Found Money E-Book

Steve Wilkinghoff

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 273

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

A fresh perspective on what it takes to run a moneymaking smallbusiness If you're a small business owner, you probably started out witha great idea, an entrepreneurial dream, and the willingness to workas hard as you have to. You're up-and-running, your products andservices are selling, and you are working as hard as you can. Butwhere do you go from here? How do you get there? And how can you besure your business will make you money now and for the longterm? Found Money presents a new and powerful approach tosmall-business success. It helps you figure out, instantly, whetheryour business is on-track or flying off the rails (and how tocorrect it if it is flying off the rails). Not only does it helpyou understand how your business makes you money, but how tocontrol that process as well. It offers accessible, easy-to-usetools and tactics to help you understand the links between whathappens in your small business and the financial results youachieve so you can proactively create the financial results youwant. * Helps you maximize the money your small business makes byshowing you where additional profit and cash flow is hiding rightnow in your business * Steve Wilkinghoff is an accountant and consultant who helpsbusinesses reach their full, money-making potential * Foreword by Michael Gerber, preeminent small business guru If you own your own small business but don't know how to takecontrol of the financial results it gives you, Found Moneyhands you the strategies, tactics and tools you need to takecontrol, and direct and maximize the money-making process.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1 - WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS?

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS?

SO WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS?

THE FOUND MONEY SYSTEM CAN HELP

FIVE KEYS TO SUCCESS WITH THE FOUND MONEY SYSTEM

CHAPTER 2 - WHEN DOES YOUR BUSINESS MAKE MONEY?

A NASTY URBAN LEGEND

HOW DOESN’T YOUR BUSINESS MAKE MONEY?

HOW DOES YOUR BUSINESS MAKE MONEY?

TRIPLE OVERLAP—THE KEY TO A MONEYMAKING BUSINESS

WATCH OUT FOR THE DANGER ZONES

CHAPTER 3 - MAKING MONEY: NET PROFIT

NET PROFIT

WHAT IS NET PROFIT?

CONTROLLING THE PROCESS OF NET PROFIT

CHAPTER 4 - MAKING MONEY: RETURN ON INVESTMENT

BREAKING IT DOWN

EATING SOUP WITH A FORK

BACK TO SCHOOL

THE BUSINESS DEATH SPIRAL

THE DEATH SPIRAL IN ACTION

DEFEATING THE DEATH SPIRAL

CHAPTER 5 - MAKING MONEY: POSITIVE CASH FLOW

WHAT IS CASH FLOW?

WHAT CASH FLOW IS NOT

YOUR GROWTH LIMITER

CHAPTER 6 - ISYOUR BUSINESS MAKING YOU MONEY?

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

IS YOUR BUSINESS MAKING MONEY?

CHAPTER 7 - WHICH PRODUCTS MAKE YOU MONEY? (And Which Ones Don’t?)

GROSS MARGIN—IT’S CRITICAL!

A SURPRISE FOR ME

THE UGLY DUCKLING OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

GROSS MARGIN—WHAT IS IT?

GROSS MARGIN VERSUS GROSS PROFIT

GROSS MARGIN ANALYSIS

PUTTING THE TRIPLE OVERLAP TOGETHER

CHAPTER 8 - GROSS MARGIN MATH

CALCULATING GROSS MARGIN

CHAPTER 9 - WHICH CUSTOMERS MAKE YOU MONEY? (And Which Ones Don’t?)

MONEYMAKING CUSTOMERS

CUSTOMER GROSS PROFIT

CUSTOMER ROI

CUSTOMER CASH FLOW

CCM’S COOL, BUT CAN IT MAKE YOU MONEY?

CHAPTER 10 - YOUR CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY MAP

YOUR VERY OWN DRAWBRIDGE

YOUR CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY MAP

RESONANCE SCORE

BACK TO THE CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY PLOT

GUARD YOUR DRAWBRIDGE

CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY MAP TACTICS AND ACTIONS

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY MAP

ANALYZING YOUR CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY MAP

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES

CHAPTER 11 - FOUND MONEY MATH (It’s Fun—Really)

RUSSIAN ROULETTE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

THE GROSS PROFIT FORMULA, REVISITED

THE FOUND MONEY GROSS PROFIT FORMULA IN ACTION

THE WIZARD OF (PROFIT) OZ

IT’S ALL ABOUT LEVERAGE

COST/VOLUME/PROFIT ANALYSIS

CVPA AS YOUR BUSINESS ROADMAP

GETTING THERE FROM HERE

CHAPTER 12 - YOUR PRICING BOOTCAMP

SOME THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS

YOUR FOUND MONEY REPLACEMENT FACTOR

STEP TOWARD YOUR FEAR OF PRICING

YOUR FOUND MONEY PRICE CUT FACTOR

PRICE DOESN’T REALLY MATTER AT ALL!

