Business Management

Let’s reduce Stress in our Business

Being an entrepreneur can be hazardous to your health. Many small business owners believe that the stress of running their business has damaged their health.

This is not surprising when you consider that entrepreneurs work longer hours than almost anybody else. Two thirds of small business owners work more than 40 hours a week.

To make matters worse, most entrepreneurs find it difficult to take time for much-needed rest and relaxation. More than half are afraid to take even a full week of vacation, often because they're afraid to trust staff to continue good service for customers.

Fortunately, there are ways that entrepreneurs can reduce their stress levels and recover both their health and sanity:

1. Learn to Say "No"

When you commit to 10 percent more than you can actually accomplish, it "feels" like you've got 50 percent more, thereby creating even more stress. By not taking on more of a workload that you can reasonably carry, you create more time for meaningful activity and therefore less stress.

2. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Taking on more than your fair share of the responsibility for getting things done leads to fear of things "falling apart" when you take a day off. Giving more responsibility to your employees and contractors--and trusting that they'll get the job done--can take a huge weight of stress off your shoulders.

3. Don’t procrastinate and postpone decision making. 

Difficult decisions are not made easier because you postpone them. At times conditions may worsen if issues are not resolved.

4. Stay Fit. 

Learn to relax, stretch and find some quiet time to ward off anxiety. Find the time to exercise regularly; being in shape helps deflect stress. A well balanced diet also improves fitness levels. Finally, get enough sleep to allow the body to restore itself. Deadlines may be more flexible than you think.

These suggestions won’t eliminate all of the stress in your business but you may find they help keep stress at a manageable level. Please let me have your comments. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Improve Business Through Networking

As an entrepreneur, the benefits of networking are critical to your personal growth and business development.

Small business is all about networking, building relationships and taking action. By surrounding yourself with people who share a similar drive and ambition, you are more likely to move forward as a group.

But that’s not the only benefit of networking. Here are five benefits of networking you and your small business can enjoy.

1. Shared Knowledge

Networking is great for sharing ideas and knowledge. Whether it’s asking for feedback or discussing your point of view, it will help you expand your knowledge and allow you to see things from another perspective.

It is also likely that within a group there will be those who have already been where you are today. This provides you with an opportunity to learn and avoid some of the common pitfalls they experienced.

 2. Opportunities

It’s natural that networking will result in opportunities.  Whether it’s a referral, offer partnership or request for your service or product, it is important to be ready to seize opportunities when they come along.

3. Connections

Remember you are not just gaining exposure to the people in the room, you are building connections with their network too. If someone they know has a need that matches your business, if you have made an impression, you will likely get a referral.

And remember it’s not just a one-way street. If someone in your network matches a business you encounter at an event, don’t hesitate to share their details. It will only strengthen your relationship.

4. Increased confidence

By regularly networking, and pushing yourself to talk to people you don’t know, it will help increase your confidence. This is an important attribute as a business owner, because your business growth is dependent on talking to people and making connections.

5. Raising your profile

Being visible and getting noticed is a big benefit of networking. By regularly attending business and social events, people will begin to recognise you. This can you help to build your reputation as a knowledgeable, reliable and supportive person by offering useful information or tips to people who need it. You are also more likely to get more leads and referrals as you will be the one that pops into their head when they need what you offer.

I hope these potential benefits of network help expand you opportunities.

Please let me know your thoughts. Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Managing Change

We face change all the time, driven both by internal or external influences. Growth, innovation, redundancy, outsourcing, relocation, diversification and competition all can force change in a business.
In is important to make the necessary changes before they are forced upon you – minimising change that can impact on profitability and maximising change that creates opportunities.

Most people, in particular employees, are uncomfortable with change because it interferes with their routine and exposes them to the unfamiliar. No set of methodologies firs every company but here are some thoughts for consideration.

Drive Change
It’s better to drive change than let change control your business. It’s also important to identify any need for change early on. Think ahead to where your business needs to be in one, three and five years’ time. What do you need to do to get there?

Prioritize
Decide which changes are most important and focus on the changes with the biggest potential benefits – not the easiest ones to implement.
Aim for continual smaller changes rather than a few large ones. Large changes are harder to digest and can interfere with one another, while small-scale changes are easier to manage.

