Before you negotiate, determine how the supplier established the price. Nine percent of chief executives admit that they use guesswork to price products. Others base their prices on costs or to match the competition. Fifty percent say they charge what the market will bear. These figures are the result of a survey conducted by INC. magazine and reported in the current issue. Read more
Whenever I get a call from a company executive who wants to cut operating expenses without laying off any people, I can suggest more than a dozen areas. One of the most obvious is lighting. Everyone's got it, but most people don't use it efficiently. Read more
Have you structured your business and created a personal image to maximize the credit your business should receive? To maximize your lines of credit, analyze your operations and your relationships with the financial community. Read more
Like most business owners, you probably have invested a considerable amount of time, effort, and energy in your business. A great portion of your net worth may be tied up in your business. Fixing an accurate value to your closely held business is essential, especially if you are considering any of the following:
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A successful chief executive bridges the gap between sales and credit. The sales staff focuses on product specification, quality, size, price, packaging and competitor's price. Sales people, whose
income generally depends upon a sale, fear rejection and resist discussing credit terms. Read more
Your business plan is working and your company is growing. Now you realize that the second most important ingredient to fueling growth is raising capital. Read more
Internal controls are established to guard against losses resulting from employees' oversights and fraud. When an entrepreneur starts his business, he/she performs most, if not all of the tasks necessary to generate sales and operate the company. Very often, he is aided by a family member or a good friend who devotes time and energy as a courtesy. As an entrepreneur, you now come to the realization that it is impossible to handle all tasks, duties and functions including performing the work, developing and selling the product or service, managing the business and handling daily administrative and support tasks. Read more
If your business is suffering from insufficient operating profit, this will affect your asking price. Reevaluate the business to find the reasons for the lack of profit. You will need to look at many potential problem areas. Read more
A primary inhibitor of business start-up is that few people have the financial cushion to give up a job for the uncertain income of a start-up venture. Here we discuss ways to stretch startup funds, and how to deal with the stresses of the financial risks involved. Read more
One third of small business bankruptsies are directly related to employee fraud. In Bellevue, WA a bookkeeper stole 4.6 million dollars from her employer. MORE
