America's debt default averted - Financially Greece is now in a better state!

Today the U.S. has agreed to increase the level of debt owed per head of population to a staggering $48,000, and avert defaulting on repayment of it's debt, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders announced the agreement on emergency legislation last night, lifting a dark cloud that had threatened to rain down untold damage on a US economic recovery. So rather than default on the national debt which no doubt would have serious ramifications around the world the US has decided to increase it's own overdraft facility. Interestingly the Markets around the world responded positively to the news. The increased debt facility should gives the government enough wriggle room to allow it to function normally until the next general election.

So American debt per head of population is now greater that the $43,000 of Greece and in getting close to double the UK debt of $26,000.

WARNING: Asking for an increased overdraft facility is unlikely to work with your bank. You would be a lot better off focusing on Finding Cash in Your Business, handle it better and look for the golden opportunities it creates. Click the link to see how!

Apple to release OS X Lion a Cash game changer

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion release will set the cat among the pigeons ... but why should you be interested? For the first time Apple will release a new operating system only as a digital download available from it's online app store. Overnight this will dismantle the software reseller market and rebuild a direct sales channel to Apple’s customers. Obviously this will adversely affect companies that used to create and distribute the DVDs for the Operating System.  A grave impact could be felt by the business plan of PC World, best buy etc. as software manufacturers make the move to digital download only.

Putting to one side the technical difficulties in deploying a 4gigabit download, from design to delivery no physical touch is required, and the speed of product deployment is vastly improved as postage and packing becomes irrelevant.

More importantly the Cash implications are huge as the lead to Cash has just come down from weeks to minutes. Reseller bad debt has become extinct, and to top it all that Apple will be selling the software with an eye watering profit margin approaching close to 100%, once it recovers it’s development costs, which could happen within days of the release.

The release of OS X Lion is a Cash game changer it should make you stop and think about the way you handle Cash in your Business.  Remember, it's all about Finding Cash in Your Business, handling it well and looking for the golden opportunities it creates.

Phone hacking and the real costs

Up to March 2010, the News of the World newspaper published by News Group Newspapers, owned by News International and running almost 40% of newspapers in the UK, had spent over £2 million settling court cases with victims of phone hacking. Today New International announced the closure of the News of the World paper after 168 years with the potential loss of up to 200 jobs.

The cost to the News of the World pales into insignificance when you consider that over the last few days the parent company Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has seen its share price drop a few percentage points wiping over a billion dollars of it's market cap. 

The closure is more likely connected with the share price drop, advertisers withdrawing their support from other newspapers in the group, increased scrutiny over journalism going forward, and news international's bid to own BSkyB outright, than the real cost measured in the additional suffering phone hacking has caused to individuals, relatives and friends.

Have a listen to the Cash in your Business podcast and see how your business can benefit from the 10 vital signs of life.    

Wimbledon Centre Court Nadal V Murray in the Cash growth Semi Final

Let's look at the financial prize stats to date and see if we can serve up any conclusions on the outcome of the match (Wimbledon 2011) Andy Murray has played 391 Career tennis matches of those he has won 289 and lost 102 and in the process has earned himself $16million USD that works out at an average of $41,000 for each game played. Rafael Nadal has played 625 Career tennis matches of those he has won 517 and lost 108 and in the process has earned himself $42million USD that works out at an average of $67,000 for each game played.

So it looks like it's all over for the Scot until you challenge recent baseline performance with hawk eye. Year to date Murray has played 30 career tennis matches of those he has won 22 and lost 8 and in the process has earned himself $2million USD that works out at an average of $67,000 for each game played.  Year to date Nadal has played 52 career tennis matches of those he has won 45 and lost 7 and in the process has earned himself $4.3 million USD that works out at an average of $83,000 for each game played. So Nadal PLC is expected to win until you look at the prize earnings growth.

The earnings growth for Murray PLC has increased by $26,000 over the average baseline figure of $41,000 as compared to Nadal's increase of $16,000 over his average baseline serve of $67,000.  So there you have it invest in Nadal PLC for a powerful serve and a nice stable return or Murray PLC for a vastly improved baseline serve, a speedy return and a potential future winner. 

