Date archives "November 2008"

Getting out of a Cash Crunch

“When you’re in a pit, the first thing to do is to stop digging.” James Ellman

At some point of time or other most entrepreneurs go through a cash crunch period. These are stressful and frustrating times when the world seems to be falling apart around us and we have a limited set of options to get out of the mess. I have found that by following the tips provided earlier in this series we can reduce the probability of being stuck in a liquidity crisis substantially. However, there are times when even after having planned for every conceivable outcome there is a blind spot we missed out. The important thing to do at this point is not to panic. Cutting your marketing budget, laying off staff and hawking office equipment on ebay is not usually the answer. In a situation where we have exhausted options of negotiating extensions with suppliers and run out of excuses why we have not settled the rent, there are a couple of alternatives I have used. Listed below in order of my personal preference are:

1. Discounting: If we are in a quarter with a number of payments due I include a clause in outgoing invoices stating that if payment is made within x number of days there will be an x% discount. This creates monetary incentive for clients to pay up on time. If invoices have been pending for a while I give the same discount to the client stating they should pay the discounted bill or we would be forced into calling in collection agencies. Surprisingly I have had very good results using this method in speeding up payments causing strapped up cash.

2. Credit Cards: I personally do not advocate using this type of financing but when the situation calls for it, use it as an emergency backup. These can be either business applied credit cards or personal cards. Using the cash advance option, essential payments can be made. This will help tide through the business until payments are made by clients. Using this option for any other expenses other than these critical ones results in getting buried by ridiculously high interest payments. Instead of fueling growth for your business this stunts growth. Use it with caution

3. Loans from Friends & Family: If you are in desperate need of some bridging capital and need access to it quickly, going to friends and family is a valid option. I do not like mixing friends and family with business, but at times it is unavoidable. Make sure when you take the money there is an agreement with terms and conditions spelt out in black and white. Full disclosure must be made regarding the situation at hand as well as when you are expected to repay the loan. Conflicts tend to arise when inadequate information is given, this results in confusion and unrealistic expectations.

4. Invoice Factoring: For businesses with natural and steady flows of revenue, but prone to erratic payments, applying for these schemes through banks or specialist factoring companies is an option. These basically take into account your average business activity and streams of revenue, then provide you a credit line against it. This can free up much of your working capital and can boost growth. However read the fine print carefully. Sometimes these institutions limit who you can do business with, and can also force your clients to interact with them as far as payments are concerned. This reflects negatively on the business and does not convey a good image to your customers.

5. Secured Credit Lines: If one is expecting the next couple of quarters or year to be tight, taking out a secure credit line may be a good alternative to solve the liquidity crunch. The bank provides you with a line of credit which is usually secured against a particular asset. The asset is usually real estate which you or the business may own. The business is then able to borrow money against the asset conveniently. This is an option exercised by many entrepreneurs. However it takes time to setup, therefore one must plan for it well in advance and not when you are stuck in a liquidity crisis.

No one wants to be stuck in a liquidity crisis. We must do all we can to ensure the business does not slip into one. Keep your eyes on both the sale numbers and controlling expenses. When and if the situation becomes critical these last resort measures can provide significant relief in assisting you to get out of the mess. It is important to use these options wisely and to do thorough research on them before committing to any one of them.

Related Articles:

Raising Capital from Family & Friends

Technology and Cash Flow Management

“What amount of value creation can be assigned to the efforts of management for a particular time period? That is the essence of accounting. Otherwise, it’s simply an appraisal process.” Charles W Mulford

Gone are the days of keeping track of your business expenses on excel sheets. Earlier on in my entrepreneurial journey we relied solely on excel sheets to manage accounts. However we were then introduced to Quickbooks, and it completely changed the way we viewed our accounts. With this software we were actually able to extrapolate a lot of data and zoom into key metrics by which we could monitor the growth of our business. Many business owners wait until they have an ‘established’ business before investing in standard accounting software. This is like wearing a helmet after you have experienced a fall. Undoubtedly experience is a great teacher and one should continue to learn from mistakes. There are however some precautions which should be taken beforehand, and getting software to manage your accounts is one of them.

