Read more about the article Business Finance | The Big River | Chapter 4 – What happens if we need an outside investor?
The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

Business Finance | The Big River | Chapter 4 – What happens if we need an outside investor?

The Big River series
The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

John Wilson, CEO of Ace Business Stuff, was thinking about several of the issues that he discussed earlier that day with his controller, Tom Sampson, and what Tom told him:

“Giving our customers an additional 30 days to pay, relaxing collections and neglecting the sale of inventory already on hand, isn’t a very sound strategy.”

Instinctively, he knew that Tom was right and that whatever bank loan they could obtain, it wouldn’t be enough.

What if bank financing isn’t enough?

Ted Deepockets, his long-time friend, had periodically needled John about the pros and cons of outside investors. He always seemed like he’d be interested in investing if the opportunity was presented. (more…)

Continue ReadingBusiness Finance | The Big River | Chapter 4 – What happens if we need an outside investor?
Read more about the article Social Media | LinkedIn’s 100 Million Members ARE a big deal

Social Media | LinkedIn’s 100 Million Members ARE a big deal

Leverage the Business Power of LinkedIn

It happened again the other day. I was chatting with a client and in the course of our conversation about someone they said: “I checked him out on LinkedIn.”

LinkedIn has become the de facto “go to” resource for researching companies and most especially people to learn more about them. And, if you’re very interested, you can usually find someone in your LinkedIn network to chat with and “get the scoop.”

LinkedIn now has 100 million members

LinkedIn doesn’t get covered as much in the media as its more glamorous cousins, Facebook and Twitter, but it has grown steadily as a powerhouse in the business environment and now stands at 100M+ members, adding 1 new member a second!

Unlike Facebook, people don’t hang out on LinkedIn for hours, they get in and get out – usually with a specific business purpose in mind. The information you get isn’t about a new restaurant or cute kid stories; people actually share information that’s useful to other business professionals on LinkedIn and use it as a research and networking tool.

LinkedIn is a powerful business marketing channel

Since LinkedIn members are there for business reasons, it’s become a highly receptive marketing channel for you to leverage for a variety of business purposes, including Business Development and Brand Management.

Business Development gets a boost when you leverage the capabilities of LinkedIn. (more…)

Continue ReadingSocial Media | LinkedIn’s 100 Million Members ARE a big deal
Read more about the article Productivity Tip | Who doesn’t love a home-cooked meal?

Productivity Tip | Who doesn’t love a home-cooked meal?

A Weekly Personal Productivity series to help you get more done!

Every Thursday, I’m sharing a new Personal Productivity Tip to help you get more done. Each Productivity Tip is a remarkably simple tool or concept that can be quickly implemented to make a real difference in your personal productivity. When you apply many of them together, they’ll make a big difference in improving productivity, achieving accountability and staying focused on the things that matter the most in your life.

You may want to check out some of the posts in this Productivity series, including the the value of checklists; the importance of getting rid of the crappy stuff; the nightmare of the cluttered mind; and that feeling of being buried all the time. You can also leverage your resources and apply the lessons of the ARCI chart and the S.M.A.R.T. goals to boost the accountability of your entire organization. One more thing. When in doubt, write it down.

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It’s hard to beat a home-cooked meal!

Is there something more delectable than sitting down to a home-cooked meal … fresh, hot with flavors wafting through the air?

Some of you may be chefs who prefer to cook it yourself, but I suspect that the vast majority of us savor a meal where our only job is to sit down to enjoy it.

Maybe we’ve exerted a little energy to open the Cabernet to go with it, but not much more.

That’s the same feeling we need to create when we sit down to contemplate our Action Dashboard to begin the day.

Ready to Savor (it’s all actionable). Fresh (it’s all up-to-date). Hot (it’s ready to eat as soon as you sit down).

The Weekly Review is where all chopping, cutting, food prep gets done

Even if you don’t love to cook, you’ll still need to help with the food prep that takes place in the Weekly Review. That’s where all the chopping, cutting, shaving … preparation gets done so the meal can be enjoyed. To create a powerful personal productivity system, (more…)

Continue ReadingProductivity Tip | Who doesn’t love a home-cooked meal?
Read more about the article Business Finance | The Big River | Chapter 3 – What if our loan collateral doesn’t cut it?
The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

Business Finance | The Big River | Chapter 3 – What if our loan collateral doesn’t cut it?

The Big River series
The Big River series is a 12 part installment about a company desperately seeking cash to fuel their growth and the struggles they face trying to find it.

Tom Sampson, the controller for Ace Business Stuff, was in his office considering how to explain to John Wilson, the Company’s CEO, the issues related to the Company’s borrowing capacity and the weaknesses in the Company’s Balance Sheet.

Tom pulled together several schedules for his meeting with his CEO that afternoon, but was still struggling with how to get across some of the subtleties that he knew John would want to understand.

Tom knew that his CEO was absolutely committed to the Company’s success, although he became very frustrated when his convictions about future performance collided with the bank’s concerns about current performance.

What factors will the bank consider?

Tom knew that the bank considered many factors when judging an asset-based loan.

Having enough collateral to support the Company’s borrowing request was only part of it.

How do they measure the strength of the collateral?

One key ingredient is the quality of the collateral. (more…)

Continue ReadingBusiness Finance | The Big River | Chapter 3 – What if our loan collateral doesn’t cut it?