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Whenever you must create or reinvent the direction of your organization, there are six questions, in order, that you must answer correctly. You’ve heard the expression ‘‘garbage in, garbage out.’’ The quality of your thinking and decisions is determined solely by the quality of the information you begin with.

1. Where are you now? What is your current situation?

If your business was in trouble and you hired an outside consulting firm to come in to help, the first thing the consultants would do would be a complete performance evaluation. They would determine your exact levels of sales in every product/service area, the relative profitability of each of your products and services, the trends in each area, the amount of money you have and will have in the foreseeable future, and your position relative to your competition. These are all pieces of information that you can and must generate for yourself.

2. How did you get to where you are today?

What were the factors and decisions that led to your current situation? Be your own management consultant. Be prepared to face ‘‘the brutal truth,’’ as Jim Collins calls it, about how you got to where you are today. Refuse to flinch or exaggerate, especially when you have problems with sales and profitability.

Jack Welch insisted his managers practice the ‘‘reality principle,’’ which he defined as ‘‘being willing to face the world as it is, rather than the way you wish it could be.’’

You cannot resolve a problem or resolve a difficult situation unless you have the courage to face the current facts squarely, whatever they are. Reevaluate all your business activities. Is everything you are doing necessary to win and keep customers? What savings could you generate by partnering with other companies to do work or carry overhead? Could you share a warehouse or manufacturing plant with a neighboring firm? Can you share an accounting department? What activities could you outsource without reducing quality or service to your customers?

3. Where do you want to go from here?

What do you want to accomplish? Clearly describe the ideal desired outcome for your business. Project forward five years and imagine that your business was perfect. The greater clarity you have about where you want to be at a specific time in the future, the easier it will be for you to create a great business strategic plan, or blueprint, that will enable you to get from where you are today to where you want to go. Be specific about your future goals and desired outcome.

For instance:

How much product would you be selling five years from now?
How much would you be earning (gross and net), and how does that compare with your competitors?
How many people would be working in your business?
Who would your customers be, and where would they be located?

4. How do you get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future?

What are the steps that you will have to take to create your ideal future business? Make a list. Write down every single thing that you can possibly think of that you would have to do to achieve your goals in the future. As you think of new actions, tasks, or steps, add them to the list. This information then becomes your recipe or formula for achieving your business goals.

5. What obstacles will you have to overcome? What problems will you have to solve?

Of all the problems or obstacles standing between you and your desired future outcomes, what are the biggest or most important? If you aren’t already a fast-growing, highly profitable company, why not? What is holding you back? What are the critical constraints or limiting factors for growth? Sometimes, just identifying and removing one critical block or obstacle can turn your company into a more profitable enterprise.

6. What additional knowledge, skills, or resources will you require to achieve your strategic objectives?

What additional competencies or capabilities will you need if you want to lead your field in the years ahead? Every business begins and grows around a set of core competencies, but there are almost always additional core competencies that you’ll need to acquire or develop over time. If your company is already the market leader, then explore what new areas you can excel in. And most of all, ask yourself what you can do, starting today, to begin to achieve those core competencies to create your business of the future.

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. His goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. http://www.briantracy.com

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The home page of an business site is very important, although it may not conjure up thoughts of the security of a traditional home’s warmth and protection. Still, it does get its nickname of “home” for a reason.

Let’s settle one thing up front, though: For most online businesses the home page is not the most important page. Far from it. The page that earns the honor of being most important is probably one or two clicks removed from the home page of an online business site. It is the one on which a converted visitor can perform an action that directly or eventually will lead to the company earning revenue. On the other hand, the home page is probably the page that will attract more first time traffic than any other page on your online business site.

Your home will be the page to which more outside links point than any other of your pages. Also, more than likely, your home page will be close to the top in terms of the number of internal links directed to it. Furthermore, if your site is not especially well designed causing your visitors to become lost in their explorations of your site, it is probably to the home page that those meandering visitors will retreat in order to get their bearings.

That’s all a rather long way of saying that a lot of your visitors are going to spend a lot of their time on your website’s home page. As long as your prospects are loitering there, you better make sure you help them make good use of their time.

What are the functions of a good home page in a well designed online business website? Here are a few functions from which you can choose, although never try to use one page to do everything.

* Serve as the foyer for your international corporate office and reflect the corporate climate, whether that is formal and efficient or relaxed and friendly.

* Allow the visitors to locate where they want to go without any unnecessary distractions. Your navigation menu will serve this function on all of your pages, but on the home page you may want to help with making suggestions concerning the most efficient ways in which they might proceed.

* Subtly and efficiently communicate the mission of your business through the copy on the page, the images, a video or some combination of all channels.

* Tell your visitors what you want them to do. You might want them to buy a product, sign up to receive valuable information, learn about the topic in which your business is the expert or even all of those.

* Keep the whole place neat and tidy, making it attractive without seeming pretentious.

Those are some of the functions to consider for any business home page, regardless of whether you already have a large, established, authority website or you are planning to build a small business website.

