5 November 2023 Newsletter
“No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.” — Ernest Hemingway
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a full week with a pair of 2-day offsite meetings and a few other meetings. It’s now November, and around six weeks until the end of the work year here and the traditional break at Christmas.
I encourage you to make the most of the next six weeks!
The Case For A Slowing Economy
(and how to Read More...
5 November 2023 Newsletter
“No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.” — Ernest Hemingway
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a full week with a pair of 2-day offsite meetings and a few other meetings. It’s now November, and around six weeks until the end of the work year here and the traditional break at Christmas.
I encourage you to make the most of the next six weeks!
The Case For A Slowing Economy
(and how to Read More...
19 March 2023 Newsletter
If you want the most make it easy. If you want the best make it hard
– US Marine Slogan
Hope you’re Thriving!
Some weeks very little changes, and other weeks a lot changes.
This week a lot has changed. Before we get into it, I’d like to complain about the way we’ve come to rely on software for more and more necessary operations almost every day, and yet it’s hard to get through a day without software failing – or engineers making confusing structural Read More...
19 March 2023 Newsletter
If you want the most make it easy. If you want the best make it hard
– US Marine Slogan
Hope you’re Thriving!
Some weeks very little changes, and other weeks a lot changes.
This week a lot has changed. Before we get into it, I’d like to complain about the way we’ve come to rely on software for more and more necessary operations almost every day, and yet it’s hard to get through a day without software failing – or engineers making confusing structural Read More...
15 January 2023 Newsletter
“If you build your business on customer needs, not technology, you have good chance of success because customer needs do not change.” Hermann Simon
Hope you’re Thriving!
I hope your New Year is off to a good start.
Over the holiday season, I’ve collected some of my favourite articles and podcasts from the year to share with you. Kind of like a best-of from 2022.
Couple this with my recommended reading list and hopefully, there is something of Read More...
15 January 2023 Newsletter
“If you build your business on customer needs, not technology, you have good chance of success because customer needs do not change.” Hermann Simon
Hope you’re Thriving!
I hope your New Year is off to a good start.
Over the holiday season, I’ve collected some of my favourite articles and podcasts from the year to share with you. Kind of like a best-of from 2022.
Couple this with my recommended reading list and hopefully, there is something of Read More...
11 September 2022 Newsletter
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers” Harry Truman
Hope you’re Thriving!
For quite a long while I’ve promised the new book about onboarding is coming.
Well, this week, it all became very real! We’ve secured a release date for the 1st of November 2022, and I received the first physical copy. I’m delighted with how it’s turned out, how clearly I’ve articulated what I wanted to detail, and I’ve already been told many times that Read More...
11 September 2022 Newsletter
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers” Harry Truman
Hope you’re Thriving!
For quite a long while I’ve promised the new book about onboarding is coming.
Well, this week, it all became very real! We’ve secured a release date for the 1st of November 2022, and I received the first physical copy. I’m delighted with how it’s turned out, how clearly I’ve articulated what I wanted to detail, and I’ve already been told many times that Read More...
What are the two things that leaders worry about the most? Cash and Digital Disruption.
In this vlog I discuss how to achieve the Core Capital Target from Scaling Up, How do you avoid Digital Disruption with Salim Ismail, and how to help a manager achieve their KPI’s. Read More...
What are the two things that leaders worry about the most? Cash and Digital Disruption.
In this vlog I discuss how to achieve the Core Capital Target from Scaling Up, How do you avoid Digital Disruption with Salim Ismail, and how to help a manager achieve their KPI’s. Read More...
In this VLOG I talk about the 3 most important numbers a CEO should track – Cashflow forecast, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet.
Also I talk about the difference between Strategy and Tactics and finally I discuss the real enemy of Leadership teams. And it’s not the competition!
Read More...
In this VLOG I talk about the 3 most important numbers a CEO should track – Cashflow forecast, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet.
