I recently ran a one-day seminar on Navigating Turbulent Times in which one of the key subjects was Business Process Efficiency.  I based most of that session around the opportunities that are available from taking advantage of the digital and internet age we live in, and new tools that give us the ability to map and run live business process simulations in order to find new models of process efficiency.

Accountants sometime joke about the SME business owner who shows up sometime between November and January each year with a cardboard box of invoices, receipts, some cheque butts and a couple of bank statements, asking the accountant to do the tax return for the previous year.  The joke is that the cardboard box and the annual tax return represent the total financial management system for the business!

In this third discussion on managing transitions I want to talk about the final stage ‘launching new beginnings’.  In the logical words of Harry Emerson Fosdick “He who chooses the beginning of a road also chooses the place it leads to.”  New beginnings are launched with a vision – a picture of some ideal future state or place that the planner seeks to reach.

In the previous blog I began a discussion on the nature of business transitions - navigating a business through fundamental shifts in business process, technology, structure or perhaps overall direction.   Letting go of the ‘known’ of your existing comfort zones, and moving into the ‘unknown’ territory of a transition, is difficult.  This is understandable given the characteristics of the difficult ‘middles’.

I often get into discussions with business owners about pathways to business growth.  Although they might be hoping for a ‘sure-to-succeed’ set of recommendations the answer is far more elusive than any step by step process.  However one thing is for sure – you can’t just do more of the same old thing and expect different results to come out the other end.   So, if you want to grow a business from its current state, something has to change.  It could be some element of the business - or it could be you!

The New Zealand economy is dominated by small to medium sized businesses. Unfortunately, although we are very active at launching new businesses, we have a very poor record of growing them.  This is mirrored in the export statistics which show a similar record of non-performance.

In this issue I want to remind you of the critical importance of cash flow and focus your attention on the management of it as one of your prime responsibilities.  Cash flow to a business, is like air is to you and me; without it we die!  We therefore need to understand it, and give it significant management attention.

Nobody knows how serious this recession will be.  However, confidence in NZ is already taking a hit and this has an immediate negative impact on business.  So a topical question is how do we navigate our way through a recessionary cycle and be in good shape for the potential growth at the end.