Build A Team At Work
By GPSSo, how do you bring diverse personalities together to work as a team?
It is the business owner’s responsibility to bring a group of people together that work harmoniously and produce a profit. Sound easy? If it was, the overwhelming amount of business failures would be considered an exception rather than the norm.
So how do you bring diverse personalities together to work as a team? The team should produce a profit that not only accounts for risk recovery, but provides enough working capital to assure the long term success of the business enterprise.
The importance and ability to work …
Does Incorporation Protect My Assets?
By GPS
The most common reasons a court disregards an entity are undercapitalization, failure to maintain corporate formalities or failure to treat the corporation as separate from the shareholders.
One of the largest motivating factors for business owners to incorporate their business is preventing their personal wealth from being exposed to potential litigation involving the business operations.
Essentially, a corporation is formed to build a legal barrier between the company and the shareholder’s personal wealth, such as their home, vehicles, personal checking and savings accounts, retirement accounts, educational funds and other investments. Because a corporation is a separate legal “being” created under …
Is Money Walking Out Your Door?
By GPSSometimes your marketing — be it advertising, direct response, Web site, public relations or even word of mouth — works harder and more effectively than your staff.
Assess your hiring, training and management practices along with your marketing efforts next time the response to your ‘can’t miss’ promotion turns from expectations of ‘deal’ to ‘no deal.’
That’s not to say there isn’t an issue with your marketing strategy and the accompanying tactics. There very well could be tangible problems.
However, human ineptitude and just plain laziness could be undermining your sales and customer service effectiveness — and it is unlikely …
The New Generation Gap
By GPSWhen my wife, Sandra, and I recently interviewed candidates for staff positions in the undergraduate residence we oversee at Harvard, she referred to someone as “in his 50’s, our age.” I shook my head, instinctively warding off the association, then recognized the accuracy of her reference. “Right,” I muttered. Our candidate, a 30-something who had worked in the Clinton White House, smiled knowingly. His smile felt sympathetic, but it said to me: “baby boomers will go to their collective grave believing they’re still fresh out of college.”
Former President Clinton derives much of his charm from this surety, and our …
Professional Level Sales
By GPS
The sales paradigm:
It is likely that once upon a time a caveman figured out he could trade his surplus of arrowheads for food and drink; and the rest was commerce history. Sales methodologies have evolved over many decades to the practices employed today. In the past, salesmen suffocated prospective buyers with aggressive techniques. Today a more professional sales discipline is surfacing. New methods have been designed specifically to invite product exploration. As long as there has been commerce, there have been sales. One dynamic remains unaltered. A series of relational changes transpire between the seller and the buyer from …
Reveal Your Company’s Hidden Appeal
By GPSPosition your company as an attractive investment
Last year was a good year for both the U.S. and Canadian merger and acquisition (M&A) markets, and 2007 is forecast to eclipse 2006’s deal-making activity. According to market analysts, a large number of private-business owners are expected to sell their companies in 2007.
These transfers will be driven by the modest, yet sound profits generated in 2006, an expectation of continued increases in profits in 2007, an economy projected to slow in 2008, an existing surplus of capital allocated for funding anticipated acquisitions, and an increase in the number of strategic buyers.…
Mistaking The Scorecard For The Game
By GPSWhen Amazon.com, the online bookseller, went public it instantly had a market cap of $6.5 billion, yet it had never earned a single dollar of profit in its four years of business. In 1998, Microsoft paid $400 million for the e-mail company, Hotmail.com before it ever earned a single dollar of profit.
How is this possible? Their scorecards (reported quarterly profits, price/earnings ratios, return on equity, etc.) are littered with negative numbers, yet they command incredible value in the market place. Is it possibly because they radiate the greatest competitive advantage in business–innovation?
Concepts like rightsizing, Six Sigma, TQM, incremental …
Establishing Small Business Profitability
By GPSA systematic financial review can lead to greater profits
There are several elements within a small business environment that should be analyzed and reviewed to establish potential profitability as compared to current performance.
Financial statement review
In a review, three to five years of financial statements should be analyzed and categorized. Compare the performance of each category within the chart of accounts over the financial review time period. Categories should include types of revenue, variable or direct costs, indirect overhead, general and administrative overhead, debt service and leases.
Break down each dollar amount into a percentage of revenue to determine …
10 Reasons Businesses Fail
By GPSNearly anyone can start a business, but it takes more than technical expertise and gut instinct to grow it successfully. Here are the top 10 reasons businesses fail, and what you can do to support your success.
- Inadequate financial records. A seemingly small task, such as keeping detailed books and appropriate records of sales and expenses, can affect the success of a business. You need to understand how much money is on hand and how much is owed in order to understand the financial picture. Keep records detailed and current.
- Disregard for or misinterpretation of financial records. Improper funding and
A Survival Model For The Small Restaurateur
By GPSWith so much media attention focused on large industry players in the financial and manufacturing sectors, the food and beverage sector has been somewhat ignored. This article provides a survival model for the small restaurant owner.
The economic downturn has affected all domestic businesses; however, media attention is focused mainly on the large players in the financial and manufacturing sectors. Rescue programs, commonly called “bail-outs,” abound, while the food and beverage sector, driven mostly by discretionary spending, is largely ignored by both the media and the government. Families are tightening their belts, and businesses are slashing travel and related expenses.…