Also I talk about the difference between Strategy and Tactics and finally I discuss the real enemy of Leadership teams. And it’s not the competition!
Read More...
One of the most important numbers a leadership team must understand is the productivity of people within the business. When considering all the KPI’s a business should measure, Labor Efficiency Ratio or LER is one that best measures the productivity of people within a company.
The LER as detailed in Scaling Up by Verne Harnish and the book Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits by Greg Crabtree is beneficial because labour is the largest fixed expense in a business, it is the Read More...
One of the most important numbers a leadership team must understand is the productivity of people within the business. When considering all the KPI’s a business should measure, Labor Efficiency Ratio or LER is one that best measures the productivity of people within a company.
The LER as detailed in Scaling Up by Verne Harnish and the book Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits by Greg Crabtree is beneficial because labour is the largest fixed expense in a business, it is the Read More...
In my previous post 4 reasons this is the most important KPI you are not measuring I explained how Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER) is the most important number to small and medium businesses for the following reasons;
Different employees have different productivity rates
Labor is the most expensive component of your Profit & Loss
LER directly correlates to Net Profit
LER is a leading indicator
As a quick overview, LER is calculated by dividing Gross Profit (Revenue minus Cost of Goods Read More...
In my previous post 4 reasons this is the most important KPI you are not measuring I explained how Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER) is the most important number to small and medium businesses for the following reasons;
Different employees have different productivity rates
Labor is the most expensive component of your Profit & Loss
LER directly correlates to Net Profit
LER is a leading indicator
As a quick overview, LER is calculated by dividing Gross Profit (Revenue minus Cost of Goods Read More...
If you were to really consider it, what would be the most important number in your business?
If you had only one number to measure and judge as the most important, what would that be?
If you had a background in sales, you might suggest revenue, or (if you had a successful background in sales) perhaps Gross Profit.
If you had a background in accounting you might suggest EBITDA or shareholder return.
And if you had a background in engineering or operations you might suggest projects delivered Read More...
If you were to really consider it, what would be the most important number in your business?
If you had only one number to measure and judge as the most important, what would that be?
If you had a background in sales, you might suggest revenue, or (if you had a successful background in sales) perhaps Gross Profit.
If you had a background in accounting you might suggest EBITDA or shareholder return.
And if you had a background in engineering or operations you might suggest projects delivered Read More...
What’s more important, profit or cash? If you’re a growing business, it’s absolutely cash. This is why Amazon has continued to thrive at near break-even or frequent losses. It’s Amazon’s business model that generates significant cash – more than $ 3 billion in 2013 – that fuels its rapid growth. You can get by with decent people, decent strategy, and decent execution, but not a day without cash. And cash becomes even more critical as the business scales up since “growth Read More...
What’s more important, profit or cash? If you’re a growing business, it’s absolutely cash. This is why Amazon has continued to thrive at near break-even or frequent losses. It’s Amazon’s business model that generates significant cash – more than $ 3 billion in 2013 – that fuels its rapid growth. You can get by with decent people, decent strategy, and decent execution, but not a day without cash. And cash becomes even more critical as the business scales up since “growth Read More...
November 2014 Evolution Partners Newsletter “The fire that you want to ignite in others must first burn within you.” – Augustine of Hippo
A word from Brad
I spent the past week in Las Vegas for the Fortune Growth Summit learning from some pretty fascinating thought leaders and will be bringing you an overview of their messages in future newsletters
Global Gazelles Award
Each year Gazelles provide a Core Values award for the person (from 150 globally) who excelled Read More...
November 2014 Evolution Partners Newsletter “The fire that you want to ignite in others must first burn within you.” – Augustine of Hippo
A word from Brad
I spent the past week in Las Vegas for the Fortune Growth Summit learning from some pretty fascinating thought leaders and will be bringing you an overview of their messages in future newsletters
Global Gazelles Award
Each year Gazelles provide a Core Values award for the person (from 150 globally) who excelled Read More...
