Author: admin

This is a great time of year to sit down and work out what it is we want to achieve in business this year. For example:

1. Which new products will we be launching?

2. Who are the new customers we are specifically targeting?

3. What ‘make or buy’ decisions do we need to plan for?

4. Where will we travel to in search of new ideas and to spot future trends?

5. When will we begin our cost reduction programme?

6. Why are we waiting?

Amongst all this ‘business goodness’ it is easy to lose sight of the cash flow implications for our organisation. It’s fun and exciting to design new products, or plan an interesting business trip, but it tends to be dull and repetitive to keep an eye on the money. This means it is easy to let our enthusiasm get the better of us and we could ignore dull, but vital, financial planning, or delegate to someone who doesn’t have our grasp of the nuances of our plans and ideas.

Whether you are a business of 1 or 1,000 – cash flow is the oxygen of success. This week our task is simple; to compile a spreadsheet that shows the impact on our cash reserves as we plan our year ahead. Where do things get tight for us? Who do we have to manage to control expenditure, or make sure we receive payments on time? What reserves do we have, to guard against potential unknown events?

Cash flow is not sexy, but it is the Jack, Queen and King in the pack.

Next week: You, Me and Skype

Last week we had a learning review with biscuits, so it makes sense to continue to the next logical step…choosing new biscuits for 2014.

Actually, I don’t mind what you dunk in your tea (I’ve heard some people swap digestives for doughnuts) as long as:

a) You enjoy it

b) Nobody gets hurt

It is interesting to note that Eric Berne (founder of Transactional Analysis) said, ‘Above all else – do no harm’ …which is a good motto to have when we are working with others, negotiating deals and running our business professionally.

When we think about the year ahead and what changes we need to make to our business, are we taking other people into account? Are we about to do what we consider to be the ‘right thing’ whilst at the same time causing harm to someone? For example, if we have to make a tough choice and let people go, are we planning on doing it in the best way possible?

We also need to do no harm to ourselves. We need to take breaks, sleep more and drink less caffeine. We can still have tea and biscuits of course and we can find new varieties to dunk. In our business lives we can think about one thing to change this year, for the good of our business, perhaps:

More sales emails?

More sleep?

Add a new product?

Get help?

Last year I changed from being rushing-about-Rich to being busy-business-coach-Rich. I dropped several projects that were weighing me down and focussed on doing what I love most – developmental business coaching.

This year I will change something else. It would be too smug to have thought of something in time for this piece and I haven’t yet. So, this week I am going to think about one thing to change for 2014. It might be something personal, or something work related, but it will be something that has a positive impact on my business.

My invitation to you is to do the same thing. Different biscuits dunked differently could lead to new thoughts! Happy thinking!

Next week: Cashflow is Jack, Queen and King