Tag Archives: Pitfalls

How Do You Align Cash Flow with Growth? Eight Points

Situation: A Company is growing faster than its cash flow allows. This concerns the CEO because this growth involves promising technologies and products critical to the company’s future. What can the company do to improve current and new cash availability? How do you align cash flow with growth?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Every growing company has experienced this problem and solved it; so can this company.
  • Grow more selectively. Review the available opportunities and select the most promising and profitable for focus. Restrict progress on less promising options for available time.
  • Search the Internet for books and resources that on this topic. For example, try “101 Techniques to Manage Cash While you Grow”.
  • There are experts, consultants and “Rent-a-CFOs” who specialize in this. Work with trusted contacts and/or search the Internet to identify appropriate resources who are familiar with the company’s industry and market.
  • Explain the situation and challenge to your vendors. Ask for opportunities to extend payments and “borrow” from them.
  • Explain the situation to customers and ask for better payments terms.
  • Borrow from an aggressive bank, factor payables, and/or find additional lending sources that offer attractive payment terms.
  • Be aware of and watch out for pitfalls that may cause serious problems. For example, an extended market contraction can leave the company stretched for cash.

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How Do You Balance Core and New Businesses? Five Guidelines

Situation: A company has built a solid core business and wants to expand its product portfolio by adding new business. Core functions can serve both existing and new business, reducing overhead on individual businesses. What pitfalls must the company avoid? How do you balance core and new businesses?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • New business activity cannot impact core business. The core business is the company’s bread and butter. It is important to make this clear to both employees and clients and to structure the handling of new business opportunities accordingly.
  • From a staffing standpoint, new business opportunities cannot impact marketing, service and operations staff supporting the core business. New business development activity and operations cannot result in a pull from their focus on the core business. This separation may be facilitated by placing the staff supporting new business in separate facilities, or in an area separate from the staff supporting core business.
  • In the case of support functions that will serve both existing and new business, recruit and hire staff to support the new business to assure that both existing and new business receive proper support.
  • Hire a new person, one with experience and contacts, to develop the new business opportunities. Look for a sales person who can bring in significant new business. This will pay for the individual quickly.
  • How does leadership communicate these changes to staff?
    • Meet with key managers to identify potential concerns. These may include impact on company culture and client focus. Use the responses gathered to develop a communication plan to allay employee concerns.
    • As new business opportunities are added, it will be necessary to bring in new, experienced personnel. Previously, the company brought in experienced personnel to build the current business. Be open and up-front about this and explain that as the company grows there will be new opportunities for existing employees.
    • The company’s objective is to improve the quality of the organization and to raise the boat for all. Current owners and managers will automatically benefit from the efforts of new people to expand the business.
    • Building new business opportunities as separate businesses diversifies the company and reduces the risk of overdependence on existing clients and key vendor relationships. This enhances the job security of current employees.

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