Start at the Top
Because change is inherently unsettling for people at all levels of an organization, when it is on the horizon, all eyes will turn to the CEO and the leadership team for strength, support, and direction. The leaders themselves must embrace the new approaches first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution.

Communicate
Whatever the area of change, you will need the co-operation of your employees. However, resistance from employees is often the biggest stumbling block to successful.  The key to managing change successfully is to keep staff informed. Start communicating the change as early as possible, so people have time to come to terms with it.



Even small changes can backfire if they’re not handled sensitively. Consult with those affected before implementing any changes. Those involved may be able to suggest alternatives that deliver the same results more effectively or more efficiently.

Remember Life in Business is about change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.

I hope these thoughts are of value as you move your organization ahead through change.

Please let me know your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Incentives for Key Managers

As the year ends and goals are set for the new year there may be a key role for incentives in managing and retaining key executives for the company. Rewards and incentives in the workplace have benefits for both employees and employers
Here are some reasons for and examples of how to structure effective incentive programs for the management group.


1. Monetary Incentives
Monetary incentives reward workers for performance and productivity through money. These incentives include employee stock options, profit sharing plans, paid time off, bonuses and cash awards.

2. Non-Monetary Opportunities
Non-monetary incentives reward employee performance through perks and opportunities. These rewards can include flexible work hours, training opportunities and the ability to work independently. The rewards and incentives are valuable to an employee because they may allow workers to learn new skills and pursue advancement opportunities.

3. Turnover. 
You want to retain key management personnel for a number of reasons. High turnover destabilizes the company and can have severe effects on moral of employees and the bottom line.

4. Enhance Growth.
You want to retain high performing managers to enhance your own company’s growth potential and to keep key people from wanting to look at other opportunities.

5. Setting the Bar
Good managers don’t expect a bonus without achievement but don’t set the bar so high as to be unachievable. That becomes a disincentive to achieve growth.

6. Improve Profits.
Set goals that help improve your bottom line; just achieving new sales records is not a priority if the costs exceed the benefit. Sales executives should be just as concerned about profitable sales as the CFO.

7. Share.
Pay executives for overachieving by sharing profits. As profits goals are exceeded rewards can continue to be major incentives if shared fairly. Reward contribution. Roll plans forward and allow incremental bonuses for achievements in consecutive years. That’s a great way to keep a key person from leaving; that extra bonus for additional achievement may be too juicy to walk away from.
Incentives are important tool to maintain a motivated and dedicated management team and a well-designed plan can bear fruit over the long term. 

I trust these suggestions may help with goal setting in the new year. Please let me have your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroumc.com
   

Business Management

Maintain the Leading Edge

Long-term business success involves creating, managing and exploiting assets and skills that competitors find difficult to match or counter. Developing this advantage is a continuing process, not a fixed event. Here are tips to help you develop competitive advantage and build barriers to entry.



1. Leadership
The top management team leading your company must develop a vision for the organization; obtain employee commitment to achieving that vision; and build effective relationships with key stakeholders (e.g., partners, customers and suppliers). At the same time, management must be a catalyst for change.

2. Leverage Core Competencies:  
One key to sustaining a competitive advantage is to develop a core set of competencies that customers want and that are difficult for others to imitate. These competencies can be exploited and leveraged to develop new products or to go after new markets. The ability to leverage core competencies across geographic and product business units helps firms to achieve economies of scale and scope.

3. Develop Customer Loyalty: 
Every business seeks satisfied customers who return again and again because they trust a company’s product or service. Their repeat business comes at a much lower cost to you than that of a customer who must be constantly enticed to continue buying or a new customer that takes time to cultivate and switch from a competitor.

4. Attract and Retain Key Staff
Companies must start by investing appropriately to recruit and select top-quality employees. Then they must invest in training and development to continuously build employee skills and develop a corporate culture that promotes loyalty, commitment and cohesion. Finally, employees must be rewarded for skill development. Staff turnover can be more expensive than rewarding existing key employees.

5. Protect Intellectual Property: 
Products, technologies, business methods, patents, trademarks, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property can significantly enhance a company's ability to secure and defend sources of marketplace advantage, even in times of rapid technological change. Intellectual property is a means of creating a proprietary, defensible market advantage.

