A Business Spending Makeover

SLASH SPEND FOR PROFIT WIN...

Between the holiday seasons, the end of year closing and getting ready for next year’s new business, every business owner must take the time out for a financial makeover.  This should not be too intrusive but effective, nonetheless, in revamping the spending patterns to increase the bottom line that can be used to reinvest in the business.  Here are a few tips to reduce those expenses and maybe give bigger bonuses at the end of the year.

• Hire People from the Cloud.  There is no need to keep people on the payroll indefinitely if there is not constant work.  Cloudsourcing is better for hiring qualified remote professionals that are only needed for specific short-term assignments like graphic design, writing, and event planning/scheduling.  And there are plenty of alternatives to global outsourcing for the cheapest labor since plenty of quality resources are available on sites like ODesk and Freelancer.
• Move the technology to the cloud. Unless the work and productivity require installed software, look to cloud solutions that cost less and require no manual interventions and desktop support for employees.  The monthly or annual subscriptions may cost more in the long term but it frees up time and money over time.  For small businesses, hire an intern to review all the applications that exist for the mobile market and there might be one that has minimal to no cost.  For large corporations, hire a technology implementation consulting firm to identify what enterprise solutions can be streamlined to run leaner.
• Leverage Social Media for Marketing.  Television and radio spend can blow a marketing budget especially since a consumer requires hearing a message 7 – 10 times before purchasing a product or service.  Use Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Instagram to stay relevant and promote new products.  Of course, there is the price to pay for sponsored Tweets and Facebook ads but that reaches more people in specific demographics and can be reposted enough times to generate sales that would pay for the promotional spots.
• Eliminate dead beats.  True, tis the season to be jolly and giving but not silly.  Complete a clear evaluation of anyone charging to overhead.  Are they holding their weight? Can their tasks be combined with another person’s?  Are they best suited in another role that can be charged back to a client?  And to make this less personal and more about business, a third-party can review and make unbiased decisions that you might have been afraid to make.
• Video/Tele-conference.  At the end of the year, the best way to curb expenses is reducing travel.  By this time of the year all the relationships should be sturdy enough to be absent in person for a couple of weeks a month.  Skype, join.me, WebEx, and even my least favorite (Lync) all have conference capabilities to allow any meeting to go on as scheduled with each participant sharing their desktops and mobile devices where necessary.

Makeovers are intended to enhance the beauty and there is nothing more beautiful than looking better financially when the spotlight is on the spending.  Use these tips quarterly to save big and possibly influence your outlook on changing your personal finances around for the better. 

For more business planning, be sure to follow this blog at blog.therlcgroup.com and pick up a copy of the book, Get A Clue - 10 Steps to an Executive IQ.

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Posted in: business continuity,business expert,business plan,business planning,business spending,eLance,Entrepreneurship,financing,Get A Clue,join.me,oDesk,skype,slashing spending,Temeko Richardson

Being Prepared for the Worst

DISASTER RECOVERY REQUIRES A PLAN...

Natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, explosions, and fires are happening all too often.  The shift in reasoning for the good of the American people in the United States government should have everyone on watch for potentially worse calamities than last week's government shutdown. It has been estimated that 40% of businesses closed by an unforeseen situation never reopen and 72% of nonprofits never regain footing - impacting the individuals they employ or serve.

Here's how both business and non-profit leaders can properly prepare for the worst:

1) Create a business continuity plan.  Identify what is required to have on stand-by for the basic operations to run without delay. This plan should include the individuals responsible to put the plan in action, named alternate locations, several months (recommended - six) of allocated funds to enable the minimalist approach to operating, and disaster recovery plan for data/storage/servers.
2) Develop a communication plan for employees, customers or donors.  Implement a strategy to get the word out to employees who do not need to come into work or telecommute.  There should also be a plan to identify who needs to be on-call or readily available at alternate locations.  Customers or donors will also need to be sent an email to alert them of the situation and that all precautions have been taken to ensure their personal identifiable information is protected and secure during this transition period.  For those expecting pay or assistance, they will need to be informed about how this will work or if there will be any slight delay.  This should be clear by understanding the employee, customer, and donor makeup of the entity. (Read Chapters 3 - 5 in my book, Get A Clue - 10 Steps to an Executive IQ).
3) Keep telecommuting options open.  Ensure the VPN, firewall, and security measures are offloaded to a third-party agency outside of the company's local area to minimize risk of downtime.  Do not expect cell phones to be the only mode of communication.  Email and secure messages provided on the company network should be able to continue without interruption.
4) Start moving systems to the cloud.  Get over the "I need to keep my data inhouse" syndrome.  There are reputable cloud companies that provide storage space, database and business intelligence analytics systems, sales, marketing, inventory, and ordering systems.  Identify the systems with the most valuable data and operational impact and create a 3-6 month plan to move that data to a cloud solution.
5) Revamp contracting with government agencies.  The post on the 2013 Government Shutdown and the follow-up one on  Lockheed Martin furloughs should explain this perfectly.  Shore up enough contracts that will allow you to keep people on the bench and still maintain profit in case of issues.

