Testimonial - 5 Star Medical Transport, LLC - Apr 6, 2010
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Testimonials
After little more than a year in business, we knew that if we wanted to grow our business in this difficult economic climate we needed the help of a financial expert. As a start up business, we also knew that we could not afford to hire a Chief Financial Officer.
How great it was to meet Bill Wright of B2B CFO®. To be able to have the services of a CFO on a part-time basis has been fantastic for our business.
Bill met with us and learned all about our operations. He helped us upgrade and organize our accounting processes in house so that we are able to review our financials on a daily basis instead of relying on monthly reports from our accountant.
Bill also created a customized tracking program that gives us details on the utilization and productivity of each vehicle in our fleet. This has been an invaluable tool. Not only has it enabled us to increase our productivity and our profits, it has made it much easier for us to make sound decisions about how to grow our business.
We have been working with Bill for almost a year now and I don't know what we'd do without him. He continues to advise us on financial matters as well as overseeing our in house bookkeeping. When we recently had a meeting with our banking officers, Bill completed all of our paperwork and went with us as a representative at the meeting.
I would highly recommend Bill Wright and the services of B2B CFO® to every small business owner.
Robynne Redmon, Owner
5 Star Medical Transport, LLC
http://www.5starmedicaltransport.com/
Testimonial - On Call Holdings International, LLC - Mar 29, 2010
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Testimonials
“Recently, my business partner and I began a very risky and complicated process to acquire the assets of a failing publicly traded company. There were many legal and financial concerns that not only could cause us to fail in this endeavor, but also lose a lot of money in the process.
I knew we needed someone with a firm understanding of our risks, and who we could have as part of the team advising us from a financial standpoint. Bill Wright was hired as our part-time CFO for this purpose.
Bill worked with us to resolve many issues, most of which required an “out-of-the-box” solution. Once we were successful in our acquisition, we kept Bill on as our part-time CFO to oversee our accounting processes and help raise the capital necessary to fund our business plan. Bill was instrumental in writing our formal business plan to assist in raising outside capital, as well as completing the SBA package.
Bill Wright has been an important part of our team from the conception of our acquisition strategy, to its implementation, to its funding and ongoing CFO support. This is why he not only continues as our part-time CFO, but also sits on our Board.
I would recommend Bill to any entrepreneur or CEO looking to take their business to the next level, implement a “turn-around” program, or just looking for someone to review their present business model and processes to uncover greater efficiencies.”
Glenn R. Davis
CEO, On Call Holdings International, LLC
http://www.geeksoncall.com/
Testimonial - United Way of South Hampton Roads - Mar 25, 2010
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Testimonials
“I am pleased to write about what Bill Wright’s experience and skills have meant to the United Way of South Hampton Roads. When we found ourselves without our long tenured and skilled Controller due to an unanticipated medical problem, I contacted Bill. I knew B2B CFO® could be the temporary solution our organization needed, and that is exactly what happened. Bill quickly got to know the inner workings of our financial operation so we would not skip a beat, and we didn’t. He works well with all staff members. He is confident working with the senior management as well as Board of Directors, and meets all deadlines. I would be very pleased to recommend Bill and B2B CFO® to anyone interested in using their services.”
Mike Hughes, CEO, United Way of South Hampton Roads
http://www.unitedwayshr.org/index.php
What Serious Investors Want From Serious Entrepreneurs - Oct 26, 2009
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles
In his book “Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur”, author Dermot Berkery provides insights into how an entrepreneur can capture the attention of potential investors. His premise is that business plans, if they are to be effective communication tools to investors, must address the most important aspect of a company’s product or service – how it will achieve market power. He defines what market power is and how to produce a well-crafted business plan that truly gets investors attention. Below is a summary of my notes from Chapter 6 of that book - “How to Write a Winning Business Plan”:
§ Business plans aimed at investors must prove the business can achieve market power in market large enough to justify the investment
§ Market power allows the company to extract high return on capital and cast a deep footprint on industry – the only way a company can earn supernormal profit
§ Levers for achieving high return on capital – pricing power, scale, etc.
§ Without market power the product or service is a commodity and can find it hard to earn high return over any sustained period
§ Business plan should be a carefully constructed set of arguments underpinning the investment thesis
§ Every good investment thesis has at its core how company will capture market power, how long the window of opportunity for exploiting it is, and how market power will be monetized
§ Every fact, assertion, or hypothesis included in business plan should crafted in support of investment thesis – like a novel, a plan ....