6. Stay Flexible: 
Sustaining competitive advantage requires a continuous rethinking of current strategic actions, organization structure, communication systems, corporate culture, and asset deployment. In short, every aspect of a firm's operations must be examined frequently in order to maximize their long-term health. Strategic flexibility gives any firm the ability to respond quickly to changing conditions and thereby develop and/or maintain a significant competitive advantage.

I hope these ideas help maintain that competitive edge that is key to continued growth of the business. Please share your thoughts: gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Issues Facing Small Business Today

2019 is in the history books and in spite of an improving economy there are many continuing issues facing business today.
Here are a few that as owners you may wish to address as you strive to grow your business.







1. Cash
Cash is hard to get and there is never enough. If you are a fast growth company you can rapidly outgrow your available sources, if you are an underperforming company you can’t get it. Many companies don’t manage it well.
Businesses often experience some problems getting paid on time by their customers and with debt recovery. Good credit control helps to prevent this becoming a serious problem.

2. Lack of a Clear Plan
Most businesses don’t know how to plan. Lack of a plan worsens the cash problem by wasting cash chasing tempting diversions, and throwing money at problems. Equally important is revising your plan according to changing economic and business conditions and to ensure your survival in weaker economies.

3. Technology
The pace of technological improvement is running at an exponentially increasing rate. This pace makes capital investment in technology as much an asset as a handicap because a competitor may wait for the next-generation technology, and then use it to achieve an advantage. The ability for even the best of technologists to stay informed about emerging technology is in conflict with the need to master a company’s current technology. The problem to be solved is to develop a long-term technology strategy while remaining flexible enough to take advantage of unforeseen technology developments.

4. High Overhead
Overheads are one of the biggest small business challenges, and excessive overheads have driven many otherwise good companies to the wall. Resolving them involves paying close attention to what customers actually want and providing products or services sharply tailored to suit. And don’t forget to ask yourself hard questions, such as whether you need that new car or printer, or whether it’s just for show…

5. Ineffective Leadership 
This issue takes many forms and is frequently in the form of depth of leadership. The founder of the company is too much hands-on and a) does not concentrate enough on his primary role as a leader rather than a manager; and b) fails to enlist support of competent managers and staff either through recruitment or by outsourcing. This eventually causes the company to stop growing and even leads to failure.

I trust these ideas provide thoughts to resolving some issues faced daily by many businesses as they strive to develop and grow.
Please share your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Benefits of Mentoring

As a business grows owners may be in a position of managing more and more areas of the business that they are less familiar with. The owner’s original background may be manufacturing but now oversees finance, sales and HR issues.

An experienced business advisor may help develop these skills and improve decision making as the business grows.





Here are a few examples of the benefits of mentoring:

1. Expert Advice
 Above all, business mentors have “been there, done that.” They can offer you expert advice and guidance based on actual experiences — successes and failures included.
The insight that business mentors can provide because of what they’ve been through with their business ventures, and over time, is tremendously valuable from a practical standpoint.

2. A Different Perspective
Consulting with a business mentor can be a great way to gain a different, fresh perspective. It’s easy to get caught up with your ideas to the point of questioning, confusion or second guessing – and having a sounding board in a business mentor is a great way to work through some of those kinks and broaden your own outlook.

3. Improving Key Skills
Mentors are not consultants who focus only on key business results. A mentor can help develop an owner’s business management skills, improve communication skills and facilitate further growth in the business.

4. Networking
With all that experience likely comes a vast network of industry connections. Your mentor can help open doors so you can meet people – potential partners, customers and decision-makers in your target market.

There are many other benefits, and if you’re just getting started down the path to business ownership – or have been there for some time – and are looking for some guidance, consider reaching out to a business mentor to help you along the way.
You’ve got nothing to lose – and a world of business insight to gain. I hope you find these ideas have merit. Please let me know. Gerry@polarisgrpoumc.com

Business Management

Improve Time Management

Time is one of the resources business managers have that is scarce, cannot be replaced once spent, and it cannot be borrowed or purchased. Here are a few tips to help manage it.






1. Prioritize Activity
To help you determine what needs to be done immediately and what can be tackled later, ask yourself: "How much time do I have to make this decision, contact this person, or complete this assignment?"