YOUR PRICE STRATEGY

CHAPTER 13 - THE END OF THE LINE . . . AND JUST THE BEGINNING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INDEX

Copyright © 2009 by Steve Wilkinghoff. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Wilkinghoff, Steve, 1969-

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

eISBN : 978-0-470-50416-1

1. Industrial management. 2. Business enterprises. 3. Businesspeople.

4. Profit. I. Title.

HD31.W5159 2009

658.15’5-dc22

2009004119

To Sherri, Julia, Lauryn, Graeme, and Carter. You are the five best things in life, and give me strength, motivation, and humor. I love you all very much.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my sincere and deep appreciation to the many people who have contributed, each in their unique way, to the realization of my vision for helping business owners throughout the world.

To my wife, Sherri, for being such a great and supportive friend, partner, and mother to our children. You make it possible for me to work, travel, create, and build my vision of transforming the lives of business owners throughout the world.

To my children, Julia, Lauryn, Graeme, and Carter. You four are proof that angels really do exist here on earth. I have a bottomless well of love and admiration for each of you in my heart.

To Mom, Dad, and Max. Thank you for your love, encouragement and support in all my dreams and all I’ve aspired to accomplish over the years.

To Michael Gerber. You are an amazing person with powerful insights into the world of business. And as a friend and mentor, you are absolutely wonderful to know.

Thank you all.

FOREWORD

I am a reader of books. I am also an author of books. Over the last month, I have read more than 25 books. Over the past 25 years I have written 9 books. Like you, I suppose, I read—and I write—to be inspired, to be caught up in new worlds, to have my imagination piqued, to listen to the sound of words. But, most of all, I read and I write to be entranced by an incredibly well told story. I am infatuated with a great, original spin on an old story.

This book, Found Money, is just that: a great, original spin on an old story.

In this case, the old story is the story of money.

According to Steve Wilkinghoff, money is not the root of all evil; it’s our lack of understanding of money that is.

As entrepreneurs and business owners, you and I are faced every day with the story of money as it plays its way in and out of our businesses and our lives.

As entrepreneurs and business owners, you and I have faced the dreaded meeting with our financial advisors, accountants, CPAs, CFOs, and, of course, with our husbands and wives.

Always, we are asked those dreaded questions: How did this happen? Why didn’t we make any money? Why did sales not go up—or, even worse, why did sales go down?

And, most of all, where is the money when you need it?

In Found Money, Steve Wilkinghoff will tell you an old story in an original, compelling, and amazingly important way. He’ll tell you that your CPA isn’t your greatest friend, your Capital Advisor® is.

What is a Capital Advisor®?

According to Steve Wilkinghoff, a Capital Advisor® is a professional who has mastered the art and science of finding money in your company, long before you ever need it, and showing you why and how you can design your company in such a way as to create found money everywhere you look: in the Sales Department, in the Marketing Department, in the Production Division, in the Inventory Control System.

In short, Steve Wilkinghoff is the supreme Capital Advisor® for your business and your life.

He will show you in the pages of this book how to think about money in a way you never have before.

He will demonstrate to you in this book that the story of money is a magical story, one loaded with promise, one that always can have a happy ending . . . if you approach it the way your Capital Advisor® shows you to. If you are determined to do more than add up the results at the end of the story, design those results at the beginning of the story, where every great company lives.

Enjoy this book.

Adopt its principles.

But, most of all, listen to Steve Wilkinghoff, one of the most important storytellers you have ever had the privilege to meet.

I did. And my life has never been the same since.

—MICHAEL E. GERBERAuthor of The E-Myth Revisited, Awakening the Entrepreneur Within, and Founder and CEO of The Entrepreneur Capital Corporation

PREFACE

Have you ever seen a small child trying to “walk” a large dog? Of course you have—we’ve all seen that familiar scene at least once before. A small child (heck, sometimes even a small adult) holds on to a leash with all his or her strength, teeth clenched and neck muscles popping from the exertion of trying to control the animal. The child tries to lead the dog in whatever direction he or she wants it to go, and the dog goes along with the child—as long as it wants to.

But the large dog is definitely the one who’s really in control. That becomes obvious the second that dog picks up a scent, sees something it wants to explore, wants to go faster, or wants to go slower (yeah, right). Then it goes off in the direction it wants to go, and the small child is taken along with the dog.

It’s those moments where it becomes obvious that the dog is really the one in control. Up until that point, the child might have felt that he or she was in control, but that was just an illusion that continued as long as the dog went along with the child. When the dog shows who’s really in control, though, the child more or less goes along for the ride. The child holds on, hoping the dog will eventually get to where the child wants it to go.