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles
More than a few business owners during this recession have wondered the same thing - is there anything we could have done differently that would have created a different outcome? Some are facing circumstances they have never faced before – bank credit lines being eliminated, vendors cutting off their credit, customers leaving them at record rates, revenue dropping off at a double-digit pace, layoffs of loyal employees, and many other negative outcomes. In this blog entry, I wanted to highlight some examples of what several companies have done that have set them up to not only survive this recession, but to come out of it stronger than before. I also want to add a few of my own thoughts on what business owners can do to make sure their story has a more positive outcome. In their WSJ article “Halting Recovery Divides America in Two”, the authors highlight Northland Aluminum Products Inc. in Minneapolis, maker of Bundt pans and Nordic Ware. During boom times, it purposed to retain a cash reserve, so that when the recession struck, it used that reserve to expand. It is now in the midst of a $5 million project to increase its capacity by 40% to 50%. "We lived within our means and conserved ourselves," David Dalquist, Northland's chief executive, says of the privately held company. "Now we're in a position to take advantage of these difficult times." He says business is up 8% this year, mainly because Northland is grabbing market share from struggling rivals. Meantime, the construction bust means the plant expansion cost about 25% less than it might have a few years ago. (See full story at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125150649639668499.html). In another WSJ article, “Recipe for Success”, Chef and restaurateur David Burke launched his high-end restaurant businesses during restaurant boom times, starting in 2003. His restaurants are mainly in hard-hit areas including Manhattan's Upper East Side and Las Vegas. Mr. Burke has no experience owning restaurants in a down economy. It is projected that the $7 billion fine-dining industry will see a 12% to 15% drop in sales this year. However, Burke’s exper....
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles “Forecast - to calculate or predict (some future event or condition) usually as a result of study and analysis of available pertinent data.” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) Introduction Producing accurate and timely financial statements - the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows – are absolute necessities for all businesses regardless of size. Their purpose is historical in nature – and is vital for reporting past company operating results to owners, investors, creditors, as well as various taxing and government authorities. However, to assist entrepreneurs of small and mid-size companies make better business decisions, a forward looking management information tool needs to be employed – the Cash Flow Forecast. All business owners know that positive cash flow is what keeps their business alive. Running out of cash is among the most devastating events that any business can experience. The cash flow forecast helps predict future cash flows, under normal operating conditions, as well as under alternative scenarios using various assumptions, to help plan for their company’s future working capital needs. Preparing a Cash Flow Forecast Depending on the type of business and the use of the forecast, a cash flow forecast can be laid out in various formats - such as a 13-week (one fiscal quarter), 12-month (one fiscal year), or multi-year formats. Historical data needs to be available so it can be referred to in developing any forecast of future activity. Developing a cash flow forecast requires a systematic approach to projecting the sources and uses of cash in future periods. Sources of Cash The beginning of the cash flow cycle always begins with sources of cash, which is a forecast of sales. This can be done at the company level but it would be a more useful tool if sales were forecasted at the product line level, using product-specific quantity and pricing assumptions. Next, we will have to understand how those sales convert into cash receipts. The sale to cash conversion cycle depends on your company’s particular business model – cash is received either immediately as transactions are completed, or over time u....
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles Have you noticed in various media outlets a dramatic increase in the use of clichés describing the importance of cash in your business? I have seen and heard them all…classics such as “Cash is the Lifeblood” or “Cash is the Oxygen” of your business…they are all being used at an alarming rate. However, the granddaddy of all “cash” clichés has to be “CASH IS KING”. I must admit, I have used them all myself. I apologize ahead of time, but I’m going to actually employ the old granddaddy cliché as a starting point for my discussion…so get ready…here it comes. If “Cash Is King”, then most likely your “monarch” is being held captive on your balance sheet among your other working capital assets – and it is time we devise a plan to LIBERATE YOUR CASH! This article is going to be a little technical, but very practical, for business owners. With credit drying up from the usual sources, generating cash from internal sources has taken on a renewed level of importance. Working capital management is arguably the most important management activity in emerging and mid-sized companies because of the significant financial impact that it has on the company's well-being. When working capital is not adequately managed, the deterioration of cash flow critically affects a company's ability to fund operations, reinvest in the business and, ultimately, to survive. However, with adequate working capital management, cash flow supports a company that thrives in the marketplace. Working capital management is a very broad topic and it would take up much more room than allotted here in this column to cover it completely. So for purposes of this article, my comments are going to be confined to talking about measuring and improving your company’s Cash Conversion Cycle, and how this could have a dramatic impact on internally derived cash flows. Measuring the Cash Conversion Cycle The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is a financial indicator that is a combination of several financial activity ratios involving inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable and measures how fast a company can convert these core working capital assets and liabilities into cash on hand. Generally, the lower this number is the better for the company. The Calculation CCC = DIO + DSO - DPO DIO = Days Inventory Outstanding: A financial measure ....