There are many great accounting solutions available in the market today. These key questions need to be answered when selecting an accounting package:

1. What is your budget allocation for purchasing this software? (If a budget has not been allocated there are many free accounting solutions which one can find online)

2. Do you want the software to run locally on your computer or would you want web access to your data?

3. How many users will be using the software?

4. What is the primary purpose of purchasing the software? (Do you require a simple application which helps to track all of your incomes and expenses, or do you require one through which you can manage inventory, payroll, invoices etc)

5. What level of reporting will be required? (If one requires simple profit/loss, cash flow and balance sheet statements there are a lot of great packages out there. For more complex reporting, software like Quickbooks premier can generate detailed reports on sales report per employee and profitability per product)

Once these key questions have been answered, you will have a better idea for the sort of solution required and your search would have been made easier. When you have selected a software, assign someone or a group of people to continually update it to ensure access to the latest activity. This acts as a safeguard and protects over exposing the business to unnecessary risk as well as maximizing the opportunities currently in hand. I plan on creating a widget which will compile the answers to the questions above, and help provide a list of appropriate software or services. If anyone would like to help me out in creating it please let me know at blog (at) usmansheikh.net

Cutting your Marketing Budget?

“Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely.” Jay Conrad Levinson

The quote above encapsulates the essence of this blog post. I don’t think anyone could have said it better. I am a fan of all Mr. Levinson’s work especially his book “Guerrilla Marketing”. In the book there is constant emphasis on marketing being a process which we cannot cut whenever things get tight. As I mentioned in my last post, costs need to be contained tightly if we are to reach our goal of attaining a positive cash flow. What I have noticed is that whenever things get tight, cash flow wise, many entrepreneurs tend to pull the plug on marketing expenses in an effort to control costs. This however leads to a decrease in new business development, which ultimately results in decreased revenues.

Cutting marketing expenses to conserve cash is often not the most optimal solution to solving one’s cash flow problems. Assessing marketing strategies and tactics needs to be practiced on a regular basis. For example we could be advertising our new virtual assistant services on the front page of a popular web portal. We have continued to run the ad for the last quarter but have barely broken even on our investment.  We find however that ads running with much greater ROI on a couple of niche blogs and portals relating to the GTD methodology. As a business owner we should assess these trends on a regular basis and change out strategies likewise. If we take the approach of cutting all web advertising, it is more like amputation instead of laser point surgery.

These budgets and control measures need to be adopted from the onset of your business venture. It is not wise to make marketing expenses cyclical with business cycles. With optimized marketing campaigns and strategies in place, a business has greater chances of avoiding these cash gluts as business is constantly being generated at a healthy level. If you are currently experiencing cash flow difficulties in your business, assess your marketing budget and find ways to optimize the cash available to you in order to maximize your ROI.

Related Posts:

Marketing Budgets & Controls

How lean is your startup?

“Excess cost can be created by indirect factors that aren’t immediately apparent. You can attack these costs only by getting to the real heart of the problem, rather than just bashing away at the cost itself. The three biggest indirect cost generators are time, complexity, and poor quality.” Andrew Wileman

These days there is a lot of talk about shaving costs and becoming more capital efficient. With the credit markets the way they are, just about every venture capitalist has sent out doomsday emails telling their portfolio companies to brace themselves for tough times. I understand that market conditions are very bad, however what I fail to understand is why such emails are not sent out on a regular basis to portfolio companies. As companies become more adept at providing products and services there should be a natural downward trend in their costs. If such a trend is not becoming apparent the business needs to re-evaluate it’s position and figure out where it is leaking cash. From a cash flow perspective this is an extremely vital exercise. If costs are allowed to inflate without sufficient increase in revenue and benefits of economies of scale, the business is headed straight for trouble.

I take the approach of measuring cost effectiveness in terms of every product or service that the business is providing. The goal must be to provide the product or service at a lower cost than the competition. This does not necessarily have to be reflected in lower price points. As we widen the cost comparison between competitors, we are able to hold a much stronger position in the overall industry. Some questions that you can ask yourself to determine how lean your startup is, are:

1. What are the direct costs associated with providing the product or service? If you are selling used mobile phones through the internet for instance, then some of these costs would include; procurement expenses, hosting of a website, marketing campaigns for the website, and delivery costs to customers.

