Let's study turnarounds You might see this title and scratch your head, wondering why you'd want to read about turnarounds or business failures. It turns out there are incredibly valuable nuggets of wisdom in these stories. The foundation of any successfully run business is a strategy everyo...

How efficient are your labor costs? Let's look at a concept that can help both service-based businesses and product-based businesses with managing arguably their largest expense line. It's called the Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER). What is it? It's a simple but powerful metric used to measure t...

There’s a type of business (and owner personality) that I like to refer to as a GrowthCo (short for high growth company). We can learn a ton from these rare breeds. These businesses want rapid sales growth above all else, and they aren’t afraid to outspend their profits to achieve it. How do t...

Building a selling program Focus on sales every day. This oft-touted advice is cliché but imperative to business success. Read the first few chapters of Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson and you’ll get the urge to start selling. You should dedicate some level of effort to selling, every si...

1) The indirect method of cash reporting The indirect method of reporting cash flow is what you'll see most often. It's the standard format across QuickBooks, other financial software, and for publicly-traded companies. How it works There are 3 sections of cash flow Operating cash = profit ...

Let's talk metrics One challenge in managing finances is the overwhelming amount of numbers and metrics available to look at. Scoreboards in professional sports generally display only the most relevant stats, and your business should do the same. How do we handle it? Stick to 6-7 key metrics ...

Ask 10 different finance pros what their monthly review process looks like and you'll likely get 9-10 different responses. So what is it? Monthly Financial Review (MFR) — Checklist of financial data and review procedures conducted every month (or 30 days) after your books are closed and financi...

Your Finance Team Every company has a different-looking team running their finances. Here's a quick rundown of the three most common players and what they are (usually) responsible for: Bookkeeper (Accountant): They handle the day-to-day transaction recording, invoicing, bill pay, etc. These...

What makes a great business? When I worked in the investment industry studying and investing in public companies, I was often searching for "great businesses" and over my career developed a short list of characteristics that (I think) make a company great. Why should this matter to you? For ...

Chartstravaganza - charts for small businesses Stepping back from our usual "small business strategies" to look at some macro trends and charts. Below are 3 groups of charts plus what they mean for small business... Enjoy! Consumer Health Retail sales, personal income levels, and personal sav...