Archive for the ‘News’ Category

My Mantra Used to be Sell…Sell…Sell. Why I Was Wrong

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

I’ve owned my share of small and mid-sized businesses throughout my career and if there is one thing I know for sure…..it’s what keeps a business owner up at night. Cash…how much is coming in and how much is going out.

I can honestly say that every company I founded and operated was successful. I will admit that at first they succeeded in spite of myself.  And, like many business owners my mantra was sell…sell…sell.

What I know today, however, is the most important thing a business owner can do is consistently measure their company’s performance – it’s called financial analysis. Don’t let your eyes glaze over at the mention of financial analysis, it’s easier than you think. You can read more in an article I authored for the January, 2010 Nevada Business Journal at http://www.nbj.com/issue/0110/9/2167 or check out CFO Genie at www.ceo1stop.com

Here are some article highlights:

  • Many small and mid-sized business owners believe that their accountant, or accounting software tells them everything they need to know about their financials. Not true. Accounting tells how much profit was made. What a business owner really needs to know is how much profit they should have made.
  • Even if numbers aren’t a strength, a business owner will still need to understand what they mean in order to operate a business. Without this analysis an owner might very well proceed never knowing where, or even that, the company is leaking tremendous amounts of cash. Consider the following: on average, small to mid-sized companies often fail to capture between 10 to 30% of their revenues as profit. The math is simple; say a company does $1,000,000 in sales with a profit of 10 percent or $100,000.  Add 15% of the sales to the profit and you have $250,000. Without making one additional sale, the company has increased its profit line 250 percent by knowing where to look for the cash leakage and then taking corrective action.
  • The perception is that financial analysis is a “foreign” language that can only be deciphered by a trained financial expert. In fact, financial analysis can be translated into easy-to-understand “English.”  When this is done, any business owner can immediately identify areas in which their company is experiencing minor to serious financial distress which causes hard earned revenues to escape before reaching the bottom line profits. Demystifying the language of financial statements and not depending on others to interpret numbers is the key to taking control.

Fortunately there are affordable business performance software packages that are written for the non-financial professional.

Check out CFO Genie.

Max Gregorich, CEO1Stop

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A Commitment to Lean can Save American Jobs

Monday, January 18th, 2010

I recently interviewed Lean expert Karl Wadensten, president of VIBCO Vibrators for my radio show Business Genies of KBZNZ.

Lean is a process that I personally believe every company in America should be implementing.  When done correctly, it can result in ultimately saving American jobs from being outsourced. With that said, the only reason for any business to invest time and effort into Lean is to gain real, measurable results. However, while Lean can work for any company, many struggle to implement it and ultimately fail in the attempt. The fault lies not in the Lean process, but in the implementation.  Lack of success usually can be attributed to not clearly defining the purpose for going Lean, not stipulating processes and not fully engaging employees.  But, when fully committed to by management and employees alike; when it becomes a natural part of both the operational side as well as the corporate culture, and when implemented  properly, Lean can result in improving the way work is performed at every level of the company.

As president of VIBCO Vibrators, Karl Wadensten exemplifies today’s successful business owner and staunch Lean advocate.  VIBCO manufactures a full range of vibrators for industrial and construction use to aid material flow and for concrete consolidation. Under Karl’s leadership, VIBCO has undergone a remarkable transformation.  The most profound aspect of the transformation is a revolutionary change in VIBCO’s organizational culture.  At VIBCO, Lean is not something that individual employees “do”, it is how the entire organization “lives and breathes”.  VIBCO’s True North is Same Day – Next Day, Quality, Throughput, Innovation and 100% Employee Engagement.  It is because of the commitment of its entire workforce that VIBCO has achieved stunning operational gains including:

Setup time on CNC equipment reduced from 2.5 hours to 8 minutes

On time delivery is now 99% same day, next day shipping

Quality improved by 80%

Productivity increase in selected work cells as much as 300%

Inventory reduced by 40% (over $1,000,000) over 2 years

Work in Progress (WIP) inventory turning 88 times per year

Be sure to listen to my interview with Karl on KBZNZ on Wednesday, January 20 at 2 p.m. (PST); 5 p.m. (EST) and Thursday at 10 a.m. (PST); 1 p.m. (EST).

Max Gregorich

CEO, CEO1Stop

CFO Genie

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KBZNZ and CEO1Stop Welcomes Organizational Development Expert Cheryl Seminara

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Organizational development including workforce training and education, combined with management leadership development, are areas often placed on the back burner during tough economic times. Yet, it is exactly during such times that “investing” in your employees can mean the difference between increased market dominance and being an “also-ran” in comparison to your competition.

Often misunderstood, employee training and education, in the context of organizational development, does not have to mean spending thousands of dollars to send your workforce off to day-long programs.