2. What is the incremental cost of producing one more unit or providing another service? Over time economies of scale should kick in and we should see a fall in the incremental cost. In today’s world, thanks to the internet the cost of delivering the same service to many customers has very little incremental cost. For instance if you set up a web service to provide an ability to create invoices, the architecture can be used to serve 1 or a 1000 customers. What needs to be identified is, when does one need to add more servers or optimize the architecture to handle more users.

3. What costs remain unchanged irrespective of volume of products and services provided? These are your fixed costs. One needs to find a level of products and services to ensure we break even. These costs must be contained in order to reach positive cash flows and profitability faster. Services such as Amazon’s s3 cloud computing services provide new web startups the ability to scale much faster and keep fixed operating costs at a minimum. Finds ways how you can reduce your fixed operating costs.

4. How does your cost structure compare against your competitors? This is often difficult to assess but it is possible to get a rough idea after doing some research regarding the competition’s processes. Once we can assess areas of advantage and disadvantage we can build on these segments respectively.

Cost cuts do not necessarily require a business to layoff staff or drastically cut marketing expenditure. If costs are inflated to begin with, these cuts need to take place whether we are in a boom cycle or a recession cycle. The focus needs to be placed on ensuring we optimize reduction of overhead counts, at the same time not letting our growth stagnate. An equilibirum needs to be found, once we have thoroughly assessed the business we will be able to reach such a level.

Inflows and Outflows

“Eventually everything shows up in earnings and cash flow, but it shows up late.” David Larcker

A fundamental premise of business is that when your inflow exceeds your outflow, the business will make a profit. In principle that is how things work, but there is a big difference between profit and cash flow. One could have a positive cash flow yet be running at a loss. As an entrepreneur we have to first make sure we become cash flow positive and then ensure that we make a profit doing so. Going for big multi-million dollar deals with huge margins is very exciting. However when we pursue such types of deals, we get stuck with the hidden costs associated with such deals fairly early on. They include major revisions, slower decision making, slower payment cycles and the possibility of losing the deal at the last minute. I have learned this lesson the hard way and have since become a true believer in singles and doubles (smaller deals) rather than going for the home run.

The cash flow section of the business plan is a critical component and is often given great importance and emphasis by investors when evaluating a business. This section basically involves outlining both the inflow and outflow from your business activities. Quite simply, these are revenue and interest earned on investment subtracted by the costs associated with running the business. If you have been having cash flow problems in your business and have not created a cash flow projection sheet, I recommend you do so immediately by identifying your inflows and outflows. However the real problem is that inflows are usually much slower to come in than your outflows. This is when the business begins to run out of cash and is put under a lot of pressure. There are a couple of tips which can help ease this problem:

1. Invoice at regular intervals and have a strict follow-up policy. Instead of billing the client for your services at one go, bill them in smaller increments regularly to ensure a steady stream of cash. Have built-in policies to ensure that customers who delay payments are downgraded for all future deals and are constantly reminded via all means about outstanding payments.

2. Extend supplier credit for as long as you possibly can. These are usually large payments that put an enormous strain on the business cash flow position. Negotiating extended supplier credit terms can be very tricky. If you have guaranteed orders which are going to be given to the supplier in the near future I seldom use those to gain more leverage during the negotiation process.

3. Stock less of your product if meeting supplier payments will be an issue. Converting idle inventory to cash usually takes quite a long time and panic offloading will result in large losses if they are unloaded below cost.

Managing inflows and outflows is a very challenging. However, missteps to manage them efficiently ultimately leads to the closure of the business. Therefore we need to continually forecast cash flow projections and ensure that we remain in a position to meet our obligations.

Related Posts:

Forecasting

– Communication Channels

Internal Policies

Are you Out of Cash?

Happiness is a positive cash flow. Fred Adler.

I do not agree completely with Mr. Adler’s point of view but I do understand where he is coming from. Those of you who have been through tight cash flow cycles, will be able to connect with the quotation much as I did. Running out of cash is a fundamental reason why many businesses have to pack up and fold. Without correct management of this critical asset, we find ourselves unable to meet payroll needs, pay suppliers or even cover basic business expenses. We could have a booming business yet mismatched inflows and outflows can cripple the business’ ability to meet obligations.

