Friday, January 27
Measuring success
The great thing about planting carrots is that you know why you are doing it – to have some healthy vegetables. When you plant a shrub that is covered in flowers every June you know you have been looking after it successfully. It nearly always takes a while to see the results in a garden but see them you will.
In order to know what success looks like in a business it is necessary to define the KPIs. In most businesses this will include the margin earned but productivity might be key in one business, MDs ability to take holiday might be matter for another, market share might be the driver for another owner.
If you know what you are trying to achieve you can then track progress towards that achievement and take corrective action where needed. More water might be needed in the garden, more sales staff might be the answer in business.
Deciding what the relevant measures are isn’t always easy but its key if you want to recognise (and celebrate) success when it comes along.
Friday, December 2
Would you eat this?
I have had occasional mushrooms in my garden but this year I seem to have had more than ever and can offer a selection from very small and yellow through to large and creamy coloured. The sad thing is that I suspect none of them are edible and I am certainly not going to risk it.
Many of my clients have permanent finance staff working for them and I sometimes get involved in the recruitment process. The challenge is that it can be hard to ask the right questions, let alone judge whether it is the right answer, when looking for staff in a discipline you aren’t sure about. Many candidates are skilled at telling us what we want to hear so it’s often worth having a specific ‘test’ to make sure they can deliver and not just talk about it.
Finding the right staff can sometimes feel a bit like looking for the mushroom in amongst all the toadstools on offer. Of course, you need to know whether you even want a mushroom or a cauliflower in the first place!
Friday, October 28
A different perspective
I love this time of year when the trees change colour and sometimes the most unexpected plants provide the most vibrant show. I don’t even know the name of the main show off in my garden – I am sure an expert would, but an amateur would be as surprised by the display as I was the first year. I saw it’s role in my garden in a totally different light as a result.
There is seasonality in business that is predictable, and planning helps to ensure the business is ready to respond to those peaks and troughs. The great thing about management reporting (not just the numbers but other KPIs) is that it can help reflect, and then predict, some of those peaks and troughs. And a fresh pair of eyes can often help ensure that the correct reporting is in place and interpreted.
Landscape gardeners can help ensure all year round colour in the garden. Business owners need to achieve overall profits for the year. The challenge is that however skilled or open minded we are, our view is only one view and often we need to be shown the different perspective. Who can be your ‘other pair of eyes’?
Friday, September 30
Look after your assets
I am not going to claim to be an expert gardener as we know but I do love my garden and strive to take care of it the best I can. As well as calling in experts when needed I also have various gadgets to make some of the jobs easier – none of them very expensive (I could probably afford to replace the spade) but it makes sense to keep them safe.
Businesses have assets in the form of their people, tools of their trades and potentially stock – all should be taken care off. In the case of physical assets this may involve tracking the financial value and securing with a lock and key. In my experience people are better kept safe through financial reward, training and a good working environment.
The role of a Financial Director includes safeguarding the assets of a business, and advising on the appropriate tools to do this is one element of a profit-a-bility review (as well as the regular work I undertake).
And your staff don’t need to be in fear – I won’t suggest locking them up.
Friday, August 26
Return of the carrots
Previously I talked about deciding what to plant in my garden – which included carrots. In fact I did an early and late planting but the latter have completely failed. I had planned what I wanted to achieve and I thought I had gone about executing the plan in a consistent way but for some reason the success has not been repeated.
There are many aspects to running a successful business and it is a pretty rare person that has ALL the required skills. In fact, plenty of people either don’t understand all the skills needed and/or don’t have the team around them to deliver using those skills. It can be useful to do a skills audit and see where the gaps are, what risks that presents and how best to deal with them.
It appears I still have more to learn about gardening (no surprise there!) but in the mean time I am proud to share what I do know by contributing to the Money element of the Your Business Your Future programmes.
Friday, July 29
Flexibility can be a great asset
Flexibility means different things to different people. One of my favourite examples is my garden bench which converts into a picnic bench which means I can enjoy a good book and glass of wine, or a full blown meal with friends, depending on how the mood takes me in the summer sun.
Within business some flexibility can be appropriate. It might be delivering to customers out of hours, paying a supplier a bit early in return for exceptional service, allowing staff to go home early some days, pricing products differently for different markets – you get the idea.
a-count-a-bility, and fellow members of FinanceHeads, is all about flexibility. There are many roles within businesses that are not needed full time or evenly through the year – for many SMEs the role of Finance Director maybe one of those.
And to prove how flexible I am, I don’t mind whose garden I am in or whose bench I am sitting on when enjoying my glass of wine.
Friday, June 24
Dont leave it too long
One of my big successes for this month was getting my hedges cut – they are quite big and every 3 years I recognise that they are so out of control that I need to get a professional in to sort them.
Within business there are often jobs that we hate doing, can’t make the time to do or don’t have the skills for. When we finally get around to recognising that we need expert professional help to sort the chaos it does of course cost us more than if we had kept things under control along the way. And that’s without thinking about the business impact of not having the right information, working inefficiently and so on.
My hedges now look great and I wonder why I lived with the chaos for so long. This year I found a fabulous new, good value, supplier and have vowed to get him annually in future and keep things under control. If you need to make a similar vow in relation to your business’ finances you know where to find me.
Friday, June 10
Excel for all
Excel is a fabulous tool but, like so much IT stuff it can make days of your life disappear if you aren’t familiar with how to use it.
I did a 10 minute presentation this morning sharing some hints and tips (and some of my favourite functions) and the feedback frequently included – ‘this will save me hours’. So, to share the thoughts more widely and hopefully free up a few more peoples time I recommend checked out the following:
- Format painter (copies all formats from a cell in just 2 clicks)
- Using the cursor to drag and copy cells
- Custom formatting cells to include words (such as descriptors of what the number in ‘rent per quarter’)
- Concatenation –a great word and a great function that enables you to combine words from separate cells
- SumIf formulae
- Use of check digits, and conditional formatting to draw attention when they haven’t worked.
Ok, so I over ran a bit – but I think it was worth it.
Wednesday, June 1
Reserves can be handy
Gardens need rain, which has been conspicuously absent in recent weeks (might even be into months). I have been really grateful for my water butt and the fact that I have been able to do the essential watering and increase the chances that I will still get a healthy crop of vegetables.
Many businesses are seasonal, or just experience ups and downs, which can provide challenges. These challenges can be even greater if unforeseen due to a lack of planning and forecasting. None of us have a crystal ball but we can use past information, and our ambitions, to get good estimates for cashflow forecasts and even staffing plans.
The future isn’t predictable, but some possibilities are foreseeable, and reserves (of water or cash) should be gathered where possible so that the impact is controlled.
Here at a-count-a-bility we have a variety of helpsheets on these and related topics which can be requested via the website.
Friday, April 8
What can you see?
I was struck afresh the other day by how much we can each take our own skills for granted. How often have you been struggling to do something with a mobile phone and someone under the age of 20 has come along and fixed it for you in seconds? Oh the hours we could have saved by just having that youngster in tow ready for the next stumbling block.
Well, the great thing about outsourced services is that small businesses can have access to the services of a specialist without taking on a full time permanent resource. I may not be able to sort the mobile phone challenges but the great thing about being over 20 years old and having rather a lot of accountancy experience is that I can look at numbers and get to the problem in the blink of an eye. So don’t struggle, just ask – it may not be such a huge favour you are asking after all!