2. Delegate Tasks
It is common for all of us to take more tasks than our desired potential. This can often result in stress and burnout. Delegation is not running away from your responsibilities but is an important function of management. Learn the art of delegating work to your subordinates and get more achieved.

3. Calls and email
 Try not answering the phone every time it rings or reading an email just because it shows up. Few issues in business require an instant answer and you will be more efficient if you schedule time to return calls and email inquiries.

4. Overcome Procrastination
Procrastination is one of the things that badly affect productivity. It can result in wasting essential time and energy. It could be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Avoid procrastination at all cost.

5. Plan the unexpected 
It is inevitable that the unexpected will occur so leave open time in the morning and afternoon schedule to deal with “fires”.

6. Plan Strategic time 
Plan ahead for weekly, monthly, and quarterly business reviews. It is important to continuously review and understand the business issues and if you fail to block off time some emergency may pre-empt the time and your plan will be postponed or eliminated.
 
7. Downtime 
Casual time over lunch can be useful for strengthening relations with employees, customers and suppliers. Use that time judiciously.


Remember that it is difficult to get everything done and best results are achieved from those priority activities that are the focus of the business and future growth.
Thanks for allowing me to share your time with these tips. Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Make Better Business Decisions

Every business owner has to make tough decisions with uncertain outcomes. That is the nature of the job. Making a decision is one of the most powerful acts for inspiring confidence in leaders and managers. Yet many bosses are sometimes squeamish about it. Some decide not to decide, while others simply procrastinate. Either way, it's a cop-out -- and doesn't exactly encourage inspiration in the ranks.

Learn how to make better decisions. You'll be viewed as a better leader and get better results overall. Here are some tips for making quicker, more calculated decisions:

1. Stop seeking perfection. 
Many great leaders would prefer a project or report be delivered only 80% complete a few hours early than 100% complete five minutes late. Moral of the story: Don't wait for everything to be perfect. Instead of seeking the impossible, efficient decision makers tend to act without all the answers.

2. Create a constructive environment. 
For successful decision making, make sure you establish an objective, involve  stakeholders, hear others opinions, and ask the right questions.

3. Expect the Unexpected
No matter how much analysis and planning you do, you cannot predict the future. Things happen so your plans should be flexible enough that you can adapt to the unexpected, without throwing everything off course.

4. Seek out help when you get in over your head.
If you think you know everything, you are doomed to fail. If you don’t have the time or resources to delve into a particular issue, or don’t have the technical background, or just want a second opinion, then by all means bring in outside experts to help you.

5. Don't problem solve, decide. 
A decision can solve a problem, but not every problem can be solved by making a decision. Instead, decision making often relies more on intuition than analysis. Deciding between vendors, for instance, requires examining historical data, references and prices. But the tipping point often rests with your gut. Which feels like the right choice?



6. Communicate Your Decision, and Move to Action. 
Once you've made your decision, it's important to explain it to those affected by it, and involved in implementing it. Talk about why you chose the alternative you did. The more information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people are to support the decision.


An organized and systematic decision-making process usually leads to better decisions. Without a well-defined process, you risk making decisions that are based on insufficient information and analysis. Many variables affect the final impact of your decision.
I hope these few ideas help improve your approach to decision making in your business. Please let me know your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Conserve cash – Improve profits

As an entrepreneur, one of the key factors that keep a business running is liquid cash or operating capital. When a business has cash flow it will always be in a position to pay suppliers, meet payroll and pay for other expenses.

However, many owners go without cash inflow into the business. The main reason why businesses get into this position is due to a lack of ways to conserve cash.

Conserving cash is not always easy. If you think so, then tell us why many entrepreneurs fail? Can a business increase cash flow and maximize profits at the same time? Yes, here are key steps for doing so.

1. Spend wisely
Make sure that purchases are made for need to have not nice to have items. Items should have  a good use in the business producing revenue where possible.

2. Hire only when necessary
Employee salaries are a significant cash drain so efforts to maximize productivity from current employees are paramount.

3. Lease equipment or buy used
Leasing vs buying can be an important option since equipment purchasing can be a serious cash drain. If an option exists to buy gently used equipment it may be a profitable option.