First time entrepreneurs, and in general smaller companies are more vulnerable to experiencing such incidents. There are a few major reasons behind this.

1. Firstly, due to inexperience, first time business owners generally do not have a tight control over outflows. This results in over inflated payrolls, very high basic expenditures and often frivolous spending on equipment and services which they clearly do not have a requirement for. With high burn rates and not enough business coming in, the business usually has to drastically cut expenses and lay-off staff to make ends meet.

2. Secondly, marketing plans are usually not executed as planned and controls are not put into place to measure their effectiveness. This results in fewer deals being clinched and ultimately lower revenue figures. With less cash in hand, marketing efforts are usually scaled back and this becomes a vicious cycle where there is not enough business coming in to sustain basic expenses.

3. Thirdly, due to their smaller size, larger clients usually take advantage of them by delaying payments and suppliers do not provide adequate credit support. This results in a two way pull where matching inflows to outflows becomes an extremely challenging juggling act.

These are just some major problems which result in a cash flow crisis. Not only are these situations detrimental for the health of the business, they also lead to higher levels of stress for the business owner. The fact of the matter is that managing cash flow is challenging for any business regardless of its size. It requires discipline, creativity and a lot of perseverance. Over the course of this week I will share some insights on how to make cash management systems more effective. I would like to know what systems readers are currently using to manage their cash flows, and, what has worked and what has not.

5 Tips for Better Networking

“It’s not what you know but who you know that makes the difference.” Anonymous

As an entrepreneur, networking has been an essential part of my journey and growth. However, even if you are not an entrepreneur, networking is something each one of us should be doing at some level. Networking provides us with the opportunity to reach out to individuals from all walks of life with whom we share similar passions or interests. We also meet individuals with whom we have very little in common. Either way, through this interaction we grow as individuals and start to see the world from a multi-faceted view point, rather than just our own. To some of us networking and conversing with strangers is easier than it is for others. However we must all make an effort to put ourselves out there and see what develops. Listed below are a couple of tips which have helped me become a more effective networker:

1. First Impressions: These are formed quickly, we need therefore to be vigilant about how we present ourself, and our attitude and overall body language. When meeting individuals for the first time, take an active interest in what they do, see if there is potentially anything you could do to assist them. It is important that we do not come across as pushy or just wanting to get the other person’s name card and move on. Will we always get the right impression across? Probably not, however, we have to do all we can to make sure that the signals we are sending are well aligned with the impression we want to create. To learn more about creating the right first impression please click here.

2. Business Cards: These are a vital component of effective networking. They have the ability to form a link between two strangers and potentially help that link grow into a mutually beneficial relationship. One needs to pay a lot of attention to the design of business cards and make sure that all the information is legible and well presented. Always carry an ample stock of your business cards and give them out liberally. When exchanging business cards, if required, ask politely for potential referrals. Lastly, business cards are essential, if you are not associated with any company, have personal name cards printed for yourself. To learn more about the importance of business cards please click here.

3. Following Up: This is a critical aspect of effective networking. Exchanging business cards is only the creation of link, it is our responsibility to convert that link into something greater. Three tips for following up more effectively include the 48 hour rule, which is essentially making sure that you follow up with a contact within the specified period to keep the link alive. Secondly, make it a point to follow up in context to the conversation that you had with the individual. Lastly, periodically follow up with individuals on your contact list whom you have had limited contact. To learn about each tip in greater detail please click here.

4. Building Online Networks: Online business networking is skyrocketing these days. With a plethora of websites being added almost daily, one is able to connect to just about anyone from around the world. Three ways to plug into the world on online networking is, joining Linkedin a leading professional networking site, creating a twitter account to connect with people in your niche and lastly, begin blogging to get the attention of your target audience. It is essential for today’s entrepreneurs to be plugged into the online networking cloud. To learn more about each of the services outlined above please click here.