To discuss how small and mid-sized businesses can design and implement employee programs that positively affect profitability, I am honored to welcome as my guest on KBZNZ’s Business Genies, Cheryl Ann Seminara on Friday November 13, 2009 at 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. (EST). Dr. Seminara currently serves the Director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Academy and for the Center for Academic and Agency Outreach. She also leads her own business consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, organizational development, training and education. In her own words, Dr. Seminara is a person who “likes a challenge.” In her role with DHS, she coordinates seven Master’s degree programs for DHS employees, co-leads Efficiency Review efforts on behalf of the DHS Chief Human Capital Officer, and manages strategic partnerships between DHS and academic institutions.

At the helm of her business consulting firm, she focuses her efforts on assisting small and mid-sized businesses enhance efficiency. She plans to introduce a women’s professional development studies program, and small business planning courses that will utilize a blended learning approach.

Prior to working at DHS, Dr. Seminara worked with the Yucca Mountain Project, where she was the Training Lead for the Lead Laboratory for Repository System. She designed, developed, and implemented training and organizational initiatives. Among her accomplishments there, she gained subject matter expertise in training in the nuclear industry after leading a surveillance of all training for the Yucca Mountain Project.

Max Gregorich

www.ceo1stop.com

www.cfogenie.com

www.kbznz.com

Max Gregorich is CEO of CEO1Stop, is the author of Understanding Your Financials for the Small Business Owner, and creator of CFO Genie, an affordable, easy-to-use performance software tool for small and mid-size businesses. Created specifically for the financial lay person, CFO Genie produces easy to understand reports that clearly identify where your company is leaking cash and not reaching your bottom line while showing you the obvious implications of ignoring those financial “leaks.” To learn more about CFO Genie or to download a free copy of our e-book: Understanding Your Financials visit www.ceo1stop.com.

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If You Can’t Measure It – It Doesn’t Count

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Organizational Effectiveness and Quality guest Richard Russo, CEO of The Quantum Group, joins KBZNZ’s Business Genies (www.kbznz.com)  on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. (EST) to discuss how small, mid-sized and large companies use an Organizational Alignment model called “Integrated Alignment” or “IA”, which incorporates the Malcolm Baldrige, ISO and Six Sigma processes, system thinking and other behavioral processes to improve overall productivity and bottom line financials.

“I wanted to bring the topic of quality and organizational effectiveness to Business Genies’ audience because measuring activities is the only way that a business owner can realize how effective the operations are. Remember: If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t count. If you can measure it – it can be made better.

According to Russo, “Frequently organizations have unknowingly or knowingly set up a situation where people and departments work in “functional silos”. In these silos, people can be working hard but are at cross purposes which sub-optimizes the organization’s effectiveness & productivity at best — and at worst makes the organization dysfunctional and prone to failure. Departments end up competing against each other internally as opposed to focusing on outside competition. The IA model is designed to create an environment that focuses the energies of all individuals and departments on what is needed to be competitive in the marketplace. So regardless of whether they are a “C” level manager or an employee on the front lines, they know exactly how and what they do impacts both the top line and bottom line of the organization in a synergistic way.”

Max Gregorich

CEO1Stop

CFO Genie

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Business Genies Premiers on KBZNZ – Practical & Actionable Information for Small & Mid-Size Business Owners

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

July 15, 2009

Tune in this Friday July 17, 2009 for the premier of my new radio show Business Genies at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. (PST) on the internet’s first All Business, Only Business talk station KBZNZ – Radio Business Journal (www.kbznz.com). As a consultant specializing in small and mid-size businesses, I’ve discovered that business owners often lack practical, down-to-earth advice and tools that they can put into action. With the goal in mind to give business owners what they need, but often can’t find, I developed Business Genies as a companion piece to my emerging CEO1Stop.com website and CFO Genie. The radio show features business and industry leaders and national consultants who share proven and practical tips on best practices for managing small and mid-size businesses framed with just a touch of humor. Friday’s show welcomes Gary Connor, principle of Lean Manufacturing Training. As a nationally respected consultant Gary is the author of five books and has trained 10,000’s of people across the US and Canada. Throughout his career, he has worked with such organizations as NIKE, Delux, Lockheed Martin as well as hundreds more. He brings to the table an in-depth knowledge of lean manufacturing and provides insights into its applications across many industries. Business Genies, which airs every Friday, joins an impressive array of syndicated and original programming. KBZNZ, which launched in early July, focuses on bringing shows to its audience that explore and examine the business side of a cross-section of industries. Visit www.kbznz.com or link to my show through www.ceo1stop.com.

Max Gregorich

CEO, CEO1Stop/CFO Genie

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