-class performance, take action!
One important action you can take is to manage a cash flow budget. This can be as simple as listing your actual cash inflows and outflows over future time periods to forecast where there might be trouble. Then, have the discipline to either wait to spend or bring in some more cash.
After all is said and done, profit is still important but understanding exactly the money flowing in and out the door is equally as such (if not more). We hope this information has been helpful and that with this new skill set (or quick refresh) you can avoid that awful feeling of not having enough to make payroll and that you can have the power to grow your business into the future.
Not Filing Taxes Could Get You in Trouble with IRS says Gary Quackenbush Tax Expert
Gary Quackenbush on NBC TV with Consumer Bob
CONSUMER BOB HELPS TO SAVE YOU MONEY AND TIME
Here is the link to a TV show Gary was on with Consumer Bob. The question was whether the IRS would catch up to you if you did not file a tax return. The answer may surprise you.
LINK – Quackenbush on TV with Consumer Bob – Late Filed Taxes – 2 minute video
Analysis for Managers: Industry Analysis
Analysis for Managers: Industry Analysis
The next important analysis to undertake around your business is an industry analysis. This is where we look at the entire landscape of the economic branch in which your business operates. To do this we’ll use a well-known and effective tool, called the “Porter’s Five Forces,” which helps a manager to understand the current and future profitability outlook of his/her business. Figuratively and literally, each of these “forces” presses/suppresses profit margins within a given industry.
So, grab some paper, a notepad, or a open new Word doc and let’s answer some questions.
- Industry rivalry—How intense is the competition in your industry? Do you feel like you’re “one-of-a-kind” or are you working hard to get others’ customers?
- Threat of substitutes —How easy is it for a customer to substitute your product or service for another and still get the job done?
- Bargaining power of buyers—Do the buyers in your business hold the big stick?
- Bargaining power of suppliers—Or do the suppliers hold the big stick?
- Barriers to entry—How easy is it for someone to enter into your line of work? (i.e. start doing what you’re doing?)
Other important questions to ask include:
- How is business changing in my industry? i.e. more online, demand for speed, lower prices, etc.
- What do I see my customers wanting in 10 or 15 years?
- Why are these changes occurring?
As you consider these questions, it’s essential to flex that analysis muscle and keep asking, why? Doing so helps us identify the true and fundamental trends that are occurring in our industries.
Industry analysis is a higher level and more future-centered analysis than others, and for that reason it is vital. A manager that analyzes his/her industry, looks to the future and makes investments/changes as a result is much more likely to stay profitable!
All our best in your journey to continue to seek future success.
Analysis for Managers: Customer Analysis
Analysis for Managers: Customer Analysis
As we begin our first functional post on analysis, let’s begin with a simple definition. One simple definition is:
“ [A] detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation.”
With that in mind, today we’re going to examine our customer base and interpret their interactions with our business.
The two main things we recommend are 1) building and maintaining a detailed customer base and 2) talking to your customers.
Building a database will help you to discover patterns in your customers’ purchase behaviors so you can better understand who they are. With each new customer, find ways to gather information on them, i.e. a membership profile on your website, a loyalty program, using traceable tender (i.e. card numbers) or simply by taking time to watch who your customers are and taking hand notes on them.
Search for things such as: age, gender, race, income, where they live, what they like, why they came in who referred them, how they heard about your business, etc. Then start with some simple bucketing of the data, perhaps tied to how much they spend. Ask questions like:
- Who is coming in? Older folks, millennials, families, higher/lower income, etc.
- What percent of my business comes from each of these demographics?
- Who spends the most or buys/uses your most premium products/services? Least premium?
- How do most people hear about you?
- What is the job that my product or service is being hired to perform?
- Etc…
In the bestselling book, The Innovator’s Solution, authors Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor teach that understanding a pattern in customers’ behavior is not enough to predict how they’ll act, rather it’s though the understanding of why they behave the way they do that you can begin to meet best their needs. That said, as we’ve now identified patterns, let’s develop theories as to why they emerge.
This is best found in two ways: 1) asking yourself why a pattern exists and 2) talking to your customers directly.
One great model for talking to your customers is by holding focus groups, or small sit downs with a few customers, to ask them questions (perhaps offering free things in return for their time) and then taking what you learn from a small sample to build a survey to send to larger groups. This can either be sent via email or simply filled out in person and put anonymously into a box. Everything helps!
Analyzing your customers this way will help you understand their wants/needs, identify who your target customers are and how better you can serve them. Good luck!
New Series: Analysis for Managers
New Series: Analysis for Managers
An essential capability of managers is the ability to analyze. Analyze situations, numbers, markets, trends, products, people, financials, and more. For that reason, we’re excited to launch our newest series: Analysis for Managers.
