Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
12/31/2009 | 8:15AM
Based on total number of unique visitors to each of our blog posts through the year, here are our top ten blog posts of 2009. Enjoy!
1. TOP TEN 2010 TRENDS FOR ENTREPRENEURS - We received a lot of very positive feedback on this blog post as well as a radio interview request. Listen to Ken Kaufman’s radio interview HERE.
2. CFOs ON TWITTER - This blog post was updated throughout the year as we met more CFOs on Twitter. Yes, there are some CFOs that have not only engaged in social media, but who are also pretty good at it.
3. STAFFING THE ACCOUNTING/FINANCE DEPARTMENT IN START-UPS - This post offers insight into how a start-up should scale into its accounting/finance department.
4. I CANNOT PREDICT THE FUTURE – BUDGETING IS WORTHLESS! - Predicting the future is actually easier than most think, and what you learn in the process makes the whole experience invaluable.
5. WORKING CAPITAL – LESS IS OFTEN MORE - A different twist on cash flow management and liquidity improvement techniques.
6. KEY BUSINESS METRICS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST KNOW - Dashboards and business intelligence are becoming more critical for entrepreneurs. Here is a roadmap for how to get started.
7. HOW TO SPEND $195 INSTEAD OF $30,000 TO FILL A NEED - We received a lot of personal attention to this blog post – This gives us some insight into one business lesson learned from a family vacation.
8. THE PROBLEM IS… - Be a problem solver, not just a problem finder.
9. 3 REASONS YOUR QUICKBOOKS STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW IS WRONG - Some technical information, but very necessary to understand if you are using QuickBooks.
10. DOES TOO MUCH CAPITAL & SUCCESS TOO EARLY HURT START-UPS? - Interesting thoughts on what each business learns in its early bootstrapping days!
All the best for a prosperous 2010!
06/6/2009 | 8:34AM
Utah CEO Magazine quotes Ken Kaufman in their article on, “Pricing Goods and Services in a Recession”.
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah, June 6, 2009 - CFOwise is proud to announce that its Founder & CEO, Ken Kaufman, was quoted several times in a recent article published in the Utah CEO Magazine and written by Heather King.
CFOwise founder Ken Kaufman commented on this great exposure by stating the following, “The Utah CEO Magazine is a great resource for CEO’s operating in the Utah area. The information provided in this article and throughout the magazine is valuable and indispensable to CEO’s.”
This article in particular provides Owners and CEO’s the information that they need in order to effectively price their goods and services during the recession we are in. Ken Kaufman was quoted in the article saying, ” If a company is going to change their pricing, they have to recognize that it is a business model change and they have to go through and figure out what the impacts are going to be from a profitability standpoint, a cash flow standpoint and then from a competitive standpoint.”
About CFOwise
With over two centuries of senior-level executive experience, CFOwise is the premier provider of permanent part-time CFO services to start-up, emerging, and medium-sized companies in the United States. For more information, please visit: www.cfowise.com or contact Kim Waldron at 801-380-5615.
About Utah CEO Magazine
The Utah CEO Magazine can be summarized in their Editorial Philosophy, “Robust business is good for everyone, and creating that environment starts with our readers – Utah’s business elite. Our purpose is to provide information to help those business leaders navigate through challenges and seize opportunities. By consistently offering superior content, Utah CEO supports the immediate goals of Utah’s businesses while encouraging forward thinking to sustain the momentum. Outstanding ideas are at the core of a viable business culture, and Utah CEO keeps an ear to the ground for those outstanding ideas.” The content in Utah CEO is designed to serve a business purpose first, not just entertain. For more information please visit: www.UtahCEOmagazine.com .
02/4/2009 | 2:22PM
I’ve been hearing lots about how start-up, emerging, and medium-sized businesses are positioned to do very well in these rough economic times. In fact, I have even preached it. But is it really true? Is it happening?
I regularly check a blog written by Small Business Labs, and one of their recent posts inspired me to take a look at a few of the facts starting to filter in that will either validate or invalidate the claim that small businesses will generally do well in these difficult economic circumstances. We already know that all of the large companies throughout the world are tightening their belts and even closing their doors. What impact are these economic conditions having on small and medium-sized businesses?