5. Building Offline Networks: I believe developing a strong offline network is just as important as building an online one. Through these activities one is able to connect with a host of individuals around a common point of interest. It also helps bring balance to our busy lives, specially since more often than not our professional lives seem to completely take over. Join groups and events related to the business that you are in, or join social work projects that may be of interest to you or a group to play sports or social games together. These activities help increase your business networks as well as help you grow personally as an individual. To learn more on how to develop offline networks please click here.

Networking effectively, takes a lot of patience and time. We have to work on developing our networks every day by reaching out to people we have connections with as well as adding new connections. There is a need to add value to the people whom you know for those actions to be reciprocated. I would really like to get to know the readers of my blog and find ways we can help each other grow. You can find links to connect with me below.

View Usman Sheikh's profile on LinkedIn

Usman Sheikh's Facebook profile

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5 Steps to Better Conversations

Building Offline Networks

“More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” Peter Drucker

I discussed online networks in some detail yesterday. Today I will cover the importance of developing offline networks. These networks require us to put ourselves out there to find opportunities through which we can grow professionally as well as personally. When I mean offline networks, I am not restricting them to only business mixers or rotary functions. To me, offline networking involves a host of shared activities with individuals who share the same passions and interests as I do. I believe developing a strong offline network is just as important as building an online one. Through these activities one is able to connect with a host of individuals around a common point of interest. It also helps bring balance to our busy lives, specially since more often than not our professional lives seem to completely take over. Some segments to look into to develop offline networks are listed below:

1. Business: Having set up one of the largest network of entrepreneurs in Far East Asia, I have witnessed first hand how effective joining an entrepreneurial club or society can be. The ability and opportunity to actually meet a host of people enables one to create stronger connections a lot faster than developing them online. I recommend entrepreneurs look into entrepreneurial clubs and societies as I believe they can be a most beneficial. Other than this,  keep a look out for networking events in your industry where you have the opportunity to meet a host of different individuals. I was introduced to most of my mentors through such events.

2. Social Work:
If there is a cause which is close to your heart or an organization you think is doing great work, I recommend joining them to see if there is anything you can do to assist them. The entire aspect of social entrepreneurship is an area in which many individuals are doing excellent work to ensure a better tomorrow. Joining such efforts adds breadth to your network and opens up avenues usually unavailable through traditional routes.

3. Sports & Games:
Before my ventures completely absorbed me I used to be a regular cycling enthusiast. Along with a friend, I set up the cycling club at my university and we would cycle regularly over the weekends. It was great to get outdoors and get some exercise, it also helped clear the mind and once again meet some very interesting people. I learned a lot about team work, perseverance and even leadership through this activity. If not a sport, there are a host of other activities such as chess, bridge or poker where one can both network and have a good time.

Developing offline networks is an important aspect of the overall development of one’s personality. Even though at times it feels that there are just too many things to do, don’t let these activities take a backseat, find time for them. I feel having strong offline networks is specially important in Asia since there is greater emphasis on meeting face to face. Thus for an entrepreneur in this region, a balance needs to be formed between online and offline networking activities.

Business Networking Online

“During the past year, the total North American audience of social networkers has grown 9 percent compared to a much larger 25 percent growth for the world at large. The Middle East-Africa region (up 66 percent), Europe (up 35 percent), and Latin America (up 33 percent) have each grown at well-above average rates.” Comscore

Online business networking is skyrocketing these days. With a plethora of destinations being added almost daily, one is able to connect to just about anyone from around the world. For someone new to online networking it can be a bit intimidating. With all these tools out there, deciding which one to select and build upon can be a tricky decision. Prior to 2008 I used to rely a lot more on offline networks than online ones. This was primarily because I miscalculated the effectiveness of online networks. Ever since I started blogging earlier this year my eyes have truly been opened in discovering the true potential of online networks. Through these networks I have made some great friends, been introduced to some amazing companies, have been referred business and been able to raise funding for some of my projects. Listed below are some of the tools I use:

1. LinkedIn: This is the web’s leading professional networking destination and it is witnessing tremendous growth. I use linkedin primarily to do reference searches due to the nature of my work and have started using it to develop leads for business development. I have even started using it to identify talent to facilitate the recruitment process. I strongly recommend entrepreneurs to join this network as I believe it can greatly facilitate the development of your business. If you would like to connect with me on Linkedin please click on the link found below.