October 2014 Evolution Partners Newsletter
“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.” – Confucius
A word from Brad
It’s been a very busy month running workshops along the east coast and in WA. Also we held TEDxPerth on October 4th which was broadcast across Australia and was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter Australia for the day.
Also I’m looking Read More...
October 2014 Evolution Partners Newsletter
“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.” – Confucius
A word from Brad
It’s been a very busy month running workshops along the east coast and in WA. Also we held TEDxPerth on October 4th which was broadcast across Australia and was the number 1 trending topic on Twitter Australia for the day.
Also I’m looking Read More...
Growth consumes cash – the first law of entrepreneurial gravity…
Get rid of your bank lines – Bill Ritchie, CEO of Think Fun, and his team, focused on cash and reduced what had become a permanent $1.5 million bank line down to zero. Reduce your cash cycle days – PPR Travel changed the color of their invoice to blue and reduced their cash cycle days by 15. Get customers to help fund your growth – Wild Birds Unlimited accomplished this through an innovative Free Birdseed Storage Read More...
Growth consumes cash – the first law of entrepreneurial gravity…
Get rid of your bank lines – Bill Ritchie, CEO of Think Fun, and his team, focused on cash and reduced what had become a permanent $1.5 million bank line down to zero. Reduce your cash cycle days – PPR Travel changed the color of their invoice to blue and reduced their cash cycle days by 15. Get customers to help fund your growth – Wild Birds Unlimited accomplished this through an innovative Free Birdseed Storage Read More...
If revenues aren’t soaring, there is something not quite right with one of these components, rough economy
or not.
Are your company’s revenues growing as fast as you would like? If yes, skip this column. If no, you need to look at your strategy – or more specifi cally, the business model aspect of your strategy. This is what Paul Silvis, founder of Restek, did when he became frustrated with a $7 million division that had stalled. Today, he has a clear path to $100 million.
As Read More...
If revenues aren’t soaring, there is something not quite right with one of these components, rough economy
or not.
Are your company’s revenues growing as fast as you would like? If yes, skip this column. If no, you need to look at your strategy – or more specifi cally, the business model aspect of your strategy. This is what Paul Silvis, founder of Restek, did when he became frustrated with a $7 million division that had stalled. Today, he has a clear path to $100 million.
As Read More...
Businesses often under invest on the accounting side of their business, seeing it as pure overhead meant to be kept to a minimum. And given a marginal dollar, most business owners will opt to either spend it on acquiring more resources or making more sales. In fact, I’ve seen the best investment a company can make is bolstering the numbers side of the business. Hiring just one additional accounting clerk or a part-time CFO can double profitability and cash within twelve months. So how Read More...
Businesses often under invest on the accounting side of their business, seeing it as pure overhead meant to be kept to a minimum. And given a marginal dollar, most business owners will opt to either spend it on acquiring more resources or making more sales. In fact, I’ve seen the best investment a company can make is bolstering the numbers side of the business. Hiring just one additional accounting clerk or a part-time CFO can double profitability and cash within twelve months. So how Read More...
Of the four “P’s” of marketing, price is the only one that provides direct revenue, the other three (product, place, and promotion) are expenses.
“Our customers have already consciously decided they are going to spend a little more when they buy from us,” notes Andy Buyting, President of New Brunswick, Canada-based Green Village Home and Garden. “So I try not to disappoint them!” Buyting raised prices 20 % on his most popular item and sold 24 % more Read More...
Of the four “P’s” of marketing, price is the only one that provides direct revenue, the other three (product, place, and promotion) are expenses.
“Our customers have already consciously decided they are going to spend a little more when they buy from us,” notes Andy Buyting, President of New Brunswick, Canada-based Green Village Home and Garden. “So I try not to disappoint them!” Buyting raised prices 20 % on his most popular item and sold 24 % more Read More...
