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Cashflow Is Jack, Queen And King

12 January 2014

This is a great time of year to sit down and work out what it is we want to achieve in business this year. For example:

1. Which new products will we be launching?

2. Who are the new customers we are specifically targeting?

3. What ‘make or buy’ decisions do we need to plan for?

4. Where will we travel to in search of new ideas and to spot future trends?

5. When will we begin our cost reduction programme?

6. Why are we waiting?

Amongst all this ‘business goodness’ it is easy to lose sight of the cash flow implications for our organisation. It’s fun and exciting to design new products, or plan an interesting business trip, but it tends to be dull and repetitive to keep an eye on the money. This means it is easy to let our enthusiasm get the better of us and we could ignore dull, but vital, financial planning, or delegate to someone who doesn’t have our grasp of the nuances of our plans and ideas.

Whether you are a business of 1 or 1,000 – cash flow is the oxygen of success. This week our task is simple; to compile a spreadsheet that shows the impact on our cash reserves as we plan our year ahead. Where do things get tight for us? Who do we have to manage to control expenditure, or make sure we receive payments on time? What reserves do we have, to guard against potential unknown events?

Cash flow is not sexy, but it is the Jack, Queen and King in the pack.

Next week: You, Me and Skype