4. Plan ahead
Make sure you forecast financial activity. A plan outlining expected revenues and expenditures is vital to understanding cash needs. You certainly want no surprises on cash flow activity.

5. Renegotiate leases
Rent is often a sizeable fixed cost that can be negotiated. Speak with your landlord; there may be an opportunity to downsize or even temporarily obtain rent reductions. Landlords often prefer to accept lower income than losing tenants.

6. Go to the clouds
If your business is large enough to have in-house servers you are aware of the maintenance costs. If business is increasing this may be a cost effective way to create additional capacity without buying expensive new servers.

7. Exchange Goods and Services
Look for vendors who are also in need of certain products and supply the products to them in exchange of products that you lack to run your business smoothly. By exchanging products for other products( barter trade), it means that you will be able to conserve cash in the business.
Business owners should share their cash flow objectives with other key managers to ensure every opportunity to maximize cash savings is realized.
I hope there few ideas provide new thoughts on ways to improve profits for your business. Let me know what you think. Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Business Ethics

One of the more important attributes for small business success is managing with carefully developed principles of high ethical standards. When practiced throughout the organization it becomes part of the image of the company and can be an important factor in overall success and how the community views the business.




The following principles incorporate the characteristics and values that most people associate with ethical behavior.

1. HONESTY. 
Ethical executives are honest and truthful in all their dealings and they do not deliberately mislead or deceive others by misrepresentations, overstatements, partial truths, or any other means.

2.  INTEGRITY. 
Ethical executives demonstrate personal integrity and the courage of their convictions by doing what they think is right even when there is great pressure to do otherwise.

3. LOYALTY. 
Ethical executives are worthy of trust, demonstrate loyalty to persons and institutions by friendship in adversity, support and devotion to duty; they do not use or disclose information learned in confidence for personal advantage.

4. FAIRNESS. 
Ethical executives and fair and just in all dealings; they do not exercise power arbitrarily, and do not use overreaching nor indecent means to gain any advantage nor take advantage of another’s mistakes or difficulties.

5. LEADERSHIP. 
Ethical executives are conscious of the responsibilities of their position of leadership and seek to be positive ethical role models by their own conduct and by helping to create an environment in which principled reasoning and ethical decision making are highly valued.

Certainly there are many other attributes that may be considered. I hope these few examples serve as suggestions for how your business might be governed.
Please let me know your thoughts: gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Do you communicate well in business?

Communication is at the core of all our relationships, both business and personal. Business communication needs to keep pace with the warp speed digital communication that bombards us with messages we often did not ask for and are irrelevant to our business activity.

Effective communication is a vital tool for any business owner. Your success at getting your point across can be the difference between sealing a deal and missing out on a potential opportunity.

Communication is also important within the business. Effective communication can help to foster a good working relationship between you and your staff, which can in turn improve morale and efficiency.

Here are some suggestions for consideration:

1. Listen
It's one thing to ask good questions - it's another to really take on board the answers. Active listening means paying attention to the speaker – both to verbal and non-verbal cues. It is vital to make sure you don't let your attention wander. Important pieces of information can be missed if you are not alert and engaged. This can lead to misunderstandings later on, or possibly embarrassing situations where you appear to have forgotten something you have been told.

2. Non-verbal Communication
Body language can back up the words you use and how you say those words, but can also betray your true feelings if you are uncomfortable in a conversation. Looking people in the eye when talking to them is a good way to let them know you are listening to them and interested in what they have to say. Eye contact can also convey sincerity and confidence, which is often important in business situations.

3. Respect Cultural differences
The world is shrinking. Companies not only hire foreign employees, but they also work with more colleagues abroad. As a result, management needs to be culturally sensitive and aware of the subtle differences in the way people of different nationalities interpret words and gestures.

4. Trust your staff
When employees feel as though they have control over their job, they feel a sense of purpose and are more invested in the entire process. Autonomy breeds innovation and job satisfaction. Babysitting, on the other hand, makes employees feel as though the company doesn't consider them competent enough to do their job. They feel insecure and unmotivated. Provide your workers with the tools they need to get their job done, and then give them the freedom to do it.

Communication effectiveness can have dramatic effects on employee morale and productivity. Always work towards maintaining high standards and rewards will be there.

