“Financial Adrenaline” is a term we love around here because it reflects our commitment to help you turbocharge your business with practical tips and techniques to improve free cash flow, the lifeblood of business. As a further extension of our Financial Adrenaline program, we’re going to share a new Business Finance Tip every Wednesday specifically for those business executives who don’t have a finance background.
Most non-finance executives have picked up a few tidbits … from a class, from a financial colleague or friend, a banker, an accountant … and have assimilated a variety of random fragments that are probably more like a messy collage than a well-drawn portrait. Is it enough to get by? Maybe … but if you’ll take ownership of your own financial education, we’ll help you. Dig in, challenge what you read, add your comments or questions and we’ll answer them right here … every time … and we’ll get this conversation started. Are you with me?
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If you’ve ever exercised by lifting weights, you know that the amount of the weight on the bar is only one variable that needs to be considered for a particular exercise. If you’re doing a bench press, you can add more weight because your chest and shoulder muscles help your arms to lift the weight. But if you put 50% of that total weight on each of two dumbbells, you can’t lift either one. You’ve probably also learned that you can’t use the same weight for curls as you do for bench presses.
Likewise, if you’re going to do only one repetition, you can handle more weight than if you’re going to lift it ten times. If you are lying flat,
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We’ve all been here, haven’t we? We’ve got a great idea to expand our business, we dive in head first so certain that it will work … only to find that we’ve squandered valuable resources that we wish we had to apply to an even better idea we didn’t think of the first time.
This happens to virtually every growing business because there are always more opportunities available than resources to support them. That’s why even a little planning can go a long way … why we need to kill all the strategy myths … and simply focus on prioritizing the opportunities that make the most sense to build our business. How do we do this? By applying consistent criteria to each of the opportunities before us.
In our previous podcasts, we discussed the first two criteria: your company’s core competencies and the competitive landscape. The 3rd factor needs to be the broader external forces that affect our businesses … industry trends, markets, demographics, technology changes and other external factors. What do those cards look like? How do we select the right opportunities and build our strategy to deploy our limited resources in the best possible way?
Are you spending quality time to understand industry trends? Do you know what’s happening in your markets?
If not, why not?
Too busy to clean the barn because all the horses are running loose? Our recent series featuring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was a grim reminder that regardless of how many people are lined up outside our door, how many calls we have to return, whether we’re in the top ten for inbox clutter – we’re not absolved of our duty to master our most precious resource: cash flow. That’s why Warren Buffett calls it the “lifeblood of business.” Whether you’re unable to make payroll, can’t finance growth, can’t raise money or find that your business value is a black hole, mastering this process is the centerpiece of excellence.
So, what do we do about it? Although I didn’t start out to create a long series about business finance, so many of you have asked about how to make these improvements that I’ve decided to create a path to help you get there.
The first step on every knight’s journey is to slay any dragons in his path … so we’re going to kill off a few misconceptions about business finance. The most important is that you can learn these basic principles. As I’ve said before, you don’t have to be an MBA, CFO or accounting major to understand these essential concepts. If you focus on the core principles, you can direct your team and be sure that everyone’s paying attention to the right things.
Another dragon in our path is EBITDA.
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My friend and colleague, Steve Fredricks, President of Turrentine Brokerage, Trusted and Strategic Advisors to Growers, Wineries, and Financiers in the wine industry, did a terrific job at this year’s Wine Industry Financial Symposium, Competing in a Rapidly Changing Global Wine Market.
His presentation, The Supply/Demand Balance in the Global Market and California Bulk Market, thoughtfully described these challenges, using the demonstrated insights of the Wine Business Wheel of Fortune pioneered by Turrentine to describe cyclical and long-germ patterns in the wine business.
Steve covered the California and global bulk market, tonnage and acreage forecasts and outlooks for the global supply of key varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio. You’ll find his presentation here.
Way to go, Steve. Great job!
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Why is this so hard? We find ourselves entrenched in the quagmire of a lingering and painful recession … more companies than ever need stronger financial management … and yet so many of them remain painfully slow to recognize it. Sure, many have trimmed costs and are paying closer attention to nickels and dimes, but few of them have a comprehensive financial strategy.
So, in some misguided way, I guess it feels good to have some company … because the need for financial discipline was a common refrain among wine industry cognoscenti at this year’s Symposium, Competing in a Rapidly Changing Global Wine Market. The economic shock waves of the last 24 months have rocked the wine industry, dragging many of its members, in some cases kicking and screaming … into an era where professional management and greater financial discipline are demanding front row seats alongside the entrepreneurs and artisans that have reigned over the California wine industry
Building a bridge between the financial community and the wine industry is one of the founding precepts of the Wine Industry Financial Symposium formed in 1992. Last Monday, I was privileged to lead a 90 minute workshop devoted to Practical Strategies to Improve Cash Flow, in which I shared a few “diamonds in the rough” about how to get more juice into your bank account … and how the California wine businesses can integrate Strategic Finance into their everyday business decision making.
During the preceding From Survival to Prosperity – Strategies for Transition session,
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For at least 18 years, the Wine Industry Symposium Group, an organization of California wine industry professionals, has held the Wine Industry Financial Symposium to “develop a communications bridge to the financial community.”
This year, I will be conducting a 90 minute workshop to help companies in the wine industry revitalize their free cash flow. Here’s the exact title of the workshop scheduled for Monday, September 20, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. You can find the program and registration details here.
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Benziger Winery has been named Business of the Year by the Sonoma Chamber of Commerce. They won the award for outstanding industry contributions and their commitment to the community, something that many of its fans … like me … know well.
Benziger Winery opened its doors in 1980 and is an industry leader in many areas like organic farming and biodynamics, recently receiving the exclusive Growing Green Award from National Resource Defense Council. I have had the pleasure of working with Tim Wallace, the CEO of Benziger, who is a thoughtful leader committed to family and community, and have served with him on several panels addressing issues in the wine industry.
Congratulations to Benziger Winery for the well-deserved accolade. It’s not often that companies committed to family and community also make great products and create raving fans but Benziger continues to delight its customers with wonderful varietals and warm hospitality.
One of my colleagues, Dr. Steven S. Cuellar, Ph. D. and Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Sonoma State University, has recently published an article entitled “Price, Promotion and Profits” in Wine Business Monthly. It’s an insightful look at the intersection of price, promotion and profit that illustrates the challenges, as well as the the benefits, of understanding the interaction of these variables.
Welcome to Exkalibur. I’m Lary Kirchenbauer, President of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc. Please take advantage of our resources to help you build your business ... and let me know what more we can do to serve you.
Read my latest column from the NY Times affiliate, the North Bay Business Journal.
I've known and worked with Lary for more than seven years as a business partner, consulting colleague and adviser and have found that Lary's financial skills and creativity result in high quality results for his clients. I am certain that Lary's strong work ethic, client focus and successful track record bode well for future clients just as they have formed the foundation of a long-term and highly valued relationship for me.
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