Finally, use your head. Nothing in this post is intended to replace common sense, and as you can imagine Cash prize money is only a part of a Players income. But the question remains how do others perceive your companies growth potential? Remember, it's all about Finding Cash in Your Business, handling it well and looking for the golden opportunities it creates. 

The Greek Tragedy

The Greek government employs 1/3 of the population. It has the highest budget deficit in the EU. In monetary terms it spends approx. $45Billion per annum more than it raises in taxes, and it's debt mountain stands at about $544 billion.  A new loan package of a further circa 120 billion euro over three years is currently being considered by the IMF. So not surprisingly any additional loans come with very strong caveats. On 13 June 2011, Standard and Poors lowered the Greek sovereign debt credit rating to "CCC', which means: vulnerable, dependent on current economic situation!


If the outstanding debt is restructured delaying repayment further the credit agencies will rate the Greek government bonds as Junk, which means that the lenders are not expected to get anything like the face value back.  It's all very well getting a loan but the debt problem has not gone away, the deficit has not gone away and in fact the problem has now been compounded with high interest payments.  


The next few weeks will be critical to the future of the eurozone.  Here are some potential consequences of the a Greek sovereign debt default.  The so called PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) will struggle to raise any additional funding at favourable rates. A number of banks including the bank of Cypress could go bust, "flag of convenience" shipping and holidaying in Greece could become much cheaper. 


But here is the billion dollar question "why are the eurozone heavy weights like Germany and France not throwing themselves behind more loans to Greece at more favourable rates?"  Could it be that the eurozone has reached the tipping point, and it is now better for the eurozone if Greece just slipped away?  Ask yourself the question how long could you run a business in deficit?  The key to surviving the global credit crunch is to look for cash in your Business, find it, handle it well and look for the golden opportunities it creates.  Finding Cash in Your Business

Are you up to your waist in quotes?

Cutting costs and improving Cash Flow is where all small businesses need to be right now.  The big question is where do you start?

Recently the owner of a small business said to me I am quoting for more business opportunities than ever before, converting less, constantly running short of time and my costs keep going up.

He then showed me into his office where ring binders full of quotes that had not converted to orders were stacked in waist height piles, taking up valuable floor space. May I first say that these guys were experts at filling quotes, with a keen eye for methodical approach, and if that had been their core business they would have been very profitable. Mentally I could see cash sticking out of the ring binders and falling onto the floor. He asked me the obvious question why have I lost out on so many quotes? His business was a car body repair shop and rather than provide an answer to a subject I knew nothing about. I asked him to indulge me as we started to evaluate how much money he had invested in creating the stacks of quotes.

The results were staggering in one year alone he had investing about two years wages, which had ultimately feed through to his bottom line costs and explained why he was busier without seeing any improvement in cash flow.

Small businesses cannot afford the luxury of doing “business as usual” in a recessionary environment it is critical to re-evaluate how your business operates.

Improve your Company's Cash Flow now! Episode 6 Finding Cash in Your Business

The podcast that helps you find Cash in your Business: On this episode we answer the question what is SG&A. The featured segment ‘Improve your Company's Cash Flow now!' by using your internal accounts, and how that helps to pinpoint areas for improvement. Our regular Cash in quick tip... and a true story to stop your Ship from sinking. And a special offer.

The aftershock of the Japanese Tsunami

Last Friday an 8.9 earthquake caused a Tsunami to land on part of the Japanese coastline. Tsunami comes from the Japanese language and means harbour wave. This wave destroyed everything in its wake for up to 10km inland, as it travelled at the cruising speed of a jetliner and pounded the land with a wall of sludge and debris.

When the 3rd largest economy in the world gets hit we all feel the aftershock. One days trading in the UK saw £30B wiped of the value of FTSE shares, and insurance claims against British companies are expected to be of the same magnitude. Supply of Japanese high tech specialist parts have now become hard to come by, and sales of luxury exports into Japan have plummeted.  Japan is now expected to stay in recession and its trade deficit to increase.

Added to this the potential for a nuclear meltdown as radiation continues to leaks from Japan’s nuclear plants, and you can see why throughout the world people are asking questions about our reliance on Nuclear fuel.

