It sure looks like cash and credit will be tight all year, possibly even for 2-3 more years.  Perhaps the best tool of all time for knowing how you’re doing on cash, credit, billings, profits, and all key indicators is the Trailing 12-Month (T12M) tool.  Nearly eveyone receiving these emails has heard about it from me…but here’s a revelation:  Very few CEOs implement T12M’s the first time they hear about it.  And…when they DO IMPLEMENT they all tell me:  I wish I had “heard” you the first time, or, because of T12M’s I’m now seeing things and making profit-making decisions about twleve months sooner than ever before! 

The very best and easiest T12M’s to use are in the 4-Charts Tool and 5-Chart ULTIMATE Tool.  They really get you started on seeing what’s going on with the P&L of your business.  Either of these two tools plus the Cash Manager Tool are all you need to make DRAMATIC improvements in the management of your business.  Give them a try…just go to www.ceotools.com, click on New Tools Catalog, scroll down to those three tools, and then print out the free PDF.  complete, easy-to-implement notes are included; then you can either build the tool yourself or buy the Excel version (all set for copy-pasting your data in just a few minutes to use the tools).

Hope you will use these tools in your business.  If you’re already using T12M’s, great…you might discover additional application of them by taking a look at the tools mentioned above.  Let us hear back from you, please, with any thoughts!

With very best wishes, Kraig

Here’s how to do it:  simply start watching, AND TAKING ACTION, to improve a few very-revealing key indicators, like debt:equity ratio (the #1 bankruptcy predictor), new order activity (e.g. continuously increasing number of leads), productivity (improving output per dollar-intensive resource), and true cash in hand (that’s real money, not credit line availability).  Add a few leading economic indicators:  employment (U6 from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and unemployment % and trends over time in your geographic markets), plus some measure of your market share.

See the dashboards in the New Tools Catalog at www.ceotools.com for ideas.  As always, we hope this contributes to your success!

Very best wishes for managing metrics, Kraig

 MSNBC Top 10 Business Movies   

As always, hope this is helpful!  Very best, Kraig

More cash ideas:  go to your bank and borrow down against your availability; check your inventory “earn-&-turn” and your receivables “DSO tracking on 12mma charts” for items and accounts that can yield immediate cash.  Try WalkingBear’s credit/collection techniques (see our blog below and search on Walking); try “Walking Your Four Corners (W4C)” to identify stuff you can liquidate or translate into cash.  Often, you’ll also see things that represent additional collateral to shore up your borrowings (into cash).

Click on the following link to see our Vistage article on niche improvements, some of which get cash:  — all these ideas aim at helping your business.

Please remember our C-H-I-P-S acronym that works in every business we’ve ever walked through:  Cash Hides In Peculiar Spots!  I’m sure you’ll get some cash from your business by just walking your four corners.

Finally, just search on “Walking” in the seach box above for ideas from our favorite credit/collections guru (Abe WalkingBear Sanchez).