The Power of Conducting a Swot Analysis
Don’t under estimate the power of conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. When we are working with clients this is usually completed quite early on in the process to get an overview of a company’s potential and is a key component when…
Disorganisation
One of the things that we often encounter in businesses we visit is DISORGANISATION – sometimes it’s the boss, sometimes it’s the team members individually, sometimes (but fortunately, not very often) it’s everyone. Other times it’s the office or workshop environment that creates the opportunity…
What is your Hourly Rate?
The question of hourly rates is very relevant now. With costs increasing almost everywhere, business margins are being squeezed at a relentless rate. If you are in a service-based industry where your revenue includes a charge for time, then this may be of some interest…
What’s in a margin?
Lately, most of us will have been dealing with rising costs in our businesses. In particular, the rising cost of materials. This is not a new phenomenon, but the frequency of rises on materials has hit new highs and is not showing any signs of…
Keeping it fresh!
What a lovely weekend it was weather wise! It was so nice that it inspired my partner and me to walk Orakei Basin as we do once a month on average. As we approached the entry/exit point, I suggested that we take a new approach…
Cash Flow Management
One of the biggest reasons for business failure in New Zealand is not businesses not making a profit but would you believe bad cash flow management. This can be caused by several reasons. The most common are: The business is growing too quickly and does…
The Business Owners To Do List
Most small business owners will have a ‘to-do’ list in one form or another, and for a select few it is all they need as they instinctively trade their way through their current business day, week or month. They manage to regularly achieve what they…
Exit Plan or Escape Plan?
When it comes to the way we react to certain situations, there are typically two main types of behaviour that we all fit in to. A) Move Towards; or, B) Move Away. Neither are problematic, and there will be times when we exhibit both types…
Identify your target market
Fish where the fish are biting! One of the questions we ask businesses when helping them plan, is, do you know the ROI (Return on Investment) on your advertising and marketing spend? The answer is almost always the same, No. And, do you know your…
Negotiation 101: The 6 Principles
We all negotiate something at some point of time every single day.This is especially true if you are working in procurement or sales. The idea for this post came as for quite some time we have noticed an unfortunate recurring pattern, more than 80% of…