Most Businesses Fail Because They Run Out of Money

Do not let that happen to you!

Simply a quick post to share this Cash Flow Planner spreadsheet I recently created.  It should prove helpful and encourage you to invest some time into maintaining a comprehensive awareness of the financial outlook for your business.

First step is to run an Income Statement (P/L), Balance Sheet and Cash Flow report in your accounting software.  You should know how to do this.

Next step is to download the Cash Flow Planner, take a moment to review the example and then start thinking ahead about the financial health of your business.

Click Here to Download  (Excel 2010 recommended)

Click for expanded quick view

Opportunities Have Expiration Dates

Now is a good time to consider those areas of your business that may be preventing you from creating, recognizing and taking advantage of positive opportunities within your market.

Every year there are a limited number of opportunities (prospects) that want and need what your business has to offer.  Nobody knows this number in advance, but wouldn't you want your business to be in the best position to capitalize on your full potential to serve as many of those prospects and customers as possible - and do so profitably. 

Before another year of limited profitable opportunities pass your business by, contemplate the objectives of your business.  Consider the benefits that result from a 100% Proactive Approach to researching, improving and monitoring critical elements that are and will impact your business outcomes and targeted objectives. 

Proactive process improvement puts your employees and company in the best position to be both competitive and profitable - which are key to winning more, growing and sustaining your business.

Right now, take time to carefully consider what opportunities may be about to expire and determine if you and your team can capitalize on these before they are gone.

Smarter Pricing Decisions

From the outset PricingWire has been focused on the critical role that pricing plays within any business.  Yes, every business must charge a price if they plan to be a business for very long.  However, pricing goes beyond the simplistic idea of just selecting a price and then watching what happens.

If your business wants to achieve its full potential for positive and profitable outcomes in the shortest amount of time . . . it will serve you and your shareholders very well to understand the complete and wide impact pricing has on the entire business.

Think of PricingWire as an expert advisor that helps your business remain in the best position to make smarter pricing decisions, improve value propositions and create and grow paying (and profitable) customers.

Please take a moment and consider the clear benefits of understanding the answers to these questions :

  
   1)  What do your prospects and customers really value (wants and/or needs) ?

   2)  What are your prospects and customers willing to pay for that value ?

   3)  How can your business differentiate competitive advantages over alternative 
         sources of that value (e.g. - what are your value advantages) ?

   4)  How do different customer and market segments value different offering combinations, 
         bundles, pricing structures, purchase processes, promotions and messaging ?

   5)  What are the most effective methods of communicating your value advantages and offerings
         (stressing the importance of consistent messaging) ?

   6)  How do your prices impact value perceptions and how do value perceptions impact 
         willingness to pay certain prices (conversion & renewal optimization) ?

   7)  What role does pricing play in revenue growth, cash flow requirements and profitability ?

. . . those are just some of the areas that PricingWire can help your business. 

PricingWire offers a time-sensitive approach to consulting engagements, conducts proactive pricing strategy workshops and also helps you remain aware of how other businesses are approaching and succeeding at converting value into profitable revenue and monetizing demand (aka: pricing).

Do not delay or settle for anything less than your full potential for success.

When Pricing Consider Who Is Paying

As you develop or revisit your pricing, keep in mind who is actually paying for what you are selling to the marketplace.  There are a number of factors to consider when making pricing decisions, each with their own assortment of risks and impacts that must be calculated for over both the short-term and long-term.

My wife's grandfather recently spent some time in the hospital.  While attending a family gathering at his house he was passing this around.

I have zoomed in on some points of interest as well.  Enjoy.

By the way, my wife's Grandpa George is doing great.  The above included the installation of a pace-maker device.

Sales Target & Compensation Planner

Here is a quick Excel spreadsheet I created for a client in the Residential and Light Commercial Heating & Air Conditioning industry to help them take a proactive approach to both establishing their Sales Targets and creating a new Sales Compensation Plan.

Posting this as it may help some of you think through Sales Targets for your company and perhaps modify to fit your own needs.

Notes: 

• Best viewed in Microsoft Excel 2007 or 2010
• I have included some fictional sample data to help you get a feel for it
• This plan is based on Sales Revenue (while common, usually not best)
• Modify those cells with the blue font, to play with the numbers
• Enjoy!

Click Here for Excel File

7 Reasons Your Strategy Is A Problem

Reason number one of the 7 Reasons Your Strategy Is A Problem is seemingly the most obvious and in reality is so obvious that many won't admit it.  Just getting by becomes "good enough" and terms like "agile" and "flexible" become justifications for blatant failures in the areas of prioritization and leadership.

The number one reason your strategy is not capturing your full profit and market potential is that a strategy has not been formulated and does not actually exist.

The reality is a strategy must exist and include all the parts necessary to create, recognize and capitalize on opportunities to achieve your company's full potential for positive and profitable outcomes - everyday - every transaction.  Anything less is really easy and therefore really common.  Most companies don't achieve their full potential and thus standards of acceptability have eroded to the point where short-cuts and unethical or lazy decision making render "bursting bubbles", putting out "fires" and "financial crisis" that should not be surprising at all.

The details do matter.  Diving deep into the details of your strategy actually clarifies the steps that will get you where you want to go faster and not only gets all stakeholders on the same page, but on the portion of the page that is relevant to their role and optimizes their ability to contribute to success.

This does not require a lot of time.  It does require focus and follow through.  Unwillingness to prioritize time for strategy development creates an inability to answer the questions necessary to formulate a solid strategy and too often leads to decisions like "just going with what we have" and "we'll come back to that" for the sake of "time".  Strategy questions are tough questions because they require both some uncertain decisions and leadership that is willing to make those decisions.  Having clarity around your strategy provides clarity around what elements of the strategy are effective, working, not working or possibly missing.  It allows you to iterate faster and fine tune your competitive advantages.

Your business strategy clearly defines your objectives and how your company intends to generate positive and profitable results within the markets you serve. Your entire operations must align to that strategy and enable your employees to execute it daily. It is the strategy's communication and execution that determines whether your company can turn good intentions into targeted, profitable and sustainable outcomes. 

7 Reasons Why Your Strategy Is Not Capturing Your Full Profit Potential

    1.  A strategy has not been formulated and does not actually exist.

    2.  Lack of current and relevant information about your customers wants and needs.

    3.  Your strategy fails to recognize the limitations of your company.

    4.  Employees don't know how the strategy applies to their everyday work.

    5.  Your operating policies, processes and procedures do not support your strategy.

    6.  Performance metrics and rewards are not aligned with your strategy or market timing.

    7.  Lack of focus and follow-through disconnects you from your strategic objectives.

We will cover reasons 2 thru 7 in the days ahead . . . stay tuned . . . better yet stay focused on fine tuning and communicating a solid strategy.

Bantam Live Post-Beta Pricing Page

February marked the month that Bantam Live exited beta and launched their offering and pricing details.  I like a lot of what they have done and it is obvious they have been doing research and looking around at other successful web-based solutions. 

Two posts, with more details / commentary, can be be found over on our Pricing Observer site, take a look.