Website Creation

Goal Setting

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By : Roger Bryan    From: Article2008.com

There are two major types of auto auctions: the local and online auto auctions. Each of them has its set of pros and cons and we will discuss them here.  

Convenience 

In terms of convenience, online auctions are more convenient than local ones because you can bid for your desired car at the comfort of your own home. And if you win the auction, you can easily pay with your credit card. 

This, however, isn’t always the case with local auctions. Some auctioneers accept credit cards while there are those that only accept cash. 

Inspecting the Car 

Although online auctions win on the side of convenience, they lose out greatly on the buyer’s ability to inspect the car before buying it. At the most, all that the buyers can see are pictures of the car and some parts of it . 

However, in the case of local auctions, you can always check the car yourself before bidding on it. This is important if you wish to know if the car’s condition indeed is the same as the advertisement. 

To counter this problem, online auctions use a rating system for sellers. Edit this text  

Fraud 

Unfortunately, neither type of auctions is fraud-free. Each has its own share of fraudulent auctions. In the case of online auctions, sellers may sell cars that do not actually exist or may be dishonest about the actual condition of the vehicle. 

This is also the case with local auctions. While bidders can see the cars for themselves, it isn’t always the case with the flaws the may be hidden. Bidders should therefore check the car closely to avoid this from happening. Edit this text

All in all, both online and local auctions have their sets of benefits and risks so you should always be careful before joining one.

The Best Business Guides Blog online which mixes auto auction with brilliant video blog posts.

Learn how to Make Money Blogging.

Goal Setting

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The Cash Flow Statement is derived from the Cash Flow Budget, which is a forecast of cash receipts and payments.  The Cash Flow Budget shows if enough cash is available for expenses, equipment and goods purchases.  Cash Flow also indicates whether external sources of cash are necessary.  While many business proprietors think profits are the most important financial component of a company, the lack of cash is frequently the biggest reason for business bankruptcy.  In fact, a business may be profitable; yet, it doesn’t have the cash to pay its expenses.  Therefore, effective Cash Flow Forecasting, Planning and Management are essential to a Company’s success and should be an integral part of a company’s Business Plan.

Planning for cash flow is both on a short term and long term basis (daily, weekly and monthly to quarterly and yearly). This way a business can have the optimum amount of cash on hand for its requirements. You can control the flow of cash into your business in order to make the necessary payments while still not maintaining an excessively high cash balance through an effective Cash Flow Budget. This is a management function as the speed and efficiency of cash flow moving through an enterprise allows the business owner to turn it back into sales and income more quickly and with efficiency. This results in much greater profitability and minimizes the company’s interest payments.

The Cash Flow Statement can be a complicated Financial to originate and manage.  Therefore, the Cash Flow Budget is a great place to start and is a very effective tool to manage your business cash flow.  The Cash Flow Budget has three principal sections to manage:

1)     Cash to be received

2)     Expected Cash Payments

3)     When payments are to be made

The primary cash flow format is the monthly Cash Flow Budget. I recommend working on three months (quarterly) at a time, projecting the budget 12 to 18 months in advance. Each month’s column should have a Goal and Actual sub-column so you can measure your projections with actual results. The cash flow budget should be on a rolling basis, meaning as you complete one quarter, then you project another three months.

The first bottom-line for the Cash Flow Budget is the End of the Month Cash Balance, which is computed as follows:  Beginning Month Cash Balance + Total Cash Receipts – Total Cash Payments

Simply put, a negative cash balance will require an increase in cash receipts, a decrease in payments, or accessing a short-term loan.  The second bottom-line is the End of Month Available Cash, which is calculated by subtracting the Monthly Contingency Cash Desired and Short-term Loans Required. 

The third bottom-line is the Cash Required for Capital Investments, which is calculated by taking the End of Month Available Cash and factoring in Desired Capital Cash and Long-Term Loans Required. 

By effectively Planning your Cash Flow Forecast and Managing the diverse key elements of the Cash Flow Budget, a business owner can pick up the right amount of cash available, when needed.  Please refer to the end of this Article for a Cash Flow Budget Worksheet to assist you in Forecasting, Planning and Managing your Company’s Cash Flow. Consider hiring a Business Consultant to assist you.

Having constructed your Cash Flow Budget, you can now effectively manage your Cash Flow needs.  By using some numbers from your Income Statement and Balance Sheet, you can analyze your present cash situation and apply that to future Cash Flow analysis.  It is important to understand the relationships between your Financial Statements in order to effectively Manage, Plan and Forecast Cash Flows. 

Predict and Manage Sales Related Cash Flow Issues

A couple Key Formulas: the DSO and DPO

1)     The Average number of days to collect money from customers or the Days Sales Outstanding (DSO): (Accounts Receivable divided by Annual Sales) x 365

2)     The Average number of days to pay your bills or Days Payables Outstanding (DPO): (Accounts Payable divided by Annual Sales) x 365

How can the DSO and DPO be Applied to your Business?

1)     If your DPO is greater than your DSO, you can sway or float your bills longer than your customers do and cash will accumulate.

