When it comes to next year’s budget, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. But you should do more than simply recycle this year’s version. Your financial statements can help. They offer three places to start looking for the right numbers: 1. Your income statement. Here you’ll see information on sales, margins, operating expenses, and [...]
Every business owner knows that maintaining a healthy cash flow is essential to a company’s success. But there are a variety of ways to accomplish this objective. One way is to accelerate inflows and decelerate outflows, thereby shortening your cash flow cycle. Truncating this cycle by 10 to 15 days can significantly boost your working [...]
A business can offer many things as fringe benefits. So it’s a good idea to occasionally review the possibilities to see whether you might be missing something that could help you attract and retain the best employees. Two broad categories that are generally deductible by the employer and tax-free to employees are: 1. Working-condition fringe [...]
Turning to independent contractors can be a smart option in a number of situations, such as when you have a seasonal upswing in workload or need a specialized skill for a short period. But independent contractors come with potential risks, too. They may not help you trim your total workforce costs if you use them [...]
Like race car drivers, business owners need to monitor gauges on their dashboards to keep an eye out for serious operational failures before a total breakdown occurs. These gauges are commonly referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs). There are two broad categories of KPIs: financial and nonfinancial. Financial KPIs often take the form of [...]
A sound succession plan is a must for every business. But even the best-laid strategies can go awry. Here are some steps you can take to fix a shaky succession plan: Compare progress to plan. Don’t rely on vague notions of why your succession plan isn’t working. Identify the specific gaps in its execution. Also consider [...]
The employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is hardly a new concept. But it remains an intriguing benefits option for many companies. An ESOP is a form of qualified retirement plan — specifically, a profit-sharing plan. It allows employees to own part of the company that employs them and then cash in their shares when they [...]
To succeed at strategic planning, business owners must look to actively mitigate the many uncertainties under which every company operates. Here are six ways to do that: 1. Be curious. Identify the demographic, technological, cultural and other changes occurring outside your company and industry. 2. Assess how those changes might impact your organization and industry. [...]