Please let me know your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

When to Exit – Some thoughts

One of the more interesting and challenging questions as a business owner is “when should I be thinking about exiting this business? There are many factors to be considered but here are a few thoughts.

1. Business Health
Is the business operated from strong principles of strategy with a clear vision? Can that vision be expressed and understood by those who manage the business or potential buyers? If you the owner cannot clearly state the purpose or reasons that you exist don’t expect new owners to invent it for you.

2. Maximize return
In cases where management/ownership is dominated by a single individual it is important to maintain a high degree of confidentiality so that employees do not become insecure and unsure of the stability of the company or their jobs. This instability can easily be communicated to a potential new buyer and create a poor impression.

3. Need change?
Factors that may support your decision to leave can grow out of many conditions. The most common is an age derivative. A long career leading to a desire for more personal time; reap the rewards of your career. Age may not be the prime driver but longevity at the job could be creating burn out. Time to move on.
Another good time chosen is driven by a need for change. You may feel you have achieved all that can be achieved and you wish to quit while on top of the game. This may also provide a high rate of return if the business is at a high level of performance. Selling now may produce the equity needed to finance a new opportunity.

4. Exit from strength
Look for opportunities to exit from positions of strength. A well trained and competent management group may provide the opportunity to offer management buyout.  Managers may be able to pool resources to fund the buyout, you as owner may offer to finance all or part of the buyout or there may be an option to use company assets to finance the loans needed for the buyout. This is often referred to as a LMBO – Leveraged Management Buy Out. It also provides good opportunities for maintaining stability in the organization.

5. The market
The marketplace may facilitate determining the right time to exit. Poor economic conditions or competitive activity can have a huge impact on if or when you should exit. Positive conditions too might bring a competitor to the door with a buyout offer.

So the options are many but not always easy to sort through. Timing is critical, business life changes, choose wisely. These are my thoughts, care to share yours? gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Common Cash Flow Problems Faced by Small Business

Cash Flow is an essential ingredient to the survival of your small business. It is the flow of money in and out of your business, and the quantity as well as timing of that flow is critical to the continued operation of your business.

Cash helps your business purchase material it needs for production and services thereby helping your business to generate more cash for its operation. If customers are slow to pay or your pricing structure does not adequately cover the cost of production, your business will not have enough cash to continue operation. Even if your business is turning in a profit, you can still be forced to close if your business runs out of cash.

Here are a few common problems to watch for:

1. Manage your receivables
Try to turn your receivables quickly without antagonizing customers. Advise key customers what you’re up against, and arrange more favorable terms if it will expedite payment. This will create cash that can be reinvested in the business.

2. Weakening Sales
Sales are the heart of your cash flow. The persistent lack of sales can affect how your cash is       coming in to your business and weaken liquidity.

3. Excess Inventories
Inventory greatly impacts cash flow, too much inventory is as dangerous as not enough, since money tied up in inventory can severely hamper a small company’s cash flow.

4. Manage Staffing
Ensure new employee hiring is necessary. Employee salaries are a significant cash drain so efforts to maximize productivity from current employees are paramount.

5. Protect working capital.
If cash is tight don’t pay for long term investments in equipment. It is better to use debt to finance these projects. Debt can be used to re-finance fixed assets to free up capital.

These are just a few suggestions to improve that most vital business tool – cash flow.
I hope you agree, please let me have your comments. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Are you stuck in a pressure cooker?

In need of tips to reduce the stress you are under? 

You may want to consider some of the following options in order to lessen the impact or negative effects on your business operations:
- Know your body signals: excessive heart rates, headaches, anxiety may be signals and suggest a need to find time to wind down.

- Don’t procrastinate and postpone decision making. Difficult decisions are not made easier because you postpone them. At times conditions may worsen if issues are not resolved.

- Take 10: Without really ducking a decision, stress can be relieved if you just take a short break or switch tasks for change of perspective.

- Stay fit. A program of regular exercise can help your body and mind deal with difficult situations that may arise from time to time. Try to maintain a healthy diet to support your overall health.

- Achieve balance between work and other family and personal activities. Enjoy time away from the job to let you recharge your batteries. Plan periodic vacations or days off. The organization is unlikely to collapse because the boss is away for a short time.

