Someone once told me that character, an attribute that seems to be passé (sadly so), is the sum total of all of our habits as of a particular point in time. Of course that sum could be comprised of good as well as bad habits. Steve Covey wrote a terrific book several years ago entitled “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” which also espoused the importance of their development.
Today’s focus is the habits of effective money managers which we will number at five.
Habit 1: Effective money managers prepare a 1 to 3 year plan to guide the day-to-day activities. Now I am not talking about something the length of “War & Peace”, rather something that outlines your objectives by business function, the activities that will help you accomplish those objectives, prioritized in some fashion and with specific deadlines for completion. The key is it has to be in writing to help you crystallize your thinking and it needs to be flexible.
Habit 2: Effective money managers are realistic about the prospects of their business. How do you think most business owner characterize the prospects for their businesses? You have three choices; 1) Their view is generally optimistic; 2) Their view is generally realistic; or 3) Their view is generally pessimistic? If you picked door number one you win the prize. Most entrepreneurial types are woefully optimistic. Like we tell our clients it’s ok to assume the best but we must prepare for the worst because it will present itself.
Habit 3: Effective money managers know where they stand financially at all times, including having a clear picture of cash flow. Another question for you business owners; when do you go to the bank to borrow? Two choices; 1) when you need the money? Or 2) when you don’t need the money? If your answer is door number one you are disqualified! Answer honestly now, do any of you believe that banks are in the business of lending you money when you need it? This is an industry that took billions of dollars in TARP money from the federal government, that was intended to stimulate the economy, and hoarded it