This type of planning needs to be realistic, familiar, tested, and proven.  But it can be done as long as it is well-thought out and constantly updated.  In the words of John Wooden, "Failing to plan is planning to fail".

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Posted in: 2013 government shutdown,business continuity,business planning,Cloud Computing,Entrepreneurship,entrepreneurship contracts,Get A Clue,program management,project management,Temeko Richardson

Best Read Friday - Government Shutdown Now Impacting Large Corporations

Instability with Gov't Contracts...

Confirmation of my posting on Monday (The 2013 Government Shutdown Affect On Business) is the recent announcement from Lockheed Martin of furloughing approximately 3000 workers.  Lockheed Martin primarily has federal funding for projects sponsored by the government, which is the crux of their business.

With no contingency plan in place for government issues or non-payment, contract managers were forced to lay off workers who were on assignment with a project directly related to government entities that were forced to close during the government shutdown.  

Read this article to see why the business continuity and project planning or lack thereof contributed to 3000 people from corporate America being additionally affected.  

Be sure to check back next week where the posts will specifically focus on business continuity planning to protect the company, the employees, and the data.

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Posted in: 2013 government shutdown,business continuity,business expert,furloughed workers,Government Shutdown,Lockheed Martin,Temeko Richardson

The 2013 Government Shutdown Affect on Business

BUSINESS NOT AS USUAL FOR SOME...

There has always been a highly-perceived level of stability promoted by obtaining a state and, especially, a federal job.  Mostly because there is buffer in the thousands employed between the individuals that contribute to the necessary work and those that plan the mission of each department.  It does not require the sharpest tool in the tool shed to surmise there are a lot of individuals getting paid huge sums of money to twiddle their thumbs in these federal jobs.  Likewise businesses, especially entrepreneurs, find themselves providing all kinds of financial information and background checks in hopes of security clearance and acquiring different types of certifications (e.g. MBE, DBE, 8A, etc.) to quickly allow them to be able to do business with the government for projects that would normally require a fraction of the time proposed for quality results.   

And now with the 2013 government shutdown, how can businesses protect themselves in the future?

1)  Ensure no more than 30% of business income comes from government.  
If your business is based on all government income, change the business model from this point forward.  The trillion dollar (plus) debt ceiling should say it all.  While the United States is floundering with a lower country credit rating, the payment for the work you may have completed or have in progress could be at risk if there is a sudden stall to payments being issued to non-government staff.  Get out of the comfort zone and search for business in the private corporate sector.  Easy money is not always the best money! After all, the pay is normally greater and hard work is oftentimes rewarded with additional recognition (e.g. future projects, marketing of services, great references, etc.)

2)  Only solicit government business that is mission-critical.
The government shutdown areas that it felt were not really important for the citizens of the United States to be safe and monetarily sustainable. The White House, Senate, Social Security, Military (active), Air Traffic Control, US Postal Service, and NASA Mission Control are a few entities that remain open and operational.  Agencies like the National Parks, Federal Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, EPA were not considered as viable risk operations.  This should speak loud and clear that all future business should be done with an entity that is identified as essential to the United States of America, even in hard times.  For more listing of agencies, click here.  

3)  Upgrade the business continuity plan.
Most businesses handle disaster recovery in cases systems shut down but never government.  There needs to be careful evaluation on what it will cost the company contractually - fines encountered for not delivering or halting work related to the government agency.  There should also be an evaluation on what staff, if any, must be temporarily laid off if there is no extra non-government work to cover their employment.  And of course, identify what loans will need to be tapped into to cover human capital expenses and potential losses as well as a way to get the money back.  This also includes getting the most of the business continuity insurance which can, in some cases, pay a portion of what will be lost based on the circumstance.

While the government plays with the lives of many people who need services and the checks of those employed by government (deserving or not) who may be living check-to-check to take care of an ailing parent or paying off debt or in a dire circumstance, business leaders need to use this as a lesson on how to plan appropriately.  After all, the divide between political parties has been existent for centuries but it is up to the CEOs and business owners to make sure their business can at least withstand decades of this adversity.

For more business planning, be sure to follow this blog at blog.therlcgroup.com and pick up a copy of the book, Get A Clue - 10 Steps to an Executive IQ.

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Posted in: 2013 government shutdown,8a certified,business continuity,entrepreneur contracts,Entrepreneurship,entrepreneurship contracts,Government Shutdown,MBE Certified,startups,Temeko Richardson,WBE Certified