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles In a recent interview, Warren Buffet, legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, described our current economic challenges as an “economic war”. With the U.S. economy shrinking at a 6.2 percent annual pace in the last quarter of 2008, a 63% increase in business bankruptcies over prior year, an unemployment rate of now 8.5% – you can’t argue that we are facing an economic situation that we have not seen for many decades – calling it an “economic war”, as Buffet had done, may be the most accurate way to describe it. The use of the “economic war” description caused me to reflect on what that means to owners and leaders of businesses. There really are only two possible responses that a business leader can make when faced with an “economic war” and where the battles are not going in your favor. One response is to retreat and surrender – you stop fighting and you give up. We know what that means – the business closes down, employees lose their jobs, vendors lose business, customers must find alternate sources, and the business owners’ dreams are crushed. However, the second response is to regroup, draw up new battle plans, and attack. As in any war, the difference between winning and losing comes down to strategy and execution of that strategy. The most important step I can advise business owners and managers as they regroup and draw up new battle plans is to Rediscover Value – we must look at value from an external perspective as well as an internal perspective. To understand value from an external perspective, you must gain a clear view of where you stand in the marketplace. It is important to listen and hear what the market is saying about the value of your products or services. You must evaluate your current market position compared to your direct competition and analyze how it has changed over time and determine why it has changed. Take a fresh look at the industry landscape and see whether the barriers to entry are as high as when you entered or have they come down. There may be innovations you have been holding back on investing in that you should pursue now with full force. Your pricing may have to be transformed to better reflect the value you are providing to the market. Analyzing profitability by various customer sets should determine opportunities to shed the least profitable customers and to strengthen your position with the most profitable customers. An analysis of your company’s capacity could yield opportunities to expand horizontally your company’s offerings to attract new customers. And finally, it may be the best time to consider a strategic acquisition to consolidate and increase your market share. Next we move onto the internal perspective, gaining a clear understanding of your internal value chain. Examine every process to weigh its ultimate value to the end product or service provided to customers. This will lead you to find the optimal efficiencies throughout your entire operation – you can either reengineer processes or eliminate them. Opportunities to integrate either forward (distributors) or backward (suppliers) to lower operating costs should be evaluated and considered. Now is not the time to be timid when considering whether to invest in your strengths or to pull back on those activitie....
Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles I recently was reading an interesting article on BusinessWeek.com titled ‘The Problem with Problems" by Fred Collopy, professor at Case Western Reserve University. The premise of his article was that "by focusing so often and so consistently on problems, we come to adopt a kind of deficit thinking. Plans of action that flow from it are concerned with repairing, fixing, and compensating. We spend so much time considering what is wrong with our organizations that we overlook what is right." If there ever was a time for business owners and their organizations to find the value of positive thinking, it is now. Now I am not talking about some mystical mind-bending exercise to make us all feel better. What I am talking about, and what I think the professor was getting at in his article, was that it is time we start to look at the good things our businesses do and start to rediscover the value our businesses bring to the marketplace - the things we do better than anyone else. Start thinking about them, and start reminding one another within the organization of what we do well. We need to instill that "positive thinking" in all levels of the organization - from upper management and the board of directors all the way down to those that come in contact with customers on a daily basis. And then, once we have reminded each other internally of what is positive about our company, then we need to start reminding our current customers and even those "soon to be" customers what our value is and why they need our products and services. In an upcoming article I wrote for a local business journal, I remind business owners that rediscovering value, from an internal and external perspective, is something that our businesses need now more than ever, considering the economic challenges we are all facing these days. Whether it's good times or not, our organizations need to spend time analyzing and highlighting the value our companies create. It is also not a time to be timid about innovations, but it is a pivotal point where we need to invest in enhancing our companies' strengths to bring them out of this economic malaise. By doing this we will set our organizations up like on a springboard to launch to new levels of success when things start to turn around. You certainly can't ignore problems; you do need to deal with them, but it certainly will be a more powerful and productive use of our time and energy if we spent more time emphasizing the good our companies are doing and highlight and reinvest in our strengths. Contact William Wright at (757) 685-2455 or by email at wwright@b2bcfo.com Posted by: William M. Wright II in Articles The role of the CFO certainly has gone through significant changes over time and has been transformed into what now is a multi-faceted role in any organization. Traditionally a CFO was seen mainly as the keeper of the financial records and the protector of a company's assets. However, today's CFO carries responsibilities in three main areas: 1) as a trusted advisor to the business owner or the company's CEO and a strategic partner across all functional areas of the enterprise; 2) as a technically competent leader of the organization's accounting and finance functions; and 3) as a respected manager of the organization's relationship with external parties. Our partners at B2B CFO® average 25 years of CFO experience in companies of all sizes and in a vast array of industries. All companies do indeed need a CFO, but not all can afford to hire a CFO on a full-time basis. Therefore, B2B CFO® makes it affordable by providing CFO services through its experienced partners on a part-time, as-needed basis. As you consider hiring a B2B CFO®, here are a few questions to ponder: Although not an all inclusive list, if you answered NO to any number of the questions above, please contact me to schedule an appointment to discuss the CFO services I can provide to help your company improve its profitability, its cash flows, and its long term value. Contact William Wright at (757) 685-2455 or by email at wwright@b2bcfo.com
Could We Have Done Anything Different? - Aug 31, 2009
How To Make Better Business Decisions... - Jul 19, 2009
Liberate Your Cash - Let It Be King Again - Jun 5, 2009
Draw Up Your Battle Plan To Win The War - Apr 21, 2009
Change Your Thinking.... - Apr 11, 2009
Why Does Your Company Need a CFO? - Mar 30, 2009
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