Business Development

Based on a 2007 survey, it is estimated that around 2 million Australians have had their personal details stolen and used fraudulently.  Here are some tips to prevent you being targeted.

For a business to be successful, it must have a strong leader.  Leadership can make or break a company.  This is why public companies pay several million dollars for a new chief executive officer.  Here we list 10 characteristics of successful business leaders:

In Part 1, I explained that when it comes to leads, rather than the more the better it is the quality of those leads that counts. The best leads are those prospects who are seeking you. Other good leads come from referrals, lapsed customers and by finding prospects similar to your best customers.  It is also possible to find customers directly through a one-step selling process. I also looked at seven simple methods to increase your conversion rate.

However, the most under-rated tool in increasing your number of customers is to minimise those who leave.

It's tough to get money at the moment. The venture capital funds have shut up shop, the sharemarket is shying away from IPOs, the banks have backed away and the angel investors have had their wings clipped.  But there is one source of cash that's always willing to back SMEs - the government.

In simple terms, working capital requirement is the amount of funds required by a business to meet its short-term obligations – over the next 12 months. To do so, you need to manage your stock, work in progress, outstanding customer amounts and outstanding supplier amounts.

The way to minimise working capital requirement is to reduce the length of time stock sits on the shelf; minimise the length of time that jobs spend in progress, and minimise the length of time customers take to pay. It also helps to maximise the length of time available to pay suppliers.

Measuring your number of customers is a lot more than just leads x conversion rate. Here is the formula I use:

Total customers = Current customers - customers who leave + New Customers + Leads x Conversion Rate.

Most of us think of only one thing when it comes to increasing our number of customers and that is more leads or more prospects. Here are some simple suggestions of ways to obtain more leads:

1. Offer a competition.
2. Give away free information.
3. Purchase a mailing list.
4. Compile a list of lapsed customers.

Here is the biggest mistake made in credit management today. Quite simply, it is spending too much money, especially labour, on collecting your money. When devising a collection plan, your procedures should be as detailed as a marketing plan. This article explains how to best collect your money.

Cash flow management is an integral part of operating a professional services business. A cash flow budget helps manage borrowings, timing of billing, collection of debtors, payment of employees, creditors and owners, as well as planning for investment spending. The biggest difference between profit & loss items (such as income and expenses) and cash flows is timing. Understanding the timing of cash flows is essential in ensuring the ongoing growth and survival of a business.

How well is your business performing compared to your competitors or to similar firms around the country, or even globally? Just think what you could learn about your own business if you could find out what you are doing well and where you are not doing as well as the best, or even the average, firm. The way to find out? Join a benchmarking study.

I recently read an article which defined the number of customers as Leads x Conversion Rate. Well, this got me thinking. It can't be that easy. You are right. It isn't. It is the goal of almost every business to increase its number of customers. I say, "almost" because it is not always a good thing to increase your number of customers. There are two reasons why this would not be a good thing.