So, I decided to take a look at some of our existing clients to see how they are being impacted (as an FYI, we serve as business financial consultants to our clients who range from start-up to more than $20 million in annual sales). Of the 17 considered, 13, or 76%, have significant plans for growth and are already seeing that growth realized after the first month of 2009. 3 more, or 18%, of them are on track to match their 2008 performance. Only 1, or 6%, will see a decrease in their total sales in 2009.
How does this match up to other studies? Intuit and UPS commissioned independent studies and found similar results (Intuit Small Business United Survey Findings & UPS Survey).
So far I have seen overwhelming evidence to support the claim that small businesses are going to grow and thrive through these difficult times. Of course time will tell how well they fare, but all signs point towards optimistic results!
01/13/2009 | 4:40AM
National Small Business Association(NSBA) is actively lobbying Congress to mandate 25% of future bailout money go to financial help for small businesses in the form of loans. What if all of it did? What impact would that have? Everyone is talking about how entrepreneurial companies and small firms will hire all the talent and pull us out of this recession, eventually. If this is the ultimate solution, then why not put the capital behind them to accelerate the process? Here is what it would look like:
According to the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/us_06ss.pdf , there are about 1.2 million companies with between 10 and 99 employees. If the $700 billion of bailout money was split evenly between these companies, each company would receive $600,000 in the form of loan to help them grow their business.
Assuming that all of these companies were wise stewards with this infusion of money, I think we would immediately solve two problems – liquidity would almost immediately correct and businesses would grow. If only half of them were able to re-pay their loans, then I believe we would still be money ahead in the bigger picture. While there are certainly potential flaws with this thought process, this idea also opens one of the most attractive options for turning this economy around in the most efficient and timely manner!
01/3/2009 | 6:33PM
Everyone is declaring gloom and doom in 2009. But social networking is exploding.
LinkedIn is planning for significant growth in 2009, as are all of the other major social networking companies. In this article from the USA TODAY, they profile LinkedIn along with its departing and new CEO. They have made a profitable LinkedIn very financial successful and have a sound business model in place.
The most interesting elelment of this, I think, is that it appears that this recession will create more opportunities for social networking sites like LinkedIn. More people have more time on their hands and are trying to use the social networking medium to create their next opportunities, whether that be full-time employment, CFO employment, starting a business, or just networking.
It seems that the timing is right and the opportunities are ripe for this industry. Since LinkedIn seems to have the most powerful business model, I think they are positioned to be the finanical leader of all things that are social networking. I would predict that we will probably see several other start-ups in the professional side of of social networking, but it will be hard to catch the leader. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and CEOs need to look seriously at how they can implement social networking into their overall marketing and operational strategies. Those who don’t could be left behind.
Here is my LinkedIn Profile: Ken’s LinkedIn Profile
Here is my Facebook Profile: Ken’s Facebook Profile
01/1/2009 | 6:24PM
Every business owner can learn from and improve their business from the example of the US economy. Please allow me to explain: When an economy is in a recession, it experiences negative growth. In other words, it gets smaller instead of bigger. Even just a little bit of negative growth can cause significant turmoil, as we are seeing in today’s economic environment. The same thing will happen to your business if you shrink.
When a company’s revenues start to decrease, it quickly finds its Break Even point – which means that the gross margin is barely enough to cover the fixed costs of the company. For smaller firms, this often means the owner no longer can take home enough compensation to pay their personal bills.
In order to survive its shrinkage, the company has to look at cutting back its fixed costs, but that will usually be expensive and often disruptive enough to hurt the firm dramatically. Usually the five most common fixed costs in a business are payroll, rent, advertising/marketing, fixed asset costs (depreciation, interest, repairs maintenance), and insurance. There may be some excess in these areas, but any major cut-backs in these areas often cause a lot of problems and can hinder the company’s chance for survival. I will avoid discussing each of these fixed costs now, but that may be the topic of a future blog.
So what does all of this mean? Rather than accept shrinkage, it is time to find new ways to grow with a business financial consultant. The companies that thrive through this recession and then position themselves to really grow when the economy turns are those who aggressively innovate through this time. Is it painful? Yes. Could it cost some money? Yes. Will it consume time and resources? Yes. Will it be worth it? Don’t take my word for it – do it and then let’s see what your financial statements say when the economy turns.