2)     If DSO is greater than DPO and your customers are slower in paying their bills, then cash is departing the business.

3)     When DPO is greater than DSO, the bigger the difference, the more cash is flowing into the business and vice versa.

4)     The difference between DPO and DSO, termed the Float, is the number of sales days in cash that is flowing in or out of the business each year.  The equation is:  (Sales divided by 365) x Float

a)     As an example: A $1.5M  Sales Revenue business with only eight days of negative float will see $33,000 in cash flow go out the door.  This problem can be compounded if the drop happens during one payment cycle.

How Can You Fix A Negative Cash Flow? 

Well, it is really pretty simple.  A couple options:

1)     Collect receivables more quickly from customers.

2)     Obtain better payment terms from suppliers.

Combining options one and two will exponentially increase your cash flows, putting much less strain on your business operations and allowing you to manage more effectively for Profits. Cash Flow projections and Cash Flow budgets should be part of every company’s Strategic Plan. 

Conclusion

In order to effectively manage Cash Flow in your business, you must understand the relationship between your Cash Flow Statement, Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet, and what these financials are telling you.  The Cash Flow Budget is the first step in developing your Cash Flow Statement, utilizing the numbers generated through your Profit Analysis and Income Statement and your Balance Sheet.  The Cash Flow Budget is a great tool to manage and plan your levels of Cash Flow (please see an example Cash Flow Budget Worksheet below). 

Monthly Cash Flow Budget Worksheet Example

– Prepare on a Monthly Outlook Basis with Budgeted and Actual Columns

Expected Cash Receipts:

Cash Sales

Accounts Receivable Collections

Other Income

Total Cash Receipts

Expected Cash Payments:

Purchase Goods & Equipment

Salaries

Utilities

Depreciation

Rent

Building Services

Insurance

Office Expenses

Interest

Sales Promotion

Taxes & Licenses

Maintenance

Delivery

Misc

Total Cash Payments

Cash Balance:

Beginning Month Cash Balance

Cash Change (Total Cash Receipts minus Total Cash Payments)

End of Month Cash Balance

Desired Contingency Cash Balance

Short-Term Loans Required

Available Cash – End of Month

Cash for Capital Investments:

Available Cash- End of Month

Desired Capital Cash

Long-Term Loans Required

About this Article Writer

Frank Goley is a business plan consultant, business consultant and business turnaround consultant for ABC Business Consulting. Frank is an expert in writing, developing and implementing business plans, business turnaround plans, business funding plans, marketing plans, strategic plans and web marketing plans. Frank offers comprehensive business consulting, business coaching, business turnaround consulting, along with web seo, web development and web marketing consulting, to small and medium size companies.. Frank is author of the business plan book, The Comprehensive Business Plan Workbook – A Step by Step Guide to Effective Business Planning, and he has over 50 published articles on business success strategies. He also writes the Business Success Strategies Blog.

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Typical PC users are provided with a starter set of applications that allow most people to function at a basic level. If you are somewhat heavily involved in your industry or profession you may find that certain commercially available applications not provided by the manufacturer are nonetheless key to your profession or work day.

Dealing with these kinds of key applications often is instrumental in your success and requiring that you continue to need access to them in their original installed version. Therefore you may not be open to upgrading to the latest version of the application unless its new-version capabilities are a godsend. You many not be willing to pay the price of time and/or money to upgrade.

I should like to cite a real life example. I know a qualified Graphic Artist, although they do not do it as a professional service for hire, they do all their own GA work and develop all their own marketing materials. She has used PageMaker from Adobe for years and can virtually fly through even complex development functions in minutes rather than hours as many of her contemporaries do. However, when Adobe stopped supporting PageMaker – ending at Version 7, replacing the Application with InDesign, she was neither impressed with the change or willing to invest hundreds. Therefore she chose to maintain her current copy of PageMaker and do whatever was necessary. If you fall into this category then this article is for you.

The first thing that you must understand is that this is ultimately a self-defeating strategy as eventually you will be unable to continue using an application at some point. Therefore, this article is intended only to support your borrowed time usage when needed.

Your first point of understanding is the version of Windows that the application is running on. In my example above, PageMaker does not run native mode in anything beyond Windows XP. It is not supported and will not launch on Vista or Win7. So, unless you are a programmer you will typically be dealing with the need to continue using a PC with an out of date OS. It also means dealing with a certain level of inconvenience when transferring data to and from the older PC.

You will also be constantly dealing with other non-support issues – from a host of perspectives – including everything from fonts to color palettes. This includes everything from access and output capabilities – creating a pdf as an example, does not function in Page Maker 7 on XP the way it now functions in Design on Vista or 7. Therefore I now use a commercial pdf creator but it has some variance from Adobe. This is the kind of issue that you will be dealing with constantly.

With an out of date PC you must regularly update the system registry. Closely maintain your Windows Registry and use commercially available registry software to perform the needed registry fix operations. This will allow you to achieve the necessary Registry Repair and you can continue to use an older PC running an unsupported application.

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