2. Twitter: This is a micro blogging tool which facilitates short communications between individuals, a group of people or the public as a whole. Essentially twitter users, post short messages detailing information in reference to their line of work or life generally. These messages can either be public or private. Other users are given permission to follow the updates of specific individuals, so as to be constantly updated about their activities. As I write this, it seems like a pretty silly concept and that is what I thought at first. However since becoming a more active user I have seen how these updates can be a source of great information, at the same time it gives you potential access to people whom you normally would not br accesing. I suggest joining it and seeing whether it is something which appeals to you or not. With its explosive growth these days, twitter is quickly becoming the destination to be online. To follow me on twitter please click on the badge below.

3. Blogging: When I started this blog I was unaware of how I could use it as a networking tool. However as time went by I was contacted by a host of very interesting individuals from all walks of life. Over the course of these last ten months of blogging I have made a host of close friends through blogging and actively reading other blogs in the same niche. In the world we live in today, blogging is very quickly becoming an instrumental tool through which one can attract like minded individuals. This can be a great source to find potential partners, employees, investors and even mentors. To begin blogging I recommend selecting a niche and then writing relatively regularly to build a following.

The deal with all of the tools I have listed above is that for them to create opportunities we need to work very hard to constantly build upon them. An empty linkedin profile will not attract anyone, twitter without relevant and interesting updates will not create any meaningful interaction and a blog which is not regularly updated will not become a hub of activity. We have to make a commitment to build our profile online, this is not something which is developed overnight. Like the real world one needs to build a reputation which is trusted and eventually become an authority who is constantly being referred to. I would really like to connect with the readers of this blog and see how we can assist each other in either a professional or personal capacity.

View Usman Sheikh's profile on LinkedIn

Related Presentations:

[slideshare id=699784&doc=linkedin-presentation-red-1225231144081339-8&w=425]

Following Up

“Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting…What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?” Anthony Robbins

In my previous post I spoke about the power of the business card. The truth of the matter is a business card  essentially gives you the ability to get the business card of another individual. There is much however that needs to translate this exchange and convert this link into a source of business or referrals for your business or yourself. I have known many power networkers who have a great ability to work an entire room and possibly get everyone’s business card. However most of them usually spend very little time with the person to find out more about them, and following up becomes a challenging task. When networking take time to find out more about the person. Be it their goals, aspirations, business or just  whatever they are willing to talk about and something you can bring when following up with them. This helps creates a better first impression and a stronger bond to assist in following up with the person.

Listed below are a couple of tips I hope can improve your follow up process:

1. 48 Hour Rule: Whenever I meet someone for the first time and we exchange information, I make sure that I follow it up with an email or call within 48 hours. If I do not send it out within this time frame, chances are that I will forget about the individual and reconnecting later is much more challenging compared to when both sides still remember the occasion they met at. I usually send an email to the individual as soon as I enter it into my personal database.

2. Context: It is important that whenever you are following up with a new contact that there is a specific context. If I shoot off an email which simply said “It was great meeting at the networking event, lets keep in touch.” chances are slim this person would be more than just another name in your rolodex. During the event or right after the event right a small note on either the name card or on your phone regarding the individual and something specific which you spoke about which you can follow up regarding. This adds a lot more weight to your email and increases the chances of possibly getting some business or referrals from the individual.

3. Rolodex Dipping: I got this tip from Christine Comaford and it has really improved my ability to leverage my network more effectively. Rolodex dipping is simply the act of randomly picking up someone from your Rolodex which you may not have contacted for a while and re-connect with them. It could be an informal email or call where I inquire about them or their business. I do this activity 3 times a week and it has kept my connection to long lost clients, partners, colleagues and friends alive. I would highly recommend integrating this activity in your weekly schedule.

Following up is a critical aspect of effective networking. Through these activities I have been able to sustain and grow my personal and professional networks while maintaining a strong foundation. It is only through the process of consistent following up can we convert a contact into someone a lot more valuable. Even though this is a very simple and straight forward process many people have not developed the discipline to methodically follow-up, this impact’s their business development activities .