- Delegate:  No one has a monopoly on all of the good ideas and ways to resolve problems. Let staff participate as part of team that enjoys successes and faces difficulties on the job as well.

- Network: within and outside of the business to share ideas and issues with. Trust people to help with business issues. Working in isolation is rarely a good idea.

- Manage fairly: It’s nice to want and demand high standards but an obsession with perfection can destroy a business and the people that surround you.

- Monitor: Make sure key support people including those managing the finances keep you up to date. Since cash flow is a key marker make sure expenses are kept under control and systems to improve productivity are reviewed often. A well run business with good information flow is a key to stress reduction. Eliminate surprises.

These suggestions won’t eliminate all of the stress in your business but I find they help keep stress at a manageable level. Please let me have your comments.

Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Increase the Value of your business

Most businesses with under $1 million in revenue (which is most businesses) sell at a very small multiple of earnings when their owners decide it's time. Typically they get two or three times their pre-tax profit, if they're lucky. How can you get more juice out the company you've spent years developing?



Here are a few ideas that may help grow that important valuation.

1. Recurring revenue: 
Demonstrate that your customers come back to purchase regularly and you'll drive up the value of your business because buyers will have confidence your sales will continue long into the future.

2. Revenue growth rate: 
Acquirers will look at your top line revenue growth and project how large your business will grow in the future. Revenue growth rate may be even more important than profit growth for driving value. Buyers know how to squeeze margin to increase profitability but it is difficult to replicate the formula you have that makes someone want to buy your product.

3. Positive cash flow: 
If your company takes in money before it has to spend it, buyers will pay more for your business. Acquirers look at opportunities by measuring the return they'll get on the money they need to invest. If your company generates cash, they will not have to put much of their own into funding your day-to-day operations. The less cash they inject, the better the potential return on their investment.

4. Succession: 
You may want to consider firming up plans for a successor to your leadership position. Having a second-in-command will help you show the business can continue on successfully without you. If you can't afford an entire management team, at least find and groom your right hand person.

5. Differentiate:
You'll get a higher multiple for your business if your product or service is truly unique in the market. Acquirers will graft your product onto their distribution channels and estimate just how big your company could be in their hands. That only works if you have a truly different product or service.

I hope these few tips provide some insight into steps you may take to present a positive opportunity as you reach a stage where you may want to move on to newer challenges. Please let me know your thoughts:Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Planning

Business Planning for Success

Any road will get you there if you don’t know where you are going. Perhaps an updated business plan will help improve your opportunity for choosing the right options when you hit that fork in the road and help you achieve success.



Here are a few reasons to update your plan.

1. Cash Flow sensitivity.
Most business owners seem to focus on profits instead of cash. The reality is that businesses spend cash to operate, not profits. Understanding cash flow is critical. If you only get one report to manage the business make sure it is a cash flow chart.

2. To support growth and secure funding
Most businesses face investment decisions during the course of their lifetime. Often, these opportunities cannot be funded by free cash flows alone, and the business must seek external funding. However all prospective lenders will require access to the company’s recent Income Statements/Profit and Loss Statements, along with an up-to-date business plan. In essence the former helps investors understand the past, whereas the business plan helps give them a window on the future.

3. Operational focus
Successful business leaders know that a well-written business plan can provide day-to-day operational assistance. Organizations that stay focused on their business plan have a higher chance of success; when used as a road map, it can help business leaders stay focused on business growth, mission and goals.


4. To support a strategic exit
Finally, at some point, the owners of the firm may decide it is time to exit. Considering the likely exit strategy in advance can help inform and direct present day decisions. The aim is to liquidate the investment, so the owner/current investors have the option of cashing out when they want.
Common exit strategies include;
• Initial Public Offering of stock (IPO’s)
• Acquisition by competitors
• Mergers
• Family succession
• Management buy-outs

Investment decisions can be taken in the present with one eye on the future via a well-thought-out business plan. Given that valuing firms is notoriously difficult and subjective, a well-written plan will clearly highlight the opportunity for the incoming investors, the value of it and increase the likelihood of a successful exit by the current owner.



I hope these thoughts help as you drive your business forward to success. Let me know your thoughts. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Why not Hire the Best?

