27Apr 2018 by Fred Crooks
Business Exit Planning

Business Exit Planning

Business Advisory, Fundamentals, Small Business
Business Exit Planning - Planning with the End in Mind There comes a time for every small business owner to exit their business. Properly positioning your business to be sold can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a business owner, but also one of the most challenging. Failing to plan for the sale or succession can lead to a disappointing, and sometimes catastrophic, ending to what has been an otherwise successful and fulfilling business career. When it comes to developing a business exit plan, those who have worked with some kind of business or strategic plan in the past are at an advantage. Regardless, putting together a workable exit plan is not an impossible task. Start with a self-evaluation of your personal and business needs, goals and…
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22Feb 2018 by Fred Crooks No Comments
How to judge your business success

How to judge your business success

Business Advisory, Fundamentals, Small Business
Once you’ve checked your business vitals (see our previous post, Why You Need to Regularly Check Your Business Vitals ) the next step in assessing the health and performance of your organization is to begin comparing your key business metrics with your competitors.Now, every industry has its own challenges, and its own means of measuring success, but there are a few universal standards that can be relied upon when making such comparisons.In particular, you should look at gross profit and break-even analysis.Gross profit is rather simple - it’s your sales minus the cost of goods sold (the direct cost of the production of goods sold or service provided).The break-even analysis, however, is a little more complex. It is designed to help you analyze the various aspects of your business to…
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11Jan 2017 by Fred Crooks No Comments
Building a strong financial foundation

Building a strong financial foundation

Fundamentals, Uncategorized
If you were planning to build your dream home, you wouldn’t start by designing the loft space and the balcony overlooking the swimming pool. Your first step would be to dig down and build the best possible foundation, to make sure your new house was based on solid ground. Only then would you start building on top, adding rooms and creating the perfect living space for you and your family. The same is true of your business planning. If you start developing grand plans for the future of your enterprise without getting your fundamental accounts and finances in order, you’re building your organization on extremely shaky ground – and that’s not an advisable plan for the long-term attainment of your goals. Getting your financial house in order  At Checkbox, we…
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07Dec 2016 by William Simi No Comments
The importance of growing your cash reserves

The importance of growing your cash reserves

Business Advisory, Fundamentals
Running hand in hand with good budgeting is the need for your business to consider the importance of growing cash reserves. Having cash that’s available in the business for unexpected financial challenges is part of building risk control into your business model. In an uncertain world, knowing that the adequacy and growth of cash reserves has been considered in your budget plan provides real comfort that you will be able to: deal with the emergencies that may come, and build capacity toward the successful achievement of your organizational goals, whether those goals takes the form of an increase in profits or market share for your for-profit business, or the expanded and deepened social impact of your nonprofit’s programs. On the flipside, not putting the right consideration into cash flow can…
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16Nov 2016 by Fred Crooks No Comments
Why budgeting is essential to success

Why budgeting is essential to success

Business Advisory, Fundamentals
Whatever stage your business or organization is at, it’s important to have the best possible overview of your costs and cash flow. If you’re going to track and measure your overhead, you’re going to need to set a clear budget right from the beginning – and that means putting serious thought into your budgeting from day one. Budgeting is one of the fundamentals that can often be overlooked by business owners, or non-profit CEOs, whose focus is pushing forward the next goal on the horizon. But when you neglect your budgeting, you’re setting a highly unstable foundation stone on which to build the rest of your business plan. Why is budgeting so important to the health of your organization? And how can a more proactive approach to budget management improve…
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