This new series will feature posts on everything from the cognitive process of analysis to analyzing financial ratios and a business’ customer base.
But before you decide that you’re exempt from “this type of thing” and your not planning to read our upcoming posts because you “never liked math in school” or “you’re not a numbers person,” take heart from the famous statistician, Edward Tufte. He wisely taught: “If the statistics are boring, then you’ve got the wrong numbers.”
The numbers you read in high school about John approaching Jane at x miles/hour and Jane approaching John at y miles/hour were, most likely, “the wrong numbers” –and for that reason, you used to get bored. But when we start to discuss metrics such as your company’s income per employee, the dollar amount of liquid assets you need to operate your business (working capital) or time series analysis to understand market trends, you’ll start to be much more interested. Moreover–these posts won’t all be about numbers!
We look forward to discussing and learning together over these next few months and hope you join us in learning to be better, more analytical, managers. We promise the return on investment (ROI) of your time will be positive!
Becoming a Coach
Becoming a Coach
Thinking back to the most impactful people in your lives, who have they been?
For many, it’s family members, friends, bosses and undoubtedly–sports or other coaches. Coaches in particular tend to have a special place in peoples’ hearts as these coaches often expected the most of of them and gave them the most time and energy.
Likewise, it could be said that any good teacher, mentor or influencer is a “coach.” Today, we’re going to discuss Joseph Weintraub and James Hunt’s four reasons managers should spend more time not only receiving coaching but being a coach.
First: Coaching is essential for achieving business goals
Weitraub and Hunt in their May 2015 HBR article discuss how mangers that invest time in coaching see that coaching is not a “nice to have” aspect in the job force but a “must have.” They understand that talent needs to be worked, molded and grown and that talent is what will drive business results.
Second: Coaching can (and should be!) enjoyable
Few things are as rewarding as watching things grow. Think about it. Parents raising children, a gardner growing flowers, a businessperson growing their customer base–all rewarding, in their own right, because of growth.
Third: Coaching is satisfying for the curious
The writers share : “Coaching managers ask a lot of questions. They are genuinely interested in finding out more about how things are going, what kinds of problems people are running into, where the gaps and opportunities are, and what needs to be done better.” Learning about others and how to help them solve their problems can be immensely satisfying to the curious.
Finally: Coaching establishes connection
It is human nature to desire to be connected. And coaching is a fantastic way to facilitate it. As a coach shows empathy and works with a coachee, deep and lasting relationships can be formed; these can be something that grows to be more than a business transaction. These relationships can become something of value that creates bonds and builds a more meaningful sense of humanity in the workplace.
Overall, becoming a coach is a fantastic way to give back to those who have coached you. There is no sum of money and no praise worthy enough to repay a coaching debt, but becoming a great coach is perhaps the best and most desirable way to show appreciation to those who have gone before.
Now it’s your turn. Who do you know that needs a coach? Reach out, it’s time to give back!
Leadership Series: Your Legacy
Leadership Series: Your Legacy
18 articles later, we’ve reached the final post in the Leadership Series. We hope you feel empowered and inspired to build your legacy as a leader.
In our first post of the Leadership Series we wrote the following:
“What is the one skill that would dramatically change the quality of your life? It might be communication, empathy, diligence, financial acumen, or perhaps a technical skill like programming or product engineering.
But what if we told you that there is one skill that is the sum of all other skills–the culmination of them all? Well, there is. And it’s LEADERSHIP.”
So, do you believe it now? Do you see how leadership is the key? We most definitely do and that’s why we spent nine months with leadership as the focus.
But now we’d like to end this series with one last story. The story of Alfred Nobel.
In 1867, Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist, invented Dynamite, a substance found to be extremely useful in excavation, mining and railroad construction. However, it wasn’t long before this explosive and dangerous compound began to take interest in military applications, where it was used in warfare during the Spanish American War.
“When Nobel’s brother died, a newspaper ran a long obituary of Alfred Nobel, believing that it was he who had passed away. Thus, Nobel had an opportunity granted few people: to read his obituary while alive. What he read horrified him: The newspaper described him as a man who had made it possible to kill more people more quickly than anyone else who had ever lived.
At that moment, Nobel realized two things: that this was how he was going to be remembered, and that this was not how he wanted to be remembered (source).”
After feeling the pain of reading what legacy he was on track to leave, he made a change by funding something that honors superior men and women who have made outstanding to the world. Today, Alfred Nobel is best known as the founder of the Nobel prize.
Imagine you were reading your obituary. What would it say? How would you be remembered? Would it talk about how your were ruthless, but “got the job done?” Or that you were a workaholic who brought his business from nothing to greatness, only while leaving his family behind?
Make the change today. You can “rewrite” your own obituary. You are the leader of your legacy.
We believe in you and are grateful for your leadership. Thank you for leading our world to become a better place.