The Cash to Cash CyclePart Four of Series Next: Complete Cash to Cash Cycle The white flag is just a nose awaytoward the Million dollar prize in cash savings for your business So far, in Inventory and Accounts Receivable, we’ve found $250,000 each in cash savings. Then we found another 250K in Sales and Marketing. And so, now, Accounts Payable is the final process within the Cash to cash Cycle – and also the final $250,000. The cash cycle is undoubtedly the single most important process to optimize for any business from when you spend money to when you get money. Circling the Cash...

Before you start your own business one of the first things you need to do is draw up your business plan. This is your blueprint for success. Your business plan states the purpose of your business. It never ceases to amaze me that so few businesses have any type of written business plan. Because without one, you have very little, if any, chance of success. The day-to-day details and problems of running a business will often take your mind away from the prime thrust of your business. This can and should in most cases be eliminated by regularly reviewing your business plan. Here is what your business...

What would happen if the personal assistants in your organisation were away for a week? How would it affect the running of your business or department? How would it affect youpersonally? If you are fortunate to have a personal assistant whom you heavily rely on to assist you, in most instances you would find yourself run ragged if they were absent for longer than a day. This week I spoke with two clients who were in the situation where their p.a.’s had been on holiday and these clients’ lives were super-stressed as a result. Although they had other people in their organisation helping...

The concept of knowledge management or knowledge sharing makes intellectual sense to the leadership teams in most organisations. Why wouldn’t we want to learn from our successes and failures, and translate that learning into value? However, there is often a gap between the conceptual understanding, and their own behaviours as leaders – and that can be a problem?How do you engage leaders both intellectually and emotionally, in a way which will make a difference to their day-to-day behaviours? It requires more than a set of competency frameworks! The examples below are taken from the...

Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days? Here are a few reasons why: They have a boring job therefore they feel they are not achieving anything. They have no leader to follow. They feel unappreciated. They work long hours and want a life. They are not paid what they are worth. The above reasons are not taken from any figures or facts stated in publications and general media. This is what the people themselves tell me. They are the words from the coal face, real peoplemanagers, personal assistants, administrative staff, sales people; regular run-of-the mill people. It doesn’t...

So, you survived the downsizing. Your company did something that will probably show minimal, if any, return — and will make your job as a manager a living hell. Your life has changed dramatically. People on your staff are frightened, fearful that they may be next to go. They will lie low hoping that they can be spared the next swing of the ax. (You may be feeling the same thing as well.) Teamwork will decrease as people begin to view the person next to them as a threat to that increasingly scarce resource — a job. At the same time, you will be encouraged to build a strong work unit...