Whilst we all like to be able to trust those we work with, the sad fact is that many businesses fall victim to fraud. Small businesses are at great risk, due to limited resources to implement fraud avoidance and detection processes.
In this eBook, we identify the warning signs to look out for that fraud may be happening in your business.
When times are tough, the knee jerk reaction of many business owners is to slash costs. What’s wrong with such a strategy?
On the flip side, when business is good, owners tend to ignore costs and focus on sales and growth, and figure that the costs will take care of themselves with a good margin.
When sales are down, there is a much greater motivation to control costs (even though good businesses never take their eye off them). So how should you identify the areas that should receive attention first? Download our free eBook to find out!
Most business owners have a ‘Game Plan’, whether it is in their head or well documented.
One CFO of a medium-sized organisation recently commented, “With a game plan comes more structure and accountability. Before you start a new initiative, you calculate the costs involved, resources required and the payback period. That way you can determine if the project will proceed before you waste any money and then track the progress and report on the financial impact.”
This eBook is a high level guide to setting a documented ‘Game Plan’ for your business.
Do you find yourself saying “I just don’t have enough time to get everything done”? Time management often crops up as an issue for business owners.
If time is limited, what we have to work on are the jobs we need to get done in that time. It’s about having a clear understanding of what those jobs are, or should be, and prioritising objectives and actions.
In this eBook, we share the five areas you need to focus on for better time management in your business to simplify your objectives and reduce stress.
If your business is growing, here are five vital questions that you should be asking yourself:
This eBook contains some insights to these questions, as well as sample reports to assist with managing business growth both now and into the future.
With so much going on in business, it can be daunting working out what to work on first to create improvements.
Everyone is busy doing their job and trying their best to deliver good service to customers, but it’s not quite working the way it should and the business isn’t generating good enough profit.
Methods evolve over time and different people do things their own way. Before you know it, the business and customers are at the mercy of the mood of the person delivering on the day.
If you want to create a better outcome for your customers and your business, this eBook covers some high level points to consider to improve job management.
If you rely on winning tenders or quotes for your business, this information could be extremely valuable. It has been shared by our CFO On-Call Partners, who have used these tactics to help their clients win some very large jobs.
This eBook outlines what you need to know to improve the success of tenders and quotes.
If you’re a hard working, sometimes cash-rich, sometimes cash-poor (or cash-frustrated) business owner – you should read this.
This book speaks in plain English about small business cash flow and recommends simple strategies to manage what is, after all, the life-blood of your business.
Cash is like the oxygen needed to give life to your business.
Jobbing/Service based businesses can be the most difficult to manage and profit from.
Trying to coordinate people, jobs and your sales pipeline can be a huge headache.
The best way to overcome these challenges is to have a clear understanding of what you’re really selling and what impacts your ability to be profitable.
This eBook sets out some useful guidelines for improving performance in your jobbing or services business, with an example for you to consider in line with your own circumstances.
Most accountants, financial and business people tend to focus on the results of a business. This is obviously important, but what is even more important is what ‘drives’ the results.
The 7 Key Numbers aren’t ‘results’, they are ‘drivers’ that impact results i.e. profit and cash flow.
You won’t find them in typical financial reports – they need to be calculated. Nearly half of the 7 Key Numbers are derived from the Balance Sheet. How many business owners look closely at this report or really understand it? Scary thought!
Our objective in this book is to simply explain why the 7 Key Numbers are so vital for every business owner to understand and focus on improving. We’ve included very simple and pragmatic tactics to improve each one. The sooner you focus on these numbers the sooner you will improve your profit and cash flow.
If you want to grow your business, it pays dividends to do it in an organized way. Growth without planning has seen the downfall of many a good business.
In this free eBook, you will learn the questions you should ask about your business to ensure you are in a position for growth. From marketing and sales to operations and finance, there are a range of important factors to consider for business development.
If you’re preparing to apply for a business loan, first ask yourself: “Would I lend the money to me?”
This may seem like a weird question, but at the end of the day, this is how a lender will look at you and the risk they’re taking in lending you the money.
Banks are more cautious than ever about lending money to businesses large and small. In this free eBook, we share tips learnt from our experience dealing with lenders and how they look at potential borrowers.
Since joining CFO On-Call over a decade ago, Scott Goffage has enjoyed the thrill of helping scores of businesses to increase revenue streams and profit lines. But equally satisfying is the personal return his career change has delivered.
“I now get to take six to eight weeks holiday every year,” Scott said.
That’s an impressive increase on the fixed four weeks of annual leave he was permitted in previous full-time corporate sector roles. And while there are weeks when Scott works longer to exceed his clients’ expectations, he enjoys the direct engagement with those he’s helping and the chance to see his advice make a real difference.
“With good client communication and relationships, this role offers amazing flexibility,” Scott said.
“Not only can I take holidays when my family wants to, I can also work my schedule around the children so I don’t miss important events in their schooling and life.”
Based in Brisbane, Scott is a senior partner with CFO On-Call.
He joined the team in 2008 when the concept of businesses engaging freelance CFOs on a ‘needs basis’ was relatively new.
But the trendsetter has now become a stalwart with no plans to go anywhere.
