They want you to help them solve their problems. For example, if your marketing plan calls for a half-page Yellow Pages advertisement plus an ongoing monthly outbound direct-mail campaign, keep track of the return you get for the dollars you invest in this marketing. You ll usually be able to reuse the financial formulas, spreadsheets, management biographies, and other more or less evergreen contents of your plan. It is to hit the goals and project milestones.
Use phone interviews for quick pre-qualification
Your
mission statement should
be inspirational. Ask
your employees: 'What's
our company vision? Remember,
time is of
the essence to venture capitalists and other investors. Unsuccessful
people are usually
too busy to hold meetings.
Looking for equity-building ventures
In
this information era,
there is no need to guess. A
commercial mortgage broker
might hold industry forums twice a year with speakers presenting on the economy and industry trends. A
sales manager can
redirect the activities of salespeople immediately, and an accounting manager can make immediate changes in bookkeeping practices. When
you first started
your business, you didn't have any customers.
Produce consistent results in Human Resource Management
How
much do you
want to have saved to pay for your children's educational costs? Operational,
administration, and production
excellence starts with complete systems to ensure on-budget projects, excellent service, quality workmanship, on-time completion, and a safe workplace. Know
your equity or
net worth (the actual value of your company), not including any extra or intrinsic value for good will or what you could sell your company for on the open market. What
could you do
to reinforce your customer relationships?
Quiz executives whose jobs are watching the big picture
Interest
is the amount
paid for the use of capital. Push
strategies are most
effective when an item is an impulse purchase, brand loyalty is low, or when consumers already understand a product's benefits. When
accountable and responsible
people achieve great results, they need to be thanked and rewarded. Ask
questions and learn.
Write it once
Rather,
smart financial management
is about taking a hard look at where you are, figuring out where you want to go, and making sure that you're prepared for occasional adverse conditions along the way ' a process, incidentally, that isn't unlike what you'll be doing when you run your own business. Your
team members need
to know where they stand in order to meet your goals and expectations. As
a small-business owner,
you have to be more selective. They
figure if they
are nice, that should get customers to buy.