But all this pales into insignificance when you consider the magnitude of the loss of life and human suffering. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Japanese people at this time.

www.craigscopy.com I Module 1 Cash Flow Formula

Don't miss out. This is part 1 of the Series that has changed the way literally thousands of people understand how cash flow works. Just look at the viewing figures!

It's all about ... Ways to find Cash you didn't know you had, and attract cash you didn't know you needed.

www.craigscopy.com I Module 1 Cash Flow Formula V1.3

View more presentations from Craig’s Copy.

Your Company's Health check. Episode 5 Finding Cash in Your Business

The podcast that helps you find Cash in your Business: On this episode we answer the question what is a Business plan. The featured segment ‘Measuring your Company’s health’, and we are going to provide the 10 vital signs to look out for. Our regular Cash in quick tip. Explain why you should be interested in Market perception, Accounting irregularities and the memory boosting CASH acronym. And a special offer.

'7 areas where companies bleed cash' Episode 4 Finding Cash in Your Business

The podcast that helps you find Cash in your Business: On this episode you can look forward to an explanation of the terms Profit and Loss. The featured segment ‘7 areas where companies bleed Cash’, and at what cost a blood transfusion comes. The Cash in quick tip. An introduction to help you understand the business’s Working Capital Cycle, and why improving it benefits the bottom line, and a quick look at loans. And a special offer.

How to beat the competition. Episode 3 Finding Cash in Your Business

The podcast that helps you find Cash in your Business: On this episode you can look forward to an explanation of the terms Liquidity. The featured story to get you thinking about beating the competition. The Cash in quick tip. An introduction to competitive analysis, the Current Ratio and the Acid test. And a special offer.

Generate more Cash from existing turnover. Episode 2 of the Finding Cash in your Business Podcast Series

The podcast that helps you find Cash in your Business: On this episode you can look forward to an explanation of the terms Working Capital, Free cash flow and EBITDA. The featured story to get you thinking about generating more cash from existing turnover. The Cash in quick tip. An introduction to time lag and the value of Cash flow forecasting. And our special offer.

Having too many customers can break you

What many businesses don't get, is that the customer acquisition and maintenance cost are normally far greater, than the money the customer will spend with you on their first sale.

On average a business need to bring each customer back at least 5 times before they will begin to generate a profit and become good quality Cash customers.

One business I looked at had just over 700 customers, but was struggling to sell into their customer base.

• Initially I asked for a historical list of how much each customer had spent with the company.
• My next question was how many customers regularly do business with the company. Of the 700 only 70 regularly did business with the company.
• Now comes the crucial question ‘of the 70 how many pay their bills on time or at all?’ now we are down to 30.
• I then asked for credit ratings for the 30 left and that brought the number of good Cash customers down to 20.

The company had made the fatal mistake of not understanding the cost of customer acquisition and maintenance. The expectation was that all customers are equal and so they were shared out equally amongst the sales staff.

The average business spends 6 times more trying to win a new customer, than it does generating new business from an existing customer.

In recognition of this fact the solution required a combination of reducing the size of the sales team and providing a more appropriate level of account management.

The company now focuses on supporting the top 20 accounts with sales executives. The other 680+ accounts are managed by a combination of a telesales team and the bailiffs.

• A typical fully loaded Sales Executive cost to the business was £100,000 and there were 30 in the team including managers. Each sales executive handled over 20 customers. The business was spending around £3m supporting customers who had no intention of buying. In fact only 1 out of every 35 customers was worth supporting.
• Contrary to popular opinion creating a smaller Sales team increased motivation, productivity, salary and sales. The new smaller team had a reduced management overhead and had improved the profit from existing turnover by around 7%.
• The Sales executives had more time to spend with each of their customers that meant they delivered a better quality of service and this in turn encouraged the customer to place more orders.
• It was true that the business had redeployed staff but by doing so it focused on creating a better staff moral and secured the jobs of all that remained.

The business was now running much more efficiently, it has seen an on-going improvement to turnover, and is in a much better place to manage the growth of the sales team going forward.