Not everyone shops at Wal-Mart. Not everyone buys a Mini Cooper; despite the fact that I think it is the coolest car around. Not everybody dines at the Windsor Arms Hotel. Nor does everyone eat at MacDonald’s. And, believe it or not, not everybody wants to buy from you. Ouch, that hurts! But wait! Read…
Business owners are exciting, creative people who have taken the huge step of being masters of their own financial future. It is therefore strange that most business owners do not manage their business financials. At the very best, some glance at their monthly financial statements. At the very worst, others totally ignore the numbers in…
A business exists for two reasons and two reasons only: To pay its owners a decent income. To increase its value so the owners can one day cash out. And yet very few business owners spend any time managing the most important aspect of their business; the money$$$. Most follow the ‘Once a Year Rule’…
You went into business because you wanted to do what you love and you wanted to make a good living doing it. Why then do so many small business owners, especially in the early years, not pay themselves enough? Not writing yourself a proper pay cheque may seem like the right thing to do when…
No matter how successful you are in business, it is a fact that you will have cash flow problems at one time or another. In his book ‘Screw it, Let’s do it’, Richard Branson candidly tells the story of having to sell Virgin Music to EMI for half a billion pounds in order to keep…
I recently went to see “The Kings Speech”. I thought it was brilliant. I believe it deserved to win Best Picture. Colin Firth was brilliant as King George. He was made even more brilliant by the incredible support of Geoffrey Rush as Lionel and Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth. David Seidler had an incredible…
We all have something we fear. Fear of flying; fear of heights; fear of public speaking; fear of spiders … and so on and so on. Some of our fears are mildly annoying. Some are totally debilitating. Which brings me to a gem of a Canadian magazine Cathleen Filmore of Speakers Gold introduced me to;…
One of the biggest challenges faced by all business owners is balancing the Money Now with Money Later. Money Now is the revenue being earned right now; it is the money used to pay today’s expenses. Money Later is the revenue that will be earned in the future; as time passes it turns into Money…
Growing a business is a risky business. In fact there are more risks associated with growing a business than there are with starting a business. And so business owners must direct all their talents and energies to the single purpose of building a bigger business. You must focus on these key strategies. Develop a Strategic…
When we had our IT Consulting business our offices were in Cabbagetown; the beautifully refurbished old Victorian neighbourhood of Toronto. Let me take a quick detour. Cabbagetown is east of Parliament, bounded by Wellesley to the north and Gerrard to the south. It used to house the Toronto Zoo and now has a working farm.…