November 26, 2011, 6:51 pm
Most businesses need the skills and experience a Finance Director (FD) can provide – but they don’t need an FD. Why not?
What can a good FD add to my business?
Broadly, there are four things a good FD adds to any business:
1. Financial information
No business can last for long without solid, consistent, up to date performance information that looks at:
- P&L, compared with budget, last year, forecast
- Margins
- Debtors
- Cashflow forecast
- Client & product / service profitability
2. Financial controls and processes
Mostly, these are routines that happen every day, week or month and need to work like a well-oiled machine:
- Solid bookkeeping that’s right, first-time
- Frequent bank reconciliations
- Robust credit control
- Intelligent cost control
Without these processes and systems working well, the information in point 1) simply won’t be produced in any adequate way.
3.
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November 24, 2011, 9:41 pm
The fast-growing coffee franchise Coffee Club plans to open 100 new Ribs and Rumps stores after snapping up the Sydney steakhouse business for just over $10 million. Read full article…
November 19, 2011, 1:36 pm
Missing a call can mean the difference between making or a losing a sale, or missing an important business opportunity, so it’s never been more important for resource-poor micro-businesses to have a voice on the other end of the line.
Which is why the not-for-profit Forum has signed a deal with providers of a telephone answering service for their members. Members of the business support organisation will automatically get a 10% discount if they sign up to the call handling service offered by Connect.
Subscribers will never again have to miss an important telephone call. W
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November 18, 2011, 5:48 am
For survival, the objective of every business should be to bring in revenues which exceed their costs. Even non-profits have to do this to cover overhead costs, unless they rely totally on donations.
Yet I continue to see business plans, or even talk to founders, and can’t find the specifics of the business model anywhere.
As Guy Kawasaki says in his book “The Art of the Start,” if you can’t describe your business model in ten words or less, you don’t have a business model. Avoid whatever business jargon is currently hip, like strategic, mission-critical, world-class, synergistic, first-mover, or scalable. Try somet
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November 15, 2011, 8:52 pm
The Hamilton Co. has started converting a Downtown Crossing office building into apartments.
The Allston real estate company said today that it expects to start renting its moderately priced units in July, following an interior renovation of the 12-story building at 8 Winter St.
The 50,000-square-foot property is located at one of the four corners of Downtown Crossing.
We are strong proponents of the mayors efforts to improve the Ladder District and are convinced this additional housing will add vibrancy to the neighborhood, said Hamilton Co. president Carl Valeri, in a statement.
The project will maintain the first-floor retail space and create 40 one-bedroom units and eight studio apartments renting for 1,950 and 1,650, respectively with hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances.
The Hamilton Co., owned by Harold Brown, controls about 5,000 housing units in Greater Boston along with 3 million square feet of commercial space.
Brown bought 8 Winter St. in 1982 for 6.5 million.
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November 12, 2011, 10:47 pm
Oil group elects president
An Abilene native has been elected president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute.
Joey Cheek, president of JMP Solutions Inc., of Tampa, Fla., was recently elected to the post at PEI’s 61st annual convention and trade show in Chicago. He will take office Jan. 1. He has most recently served as PEI’s vice president.
Cheek has been president of JMP Solutions since 2003.
New boat dealer announced
Tigé Boats Inc., based in Abilene, recently announced that Airport Marine in Alabaster, Ala., has become an authorized Tigé dealership.
Airport Marine serves counties in mid-Alabama, covering Lewis Smith Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Jordan Lake, Mitchell Lake, Lay Lake and Martin Lake.