Many believe businesses fail due to poor sales. While revenue is crucial, it’s not the real culprit behind most business failures. The #1 reason businesses fail is cash flow mismanagement. I’ve seen it time and again—businesses with strong sales, expanding customer bases, and solid teams teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Why? Because they lack …
The #1 Reason Why Businesses Fail: It’s Not What You Think Read More »
As the year winds down, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are at a pivotal crossroads: it’s time to finish strong while setting the stage for even greater success in 2025. This is your opportunity to assess whether your financial performance hit your goals, tackle any remaining obstacles, and lay out a bold strategy for the …
Your Year-End Financial Checklist: Closing Strong and Planning for 2025 Read More »
I love the saying, “If you water it, it grows. If you ignore it, it dies.” This principle applies to running a business—especially when it comes to managing cash flow. As a fractional CFO, I often remind clients that cash flow is the lifeblood of their business; it needs regular, focused attention to thrive. Recently, …
If You Water it, It Grows: Cash Flow Management for Small Businesses Read More »
I had a conversation the other day with a small group of venture capitalists and seed fund investors. I love talking with these types of people – they are so passionate and have super creative business ideas. When I shared my Fractional CFO services framework and approach to helping smaller growing companies, I also was …
You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 concept (also known as the Pareto Principle), where 20% of whatever you are considering (i.e. workers, technology, inventory) is responsible for 80% of the results (productivity, sales, and profit.) The fourth quarter of the year is budget season and a great time to take a closer look at your …
Budget Time: Use the 80/20 Framework to Keep Costs in Line Read More »
If anything highlights the importance of maximizing cash flow and reducing the cost of leverage, it is the surge in interest rates: from 3.75% in December 2021 to 7.5% at the close of 2022. As we embark on this new year, all small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need to set targets for improvement – the …
Business owners face many challenges today – cash flow being one of the most challenging. Attracting and retaining top talent, marketing strategy and establishing a strong brand, business growth, time management and delegation, and communication are also on owners’ minds. But from a financial perspective, cash flow is often the biggest problem owners face today. …
I did a cash flow exercise the other day with a new client, and they were blown away by the simplicity of some cash flow enhancement techniques. The company was a $6,000,000 manufacturer with approximately $600,000 in accounts receivable, $1,000,000 in inventory, and $300,000 in accounts payable. We calculated simple annual cash flow velocity (amount …
CEOs and business owners are under a tremendous amount of stress these days. Even if the business is profitable and has decent cash flow, leaders face uncertainties such as supply chain issues, inflation, difficulty finding staff, the potential of rising interest rates, the pressure of the board of directors to perform better and corporate taxes. …
How CEOs can Transform Financial Stress into Success Read More »
I work with many bankers and lawyers who call me when they have a customer or client whose company balance sheet shows they need help improving their business. The initial assessment takes about a week. We review the companies’ internal controls and backroom systems. Then we look at the historical financial statements, the current forecast, …