“I’ve been with CFO On-Call for 11 years and while there’s been a few feelers, I have no desire to go back to full time work,” Scott said.
“When you work full time for a larger company, there are constraints and politics that can detract from your enjoyment of the role, making you spend part of your time doing tasks set from above that have little or no value to the business.
“Advising a range of different, smaller businesses, you have the freedom to understand the key issues in the business and tailor my own solution to meet those issues.”
Scott’s formula for success is based around understanding the client, building relationships and identifying ‘drivers’.
“Businesses either offer goods or services, and while the fundamentals of good financial management are generally consistent, the drivers change from business to business,” he said.
“That’s why you need to take the time initially to understand each business and identify those specific drivers. You then need to coach the client on understanding the impact of these drivers on their business and the importance of setting targets and reviewing performance against these targets.”
A passion for networking has also been key to Scott’s longevity. Much of his work results from cross-referral via contacts made at conferences and seminars.
“Some might argue that a full-time job is safer, but I disagree,” Scott said.
“Diversifying is always safer because if you lose one client, there’s still 10 or 12 others to provide regular work. But if you lose your full-time job, you are automatically unemployed.”
Having the backing of a successful brand like CFO On-Call has been pivotal to his success as a consultant.
“You start out facing the challenge of building a business and not knowing how long this will take. Having a strong brand like CFO on Call was so important to building my business. Over time you also build your own brand with your networks and clients and this also became very important to my ongoing success.
“The brand value, marketing support, internal communications and the national community of like-minded colleagues make the CFO On-Call relationship a very valuable one for me.”
As Scott’s client base has expanded beyond his home town, so too has his command of file sharing and communications technology.
Many of his sessions with clients based outside Brisbane, such as Outback Aussie Tours in Longreach, are conducted via Skype or Zoom. He interfaces with clients from the Sunshine Coast and Perth via the same tools, but is always available to meet them in person when the opportunity arises.
“We use screen sharing to go through and analyze the same spreadsheets and reports in real time,” explained Scott. “It’s just like you’re there with the client in person!”
The kind of instant accessibility made possible through technological advancements has seen the demand for Virtual CFOs like Scott grow rapidly over the past decade, particularly for remotely based businesses.
“It’s gratifying knowing that I can help business owners to reach their goals, when normally they might not have access to services like mine,” said Scott.
With partners and clients based all over Australia and New Zealand, CFO On-Call is currently seeking qualified Chief Financial Officers and Financial Directors to join its team to meet growing demands for Virtual CFO services. Click here to learn more.
Running a business can be a process of juggling and keeping all the balls in the air at the same time. For small business owners this can be an exhausting and frustrating exercise, leaving little time for strategic thinking.
To make business development easier, focus on the five key areas applicable to pretty much any business:
If you proactively manage and report on all these areas, you will find life less stressful. There will be less crisis management (you’ll learn to deal with things before they become a problem).
The area that we find most business owners have difficulty to delegate or outsource is product and service development. But you can train others to take over in time. It’s easier to achieve if this area is well documented and systemised.
This is generally pretty easy to delegate or outsource. Marketing is experiencing a massive shift at the moment with digital marketing and social media, and getting in expert help to decide on your method, message and delivery is vital to staying competitive.
Having a well-tested and documented sales process is vital, ensuring you achieve a good conversion rate and make the most of your marketing spend.
Good systems for handling operations and ensuring productivity will go a long way to improving profits and reducing rework and returns. Understanding the ‘key success factors’ in your business, helps you to focus on what’s going to give you the ‘biggest bang for your buck’.
If you sell products, a system for handling stock is vital to ensuring you have the right amount of stock at the right time. If you sell services, a system for managing staff time and materials is vital to productivity and profit.
This is the lifeblood of any business – profit and cash are the key elements. Cash comes from profit and profit comes from proactive management of revenue and costs. Timely and accurate reporting on both profit and cash flow, helps you to plan and take advantage of opportunities.
Running out of cash is a key reason for business failure, yet few owners manage it proactively. There’s plenty of help available and the cost pales into insignificance when compared to the outcome.
HR management is a stumbling block for businesses big and small. Very few handle it well and proactively. Industrial Relations laws may have scared some business owners into ‘risk management’ in this area.
It’s really about developing people and helping them to be satisfied at work. Satisfied and happy staff can make a business ‘fly’. Getting things done is so much easier when people are engaged with the overall objective.
Satisfaction here is a result of how well you manage all of the above. If cash is the lifeblood of a business and happy customers pay, then Customer Service is vital to business survival and success.
The very best way to gauge customer satisfaction is simply to ask them. Whether it’s waitstaff at a restaurant who ask how the meal was or an account manager who calls a client to ask how things are going, it’s vital that someone does it. If you do it well, clients keep coming back and sales will grow.
If you can put in place a strategy and find people and resources to help juggle all of these elements, it can make being in business much easier and less stressful. Importantly it puts your business in a position to grow and be less reliant on the business owner.
If you would like to learn more about this subject, plus other useful business financial management tips, check out ‘Business Financial Toolkit’
Need help to boost your cashflow or profit?
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