Make 2020 Your Year of Cash
We’ll be helping client companies focus on cash. Why? As crazy as it might seem, I hear too many owners talk incessantly about revenue or the top line, and I hear CPAs talk incessantly about ‘tax planning’ and I rarely hear anyone talk about accumulating cash.
It is cash that makes top line growth (more revenue) possible, and it is cash that makes earnings/profit grow year-over-year. Cash reduces risk.
Start with Strategy
The focus on cash begins with a straightforward articulation of the company’s strategy. For strategy to be truly useful it has to be written in such a way that anyone can SAY it out loud. It should be easy to check your TO-Do list against; to focus brainstorming and other discussions around; and to measure your actions and results against.
Every company has its preferred buyers and its preferred offerings. My clients work on making a list of the matches between buyers and offerings. Not everyone is a good fit for everything, and some people are a fantastic fit for some offerings. That’s where your strategic statements comes from.
You’ll make strategy useful when you write a series of statements that read like this:
We deliver X value to Y buyers and make Z profit.
Notice that it is the value you deliver that is what buyers are buying. This puts the emphasis on outcomes, not inputs. This makes a huge difference to the way buyers perceive your company’s offerings.
And also notice that you are forced to make a strategic statement about profit for each pairing of buyers and offerings. This is how your company accumulates cash.
What would be your top 5-10 strategic statements?
If you’re inspired to write your top 5-10 strategic statements but feel you need some help, let us know. We are always happy to help, whether the scope is large or small. 703-801-0345
