Cash by Adam Hawkins http://anodizeproductions.com

Articles about boosting cash flow are in every business magazine at the moment.

These articles by the great and the good – or more likely a magazine hack quoting a wide variety of semi-well known business owners – seem to be getting longer and longer. One I saw recently offered 27 ways to ease cashflow and all the suggestions were useful, BUT in essence you only need three rules:

The three basic rules for boosting cashflow:

1. Invoice as soon as possible

1. Have an effective system of credit control

1. Make cashflow management a priority

Within those rules are a multitude of issues that can be addressed to help ease cashflow and indeed actually increase the flow of cash within the business, but unless you are following the basic advice the chances are that all the rest will be wasted.

What’s your favourite cashflow tip?

KPMG has warned that a fresh wave of company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) is expected in coming months as the full impact of the recession takes effect.

CVAs allow companies under threat of administration to renegotiate debts with unsecured creditors.

While the number of insolvencies has fallen in recent months, a full economic recovery is often preceded by many businesses struggling with cashflow as they find themselves under increased pressure to restock and repay debt.

Under a CVA business owners and directors reach a compromise arrangement with creditors in order to avoid going into liquidation.

They restructure the financial arrangements and propose a plan to pay off its debts.  This may involve a partial write-off of debt, rescheduling of payments or renegotiation of contracts.

The main difference between a company that negotiates a CVA and one that goes into administration is that the CVA gives stakeholders the opportunity to openly discuss the best compromise for everyone concerned.  Once a company goes into administration creditors have little say in the process and often end up with a lot less than they would from a company that continues to trade.

In the majority of cases these procedures are successful and allow a business to continue trading with minimum disruption, saving jobs and giving creditors the chance to recover debts, albeit over a longer period of time.

The key to success is often in the management of the process during the period immediately before appointing an Insolvency Practitioner, the choice of IP and making sure the business continues trading as near to normal as possible during a period of intense and sometimes stressful activity.

If you’d like to discuss how a CVA might help your company to re-organise while continuing to trade please give me a call.

Leave a comment below – we’d love to hear from you.

I’m a great fan of Seth Godin’s blog and he recently posted a comment about people being afraid of buying apples in case they made a mistake and wasted their time or their money.

I come across this all the time with business owners who are so innundated with offers from coaches and consultants with promises ranging from improbably increased profits to all their dreams coming true that they end up doing nothing.

Nothing is not quite the right term.

They end up worrying and working longer hours to try and turn around a business that they have invested in heavily, both emotionally and financially.

However, I know from years of working with business owners that having someone who can negotiate with banks and creditors and get them a better deal can often make all the difference. Most business owners can look at someone else’s business and spot what needs to be done to improve it but they’re often too close to their own trees to see the shape of the forest.

Most of us don’t really worry about buying the wrong sort of apple. If we don’t like one sort we chuck it out and try another variety but choosing someone to help you turn your business around requires a lot more investment in time and money. That’s why we’ve found a source of funding that may mean you don’t have to risk your own money on finding out if we’re any good or not.

If you’d like to try our type of apple give me a call on 01480 830282.

November may seem like a strange month to be talking about growth but it is a crucial month for planning. There is a theory that if your business isn’t growing, it’s probably shrinking and unfortunately, many business owners are often too busy working on the day to day running of the business to plan its development.

December may bring cash flow problems for many businesses because of the Christmas shut down period so before you start to write the Christmas card list, make sure that all the payments you hope to get in December will be invoiced in good time & allow for those inevitable delays. If you think you may need more cash than is likely to come in, get help now rather than when it becomes desperate.

If you want to get off to a flying start in January, November is the month to make sure that everything is in place & ready to go. So many businesses stand still in December that if you leave it till then to plan for next year, it’ll be February before anything happens. If you are planning to have more customers, more sales, more profit, higher volume, let January set the tone & plan the growth now.

Classic growth comes either from finding more customers or from selling more to existing customers so you may want to look at expanding your market or extending your range of products or services. However, if, like a lot of entrepreneurs, you are hoping to create a business that will outlive you & become something much bigger than you started, you may want to look at strategies like acquisition & partnerships or even franchising.

Most of our clients who have been through an expansion programme are aware of the dangers of getting caught up in the day to day changes that take up so much time & say how important it is to hold on the vision of what you want to achieve. Having independent support during this period is crucial & can often make the difference between getting bogged down in detail & having the clarity of a well devised plan.

We can help you to decide where you want to be five years from now & then bring it back to what the first steps need to be. We’ll leave you to plan the celebration for when you achieve your objective – it’s amazing what those rewards can do for morale!

Look where it got them:
Apple Computer was incorporated on January 3, 1977 with starting capital of $1,300 raised by founders Steve Jobs (who sold his VW bus) and Steve Wozniak (who sold his HP scientific calculator.) To date, Apple has sold more than 31 million Apple Macs.

An American consultancy did a study to discover whether the money its clients invested in executive coaching was getting a good return. It was not a large study, involving only 100 executives mostly from US Fortune 1000 companies. The results showed that companies that provided coaching to their executives realized improvements in productivity, quality, organizational strength, customer service, and shareholder value.

Unfortunately that survey shows only the best of the best. It doesn’t show that for many business owners hiring a coach can be a hazardous business.

Coaches seem to be everywhere these days, offering to coach us in every area of life and business. Some ‘life’ coaches remind me of that great line in Crocodile Dundee that goes something like “haven’t you got any mates?”

A business coach is often seen as someone who replaces the traditional consultant but while some of these have a great track record, many have absolutely no experience of business at all and are simply following a formula that a much cleverer person, who probably sold them a franchise, has devised.

Business coaching works best when the coaches are people of significant business experience who understand the workings of business at the highest levels. The need to influence and lead is important. The need for a robust business model is crucial. There is no mystery to how a successful business works but there are mysteries woven around why some people find it hard to do.

The best solution to increasing profitability must lie in the ability of the consultant or coach to ensure the business is functioning at optimum levels while at the same time ensuring that the business owner or CEO has the right skills to do the job. It is possible to have a good business with a poor leader but almost impossible for a good leader to get good results without having the right framework for making profit.

If you want someone to prove how business works best, choose a consultant with experience and a good track record. If you want someone to be your friend and ask how you feel about making money …… ask Crocodile Dundee.