In many businesses the most important asset is the employees going through the doors every day. These individuals impact your business in many ways with their actions and decisions. As leader the owner controls one of the most important decisions for the organization and the hiring process can be critical to the overall success achieved.






Here are a few pointers to consider when hiring:

1. Develop a precise plan
Identify the key skills a candidate must have to succeed. Also define the important attitudes that enable the candidate to excel at the job. Stick to the plan.

2. Be diligent in selecting a candidate
A thorough interview process is important in choosing top candidates. This is particularly important with senior management positions. Take the time to test for qualifications; a vague, wandering conversation of informal questioning will at best be a hit and miss approach. Results will be equally inconsistent.

3. Share the Process
To improve results, involve others to gain a different perspective. Choose peers that the candidate would work with and perhaps even involve key customers if you enjoy their confidence. These contacts will bring additional insights into the personality and style of the candidate and add a point of view of the person’s ability to integrate into the organization.


The more perspectives you bring to the process the greater the chance of success in hiring great people in the organization.

I hope these few tips are of value as you grow your organization. Please let me know your thoughts. Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Managing Change In Your Business

Managing change in an organization is crucial if the business is to move forward with adapting any new structure or shift in business focus needed to realize its goals of growth and profit improvement.


Here are a few thoughts on areas management needs to focus on to implement and manage change in the organization.



1. Responsibility. 
Clearly management and communication of change rests at the senior levels of the organization. Employees have the responsibility to try and accept and help implement changes.

2. Involvement. 
Management should involve employees in the changes – it is never a good idea to just impose change from the top. Employees want to understand how they are impacted.

3. Understand.
Knowing where the organization is and understanding where you want to be at a specific time, why, and what steps are needed to achieve the goal are all critical steps.

4. Plan.
The organization must develop a plan that is achievable if management is going to be credible. The plan should set out stages for implementing change in phases that are not only achievable but measureable.

5. Communicate
This stage cannot be overly stressed. Clear communication of objectives, involvement of staff at the early stages, and empowering them will facilitate involvement and buy in for the company.

It is obvious to most business owners that people matter. Sometimes however the organization gets lost in plans and processes rather than facing the difficult and more important people issues. Making the initial steps to involve the entire organization starting at the top will help achieve success.

I’m always happy to hear your thoughts.
Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Critical Steps to Crisis Management

Unplanned events can have a devastating effect on small businesses. Crises such as fire, damage to stock, illness of key staff or IT system failure could all make it difficult or even impossible to carry out your normal day-to-day activities.
At worst, this could see you losing important customers - and even going out of business altogether.
But with good planning you can take steps to minimize the potential impact of a disaster - and ideally prevent it happening in the first place.

Here are a few ideas to consider:


1. Plan
It's essential to plan thoroughly to protect yourself from the impact of potential crises since you may lack the resources to cope easily in a crisis.
Failure to plan could be disastrous. At best you risk losing customers while you're getting your business back on its feet. At worst your business may never recover.


2.  Identify a spokesperson
If the crisis could potentially impact the health or well-being of customers, the general public or employees, it may attract media attention. To ensure your company speaks with one voice and delivers a clear consistent message, a spokesperson must be identified as well as prepared to answer media questions and participate in interviews.


3. Collaborate
While there is nothing more important than forming a strong bond with your employees and clients, don’t overlook others with whom you should forge a relationship. This includes the local police department, community centers, and educational institutions among others.


4. Continuity
You should draw up a business continuity plan setting out how you will cope if a crisis does occur.
 It should detail:
- the key business functions you need to get operating as quickly as possible and the resources you'll need to do so
- the roles of individuals in the emergency
Making the most of the first hour after an emergency occurs is essential in containing the impact. As a result, your plan needs to explain the immediate actions to be taken.

5. Communicate with customers and suppliers
You do not want customers and suppliers to learn about your crisis through the media. Information on any crisis pertaining to your organization should come from you first. Part of the crisis communications plan must include customers and suppliers and how they will be regularly updated during the event.


No matter what has happened in the past, you never know what the future holds. At some point, you are likely to face a crisis. How and when you deal with this will determine what direction your company takes. I hope these suggestions help. Please let me know your thoughts: Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com