Veretekk 2.0 - Michael J Barbarita Jr

January 29, 2012 - 5:06 am

Don't let your small business make you small minded.

This is one of those tough lessons I learned this week. I am an entrepreneurial CFO. This means that I am a Part time CFO that performs CFO Services and my background consists primarily of owning and operating small businesses all through my career. Even now, in addition to my CFO practice I co-own a property casualty insurance agency with my partner.

What I learned this week is that as a small business owner we can become small minded. What I also learned that a large part of what drives that small mindedness is self doubt.

Here is my story:

Back in 2002 I put together a business plan to create Virtual Trade Shows. These virtual trade shows would help small companies who cannot afford to attend or exhibit at important trade shows an opportunity to attend over the internet.

Here is an excerpt of the concept from the Executive Summary:

"Tradeshowsonthenet.com, Inc. ("TSON" or "the Company") was created to streamline commercial trade shows and make them much more cost effective and more productive to the participant. The trade shows would take place on the internet providing both exhibitors and attendees with more capabilities and tools in order for them to accomplish more at a lower cost than they would if they all were actually at an exhibit hall. The Company's purpose is not to eliminate trade shows, but creating them in a virtual environment while maintaining all the advantages that trade shows afford and increasing efficiencies, data and participation."

As I reflect back on why I did not pursue my business plan, I remembered I was fraught with self doubt. Self doubt that I could not raise the money, self doubt that I could not come up with the technical programmers, Self doubt that the idea was before its time and so on.

Last week I received an email from On24 a company among other things creates and builds virtual trade shows. They have 3 Venture firms on their board and look like they are doing extremely well. I saw pieces of their latest virtual trade show and it is exactly what I envisioned. Evidently the founder of On24 had no doubts about raising money, finding programmers and the timing of the project.

I had prepared and executed business plans before but they were on a smaller scale. I let a small business mentality make me small minded and I let self doubt prevent me from executing this plan.

The take away here is:

Wouldn't it be a shame if self doubt prevents you from serving the world!

CFO Podcasts on iTunes

January 21, 2012 - 2:57 pm

I have prepared several Podcasts to give the business owner a unique perspective from a Part Time CFO who has experience in owning retail manufacturing and service companies. These podcasts go into topics such as personal liability, Inventory Control, Personnel Issues, Accurate and Timely Financial Statements, the importance of Metrics, solving cash flow problems and much more.

The Podcasts are located on Itunes. Simply click the "CFO Services" link below:

CFO Services

and enjoy.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions:

Michael Barbarita
Next Step CFO
CFO Services
781-326-3822
yourcfo@nextstepcfo.net

Michael Barbarita
Next Step CFO
CFO Services
781-326-3822
yourcfo@nextstepcfo.net

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CFO Services - What Are Rolling Forecasts?

December 30, 2011 - 6:34 am

One of the more important CFO Services is Business and Cash Flow Forecasting. This CFO Service gives the business owner the foresight to take action. Many business owners operate their business on a day to day basis without any business and cash flow forecasting and without thinking about what is going to happen next month, next quarter or even next week! As a result they never understand the benefits of business and cash flow forecasting and guess what? Their competition does understand the benefits. Their competition understands that business and cash flow forecasting:

Reveals weaknesses and strengths in your organization.
Finds solutions to solve those weaknesses and improve on those strengths.
Helps you to learn more about your business.
Helps you to be proactive about addressing potential trouble down the road like for example, a cash flow problem.
Makes people in the organization accountable
Gives the business owner piece of mind

One of the problems with business and cash flow forecasting is that once the forecast becomes 30 days old it is stale, outdated and most times forgotten. To address this problem the state of the art CFO performs what are called rolling forecasts. Rolling forecast capability allows one to enter actual results for the most recent month and then the rest of the forecast rolls forward for the next 12 months. This is called a 12 month rolling forecast and should be done every month to keep the forecast current. I usually prepare a 24 month rolling forecast for my clients to get a longer range perspective of where the business is going. With these updates the CFO and business owner can make changes as needed as well as identify any other problems. The rolling forecast makes the forecasting process a monthly occurrence and a monthly planning process that adds tremendous value. With my clients I also combine the results of the rolling forecast with an analysis of the key performance indicators for the month.

With tools like the rolling forecast, the business owner can be on top of their game and gain a competitive advantage against the many business owners who do not do so!

Michael Barbarita
Next Step CFO
CFO Services
781-326-3822
yourcfo@nextstepcfo.net

First Step In Starting A Business

November 27, 2011 - 7:52 am

As a Part time CFO I am always asked by promising new entrepreneurs about the important things one needs to do when starting a business. They often ask me what is the First Step in Starting A Business

Well, there is no specific first step, but here are some critical questions and things that you need to know when starting a business:

What type of commitment are you making when you decide you want to start a business?
What is the most important factor when starting a business? If you do not pay attention to this one factor you are very likely to fail
What you must know about going into business with a partner? What characteristics should you look for?
What is an advisory board? Who should be on it? Should you have one?
How to find out how much money you need and how to go and get it.
What role does a business plan play?
Learn about the various ways to finance your business and resources you can use.
Understanding personal liability and how to be always on the look out for sneaky ways that you can sign personally without knowing it!
Selecting the right entity.
What are strategic partnerships and how they are advantageous
What things to negotiate with Suppliers
How to get to know your competition
Using metrics to evaluate your business
How to properly price your product
Learning about the least expensive but most powerful advertising methods
Understanding the risks associated with employees

Michael Barbarita
Next Step CFO
CFO Services
tel: 781-326-3822
yourcfo@nextstepcfo.net
First Step in Starting A Business

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"Evaluation" is the key to consistent improvement and results. Most people recognize that it does no good to generate thousands of leads if your inadvertently running them right off the cliff! Likewise, there's no better way to squander your marketing efforts than not occasionally stopping to evaluate what's working and what's not. Even if your overall end result is good... it can usually be a lot better if you simply make some minor adjustments to further optimize your campaign.

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