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