12/19/2008 | 4:22AM
The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) recently put together a series of policy recommendations to the incoming administration that are specific to helping small and medium sized technology businesses. You can read it here: STIMULUS PACKAGE
They also have a forum set-up for anyone that would like to contribute any ideas, suggestions, etc. You can visit that forum here: FORUM ON STIMULUS PACKAGE.
One of the greatest needs of start-up technology companies is the right guidance to commercialize their products/services and then grow into profitability with little or no investment capital. Many of these companies have found an affordable yet still effective solution available through CFO firms: part-time CFOs who act as CFO Consultants to help guide these founders and entrepreneurs to success.
12/17/2008 | 3:40AM
With its recent move to lower the fed funds short-term interest rate to 0-.25%, they can no longer use this tool to stimulate the economy USA TODAY article.
When car dealerships began advertising 0% interest loans to drive sales of their vehicles, I remember one General Manager worrying that the industry was at its very lowest pricing possible. His justification was that they could do nothing else to incent sales, and they would incur a healthy cost to do it.
Even though the Federal Reserve has other tools at their disposal, their control of this rate has always been viewed as their most powerful tool to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, and maintain a healthy economy. Now that the rate can go no lower, we can only hope it will help through these tough economic times. If things get worse, then we may see the Fed move into non-conventional efforts. I don’t think any of us know exactly what those efforts might be. I am not doom and gloom about our economy. I think this current situation is actually a healthy cycle, all things considered. I also have my eye on the Fed to see what they might do next.
With so many things happening economically, I have been asked on many occasions if there will be an increase in interim CFO jobs. Generally speaking, with firms shrinking and looking for ways to save, and with higher unemployment, I don’t see an increase in demand in this area for the foreseeable future.
12/16/2008 | 3:43AM
I was reading on managing cash flow during this tough economic time and found some nice suggestions in this article. From the perspective of a CFO advisor, some of the suggestions are a bit vague, but it should get your thoughts headed in the right direction.
Enjoy.
12/10/2008 | 3:08AM
This Article is from Daniel Crosby with SPERDUTO & ASSOCIATES, INC. The most recent downturn in the U.S. Economy has prompted widespread fear and comparisons to the Great Depression. Notwithstanding the negative reality of the current economic milieu, there are things that can be done to survive, and perhaps even thrive in a recession. The suggestions below represent a synthesis of ideas on “recession-proofing” your business, learning from the hard lessons of the past, and adapting to a changing economic reality. Some of the ideas are intuitive, some less so, but all can be held up against your current business practices as you inevitably look for ways to weather the current economic storm.
-Be flexible
-Stay lean and nimble enough to adapt to a changing marketplace.
-Cross-sell existing clients, revisit old clients, send them a hello letter, a thank-you for their business in years past, revisit the possibility of working together.
-Utilize social networking sites.
-Sites such as LinkedIn are free and allow broad marketing potential at no cost. Contribute to the community and broaden your exposure by answering questions and contributing to discussions in your area of expertise.
-Tapping into client “pain” is an important way of marketing your services. Currently, there is pain all around. Identify the clients’ pain and explain how your services can help reduce some of the pain that seems to be everywhere these days. Identify and reduce non-essential expenses.
Increase customer service
– Send thank you letters to existing clients, thanking them for their loyalty in hard economic times. Take added measures to ensure that customer service is better than ever so that you can retain the clients you do have. Increased customer service is one of the only ways to add value without actually spending money.
Hang on to star employees
– Your employees have financial problems of their own during an economic downturn, and their first allegiance will be to themselves and their families. In you have cutbacks, don’t lose sight of compensating and treating your best-performing employees well, or they will look elsewhere.
Utilize technology
– Technology may provide some solutions for streamlining some expenses. Determine whether any of your business operations can be automated. Use email, telephone calls, and video conferencing to save clients money on travel expenses. Optimize your search engine placement by updating and expanding your search terms. Start a blog and make regular entries. With each entry you increase your footprint on the web, and increase the likelihood of being found.
