What’s your deadline? That’s a question that comes up a lot and people may or may not give much thought to the answer. My wife asked me that question about a project that I was working on recently and it …
About a month ago I read an article about a company that sought protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws for a “clerical error”. As they say: “You just can’t make this stuff up.” The headline actually blamed it on tax …
Believe it or not, your banker wants to lend you money and wants to see your business grow. That’s how they earn their money. They borrow from depositors and pay them a rate of interest and lend to businesses at …
What are your accounts receivable worth? Almost every business has Accounts Receivable (AR) that are older than they would like. Managing them can be a difficult process. To start, management has to be honest with themselves about the value of …
Last month, I wrote about the importance of staying motivated. The other morning, I was training with a group military cadets and someone mentioned the word “fun”. More specifically, they had said that the morning workout wasn‘t much fun. For …
Motivating yourself and those in your company is one of the most important things that a leader can do. Unfortunately, staying motivated can be difficult and losing ones motivation is all too easy. Day to day problems can sap ones …
Because of my fractional role, I have the opportunity to work with more management teams than most. I have consistently found that the one differentiator in the performance of a company is the quality and cohesiveness of the management team. …
Last month, I wrote about the pitfalls of being overly trusting of spreadsheets. As a follow-up, I felt compelled to offer some practical advice. Below are my top ten – it could easily be many more. 1. Know the answer …
Long before there was Visi-Calc, Multiplan, Lotus 1-2-3, and Microsoft Excel there was Ticonderoga No. 2. In some ways it is still the most powerful tool in existence for financial analysis. Why? Because it is the only one that absolutely …
I believe every business must earn its “right to exist” in the marketplace – and, yes, I said, earn. No business has an inalienable right to exist. Rather, in a competitive marketplace, that right has to be earned day in …
