Business Growth Radio - Solutions on Demand eastman

This is an unconventional article on a conventional topic - getting loans. Without knowing your business situation I will assume using cash instead of borrowing is an option. Here was my first lesson in small business finance - cash is your rarest resource and only use it to (1) buy an appreciating asset (building) or (2) something that generates revenue (new equipment). Otherwise do you need it? If the answer is yes, look at your financing options.

Podcast Topics;
Cash is a rare resourceType of incorporation determine the type of loansPurpose for getting a loanLeasing as an optionImpact on and by credit ratingAlternative financingNext podcast

Part 5 of the Finance Series focuses on three options:

Payment Processing

Factoring

Simple Borrowing

One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients and read about on online landscape forums is getting paid on time. This creates serious problems that negatively affect:

Meeting payroll.

Hiring new employees and not add pressure to existing staff.

Cash or credit to service sales - purchasing materials and supplies.
Funding marketing and gaining new customers.
Regardless of what options you choose for cash flow improvement or business funding, the one thing that remains critical is repayment of the money within the terms and conditions plus using prudent financial controls within your business.

Have questions about business financing or how to manage your ‘cash-flow’ like a pro? Reach out to GreenMark Consulting Group at www.greenmarkgroup.com or info@greenmarkgroup.com. Steven Cohen is President of The GreenMark Consulting Group and has been a successful entrepreneur for over 4 decades building profitable landscape companies.

The last Green Industry Pros podcast (GIP14) covered Accounting & Invoicing with a reference to ABC or Activity Based Costing. Putting together an effective budget doesn’t require ABC but sure helps. We start this discussion with the types of budgets available to a landscape business owner and then focus on where to start. One last thought, a budget has two demands to be effective: accuracy and forecasting.

Types of Budgeting Systems.
Traditional: created for a period and uses the previous year as a starting point.Zero-based: every year starts from scratch. Last year provides insights but instead you start at zero.Flexible: ongoing adjustments based on sales forecasts and the impact on production projections.Rolling: it takes a year long view and at the end of every period (a month or quarter) it is dropped and a new month or quarter is added to maintain a 12 month budget.
Start with either the Traditional or Zero-based System, then as your competence and confidence increases move to Flexible and Rolling Budgets.

Now the question moves from the system to its use. This is a quick overview, and we choose the choices most appropriate for small landscape companies.

Your Options: Master budget, Operating budget, Financial budget, Cash budget, Labor budget, Capital budget, and Strategic. Our recommendation is to start with the operational budget and then add the cash budget.

 

In Article 1 we over viewed the documents you should receive monthly; whether provided by an accountant or from a software package. Article 2 focused on Staying Profitable. This article starts at the strategic level on the types of accounting and then moves to how to make it work for you.

There are 2 types of Accounting, Financial and Managerial. Financial Accounting is well known to most business owners. It meets the requirements of investors, creditors, and government taxing agencies. The standards for proper Financial Accounting in the United States are set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Financial Accounting is a legal requirement and you must play by its rules.

Managerial Accounting is not ruled by any standards except common sense. There are several models employed like ABC (Activity Based Costing) and are unique company to company. So what is it? It takes the same numbers and recasts it to track true costs by step, activity, product / service line, or customer. It provides you with the total cost of each step in a process.

At this point you should ask yourself - why do I need to know this? The why is your ability to answer the following questions:

Who are our most profitable customers?

What are our most profitable products (services)?

Are our products (services) correctly priced?

We are sure the following are universal rules for maximizing time at training, however if the people running the session are less than professional, the following will force theem to make it work your time.

Questions:
What is the major obstacle to your business being successful today?If you solve #1, what is the major obstacle to being successful in the future?How did the people develop the session materials? Test it? Up date it?What type of support can I expect after the session is over? (Both Free and Paid)
Bring:
copy of vision, mission, and value statementscopy of recognition & reward systemcopy of what is currently measuredcopy of back office support processescopy of human resource processescopy of marketing processescopy of sales processescopy of customer service processescopy of project management processes
This does not have to be extensive - one sheet per process will be sufficient. Here is our rationale: if you don't have these in place then the business is out of control, if its out of control profitability is almost impossible.

During our Boot Camp you will have the opportunity to build or modify core processes that will drive consistent performance.

 

Although this show is dedicated to landscape companies, these 4 cores are applicable to all businesses. The focus is on those landscape business owners planning to attend one of our upcoming Boot Camps in February.

4 CORES;
CORE 1: Guiding the BusinessCORE 2: Running the BusinessCORE 3: Getting the BusinessCORE 4: Doing the Business
Look for tomorrow show for to prepare for GreenMark Boot Camps.