Innovate
– The tendency of many businesses is to lick their recessionary wounds during a downturn. However, hard economic times provide new marketplace realities that yield new opportunities. Seek to understand the new economic reality and find a niche. By staying forward-thinking while others are focused on the dismal present, you may grow exponentially relative to the competition.
Increase your skills
– Hard times may leave you with more time on your hands. Use this time to increase your skills. Continue to attend conferences, read books, and attend professional networking events. This will keep your relationships vibrant and ensure that you remain on the cutting edge of your field.
Offer payed sabbatical
– Hoping to retain talent and cut costs, some companies offer payed sabbatical. This entails letting an employee stay out of the office, at a fraction of their salary (typically 25%), while business is slow. When business picks up, the employee is guaranteed their job back at the original pay scale. This allows companies to cut costs without the loss of morale that accompanies more traditional layoffs.
CFO Partner with others that have synergistic aims
– Unfortunately, many companies become increasingly insular during difficult times. By partnering with others with synergistic aims, businesses can share information, maximize resources, and form valuable new relationships. This provides all parties a smaller piece of a bigger pie.
Reserve discounts and maintain prices
– Slashing prices will reduce profit margins and dilute your brand. Avoid getting in a bidding war with the “Wal-mart” of your line of business.
Offer employees non-monetary incentives
– Offer employees incentives such as extra vacation, reduced work hours, and casual days in lieu of cash incentives. These incentives allow you to maintain your liquidity while showing your employees that you want to reward their hard work.
Renegotiate contracts
– This is no time to have excess office or warehouse space. If possible renegotiate your contracts in a way that provides your business adequate room without overspending on wasted space.
Free up cash flow
– Now is the time to call in old debt. Approach those that owe you money in an attempt to increase your liquidity. Doing so will ensure that you are able to pay your employees in a timely fashion and remain committed to a marketing strategy going forward.
Look to expand
– Be alert to ways in which others’ loss may be your gain. Have competitors lost talented employees or good clients? Is there a piece of business that you might not previously have been able to afford that is now within reach?
Strengthen relationships
– Your clients will remember who stuck by them during difficult times. If you can prove valuable to a client during a tough stretch, you will have won a loyal client for life. Adversity often forges tighter alliances than do times of prosperity; take advantage of this fact.
Give back
– Volunteering as well as staying involved in civic and religious groups increases face time with potential clients. Additionally, it boosts employee morale and gives perspective during trying times.
Diversify
– The more services you offer the more clients you will be able to reach. Try repackaging existing products or services in such a way that you can reach new clients.
Offer a referral reward program for existing clients to incentivize giving referrals.
Organize and energize your staff
– Reassure them within reason and keep them abreast of changes in the marketplace and within the organization. Uncertainty and fear are distractions, and will negatively impact their morale as well as their performance. You can effectively combat these distractions by keeping them in the loop.
Continue to advertise
– Many businesses cut advertising budgets first but the effects of doing so can be disastrous. Reassess your advertising strategy to ensure that each dollar spent is resulting in a return for the company. Focus advertising on any products or services you have that are “recession-proof” or assist clients in the economic situation in which they currently find themselves. Streamline and tailor your advertising, but do not cease advertising altogether. A part-time CFOwe know well stongly advises his clients to cut everything but advertising.
Learn from the past
– Revisit the history of your business. When have you faced tough economic times in the past? Which strategies worked and which did not? Research mistakes and successes of others. What has the competition done historically that has proven effective in lean times?
Tie compensation to productivity
Maximize profitability
– Which of your products or services provide the largest profit margin? Examine your lines of business and identify the most profitable among them. Seek to funnel business in the direction of your most profitable goods and services.
Be positive
– Some of the most successful industries during the Great Depression provided non-essential services. Certain entertainment industries thrived as people looked for respite from their day-to-day concerns. Stay positive when interacting with clients and employees and seek to be the bright spot in an otherwise bleak economy. Over-communicate good news and be sure to let your employees know of any successes that arise.
Negotiate
– Try and get better deals with suppliers. Remember, they are trying to hang on to your business during the downturn.
This report represents a synthesis of ideas taken from articles found in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, morebusiness.com, steveshapiro.com, midmarket.eweek.com, smsmallbiz.com, powerhomebiz.com, reuters.com, ehow.com, ezinearticles.com, and white papers from the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center as well as Deloitte and Touche.
12/9/2008 | 2:49AM
According to the USA TODAY, 7.3 million people are working part-time but want to be full-time. These people do not count in the unemployment rate, which was up to 6.7% in November, its highest level in 15 years. On expert predicts unemployment will peak at 9% around the end of 2009. This information can offer some unique opportinties to owners and operators of start-up, emerging, and medium-sized companies. All of the large employers around the world cannot avoid the negative impacts of our recession. They are laying off the largest number of employees, by far. Many small and medium-sized companies are not onlu holding their own, but they are GROWING in these difficult economic times. Just like any other business, quality employees are essential to their profitable growth.
We are in an employer’s market when it comes to jobs. There are and will continue to be quality employees looking for work with a finite amount of jobs to find. As such, these quality employees are taking lower wages and less-accomadting work environments than before – when we were in an employee’s market. Smart businesses recognize this trend and are taking advantage of the employer’s market.
09/1/2008 | 7:25PM
Issue: # 2008-05 Sept/Oct 2008
Five Actions to Take in Times of Tightening Credit Markets
INTRODUCTION
Whether we agree with it or not, small and medium-sized business owners are entering into unprecedented turmoil in the financial markets (USA Today Article). No matter how good your product or service is, the survival of your business depends on your careful and thoughtful navigation through these potentially dangerous times. We’ve organized a list of five important ways to make sure your company is on the best possible course.
1. WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR BANK?
These are and will continue to be tough times for most banking and financial institutions. They have federal and other regulators and auditors that they must regularly appease. It is imperative that you do everything in your power to help them continue to feel comfortable loaning you money. Keep them updated with your income statement and balance sheet projections for a minimum of the next twelve months. Diligently fulfill all of your monthly, quarterly, and annual loan covenants to which you have committed. Make sure they have your most recent tax return(s) and interim financial statements. Keep your deposit relationship with them and show your commitment to them. You may even want to call your banker and ask them what you can do for them.
2. DO NOT EXTEND PAYMENT TERMS
You may have already had customers ask for extended payment terms while they work through difficult financial times. Certainly this deserves your empathetic attention, but you must be very careful with this request. The cash flow of your business is often a complex organism that, with a slight tweak, could significantly impede your cash flow. Perhaps an example will help illustrate this point.
Imagine you manufacture widgets for many companies. All of your customers pay you 50% of their orders up-front and the rest upon delivery. One customer approaches you with a very large and profitable order, but asks for net 30 terms. You hesitantly agree, grateful that the order will keep your equipment and labor operating at capacity for the next couple of months. About one month into the production process, after you have purchased the materials, your customer calls and asks to put the order on hold indefinitely due to slowing demand for their products. You now have labor to pay, material suppliers to pay, and no cash coming anytime soon.
While this example may not perfectly apply to your situation, the underlying principles do. Avoid the temptation to extend your customers’ payment terms.
3. PRESERVE YOUR ACCESS TO CAPITAL
One of the most common sources of capital for small to medium-sized businesses is the owner’s home equity line of credit (HELOC). The business owner draws against their HELOC and then loans the money to their company. With the rapid decrease in real estate values across the nation, mortgage lenders are uncomfortable with their equity position, or lack thereof, in a secondary or tertiary position against an asset that is losing value. As such, many are sending letters notifying their customers that as their line is paid down their limit will decrease proportionally. If you are looking to pay-down outstanding debt, you may want to consider keeping this line of credit maximally extended (and continue to gain from the tax benefit that most HELOC-users reap) and pay-down other obligations.
4. PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT
We know that in this real estate market many are walking away from mortgage obligations and either short-selling or allowing the banks to foreclose on their homes and properties. Credit card, car loan, student loan, and other payments are being missed for a number of reasons. All of these things will hurt your personal credit. What does this have to do with your business finances? The answer is almost everything. Most banks and lending institutions will run a credit check on each owner of 20% or more of a business. We have seen many circumstances where a bank refuses to lend money in an otherwise “bankable” deal because the credit score of one or more of the owners is too low. If at all possible, seek remedies to any personal credit problems that will protect or improve your credit score.
5. KNOW YOUR CASH FLOW THROUGH FORECASTING
The day you started your business is the day you signed up to be an expert on cash flow. When you are running low on cash, do you know why? When you have a surplus of cash, do you know why? Forecasting will help you better you understand the answers to these questions, which will empower you to improve your strategic decisions as well as the tactical implementation of your strategies. We work with a company that during the last two years has completely changed its cash flow dynamic for the better with the help of forecasting, good advice, and diligent execution.
CONCLUSION
We are not suggesting that banks and traditional lending institutions are the only medium to finance your business. Historically, these sources have been the most affordable and sometimes the most accessible. For the foreseeable future, these resources are going to become less accessible and more expensive. By following these five steps and continuing to profitably operate your business, you will improve your chances to obtain and/or maintain your sources of credit.
For more information on this subject and much more, please contact our CFO Advisors.
08/20/2008 | 12:41PM
The yield curve is steepening, which means corporate borrowing is getting more expensive even though the Federal Reserve Board has pushed short-term interest rates lower. Specifically, they have lowered the federal funds rate to 2% from 5.25% just 12 months ago. The motive was to stimulate the economy, but the cost of borrowing has not moved in lock-step as expected.
With so much uncertainty in our current business climate, companies that need to borrow money are paying higher interest rates now relative to the treasury rates than they were one year ago. As an example, high yield corporate bonds, sometimes referred to as junk bonds, currently average about an 8% premium over the US Treasuries, up from 5.3% from just a few months ago.
One of the major contributors to the rise in interest rates is because very few institutions actually want to loan money right now (that is why the experts say we are in a credit crunch). With an increase in businesses that are seeking a loan and a decrease in the number of banks and financial institutions willing to extend the loans, the rules of supply and demand tell us that the face value, or resell value, of these notes is dropping. Since the interest rates are inversely related to the value of the notes, this means interest rates on corporate debt are on the rise.
What does this mean to the business owners? It will continue to be hard to get a loan in at least near future. And, if you do get access to debt, most likely you will see your costs associated with servicing that debt increase in at least the near term.
For more information on this subject please contact one of our CFO Partners
06/2/2008 | 12:47PM
Gas prices continue to have a significant impact on emerging and medium-sized businesses in our country. This survey that almost half of the companies are raising their mileage reimbursement to the IRS maximum of 50.5 cents per mile.
Depending on the company’s prior mileage reimbursement amount, this could significantly decrease the bottom-line.
In most businesses, fuel is considered a variable cost - meaning this cost fluctuates firm’s sales. In my experience, fuel often seems more fixed than variable. While many companies are seeing revenues decline, they are corrected simultaneously seeing their total fuel costs increase. Unless you have the opportunity to raise your prices to your customers to cover for the increased cost in fuel, this could create a somewhat harsh reality. About 1/4 of companies surveyed are offering flexible work schedules to help reduce their and their employees’ fuel costs. Four 10-hour days per week reduce travel requirements, but may not be practical. As we have mentioned before, since necessity is the mother of invention, we feel our current fuel crisis will foster creative and unique ways to solve our country’s dependence on oil. Our CFO Consultants can help you decide what needs to be done about rising fuel costs.
05/22/2008 | 5:54PM
The Economic Stimulus Package for the American People Act of 2008 signed in February by President Bush has a couple of minor benefits for emerging and medium-sized companies. The package doubles the limit for equipment and qualifying investments from $125,000 to $250,000. This is a benefit if you are expanding or you need to upgrade certain fixed assets in your business. If, for some reason, you exceed $800,000 in capital in the year, then this deduction is phased out for you. However, the package also allows for 50% bonus depreciation on qualifying investments, regardless of your total capital expenditures for the year.
If you are on track for a profitable year, then this can be a big help. Since many businesses are struggling in these recessionary times, the tax savings may not be as significant or lucrative as one might hope. Whatever your circumstance, it may be worth considering in your capital budget strategy. Since entity types, tax structures, and other items determine how this benefit will affect your business and you personally, we recommend you seek expert advice from a CFO Consultant to guide you through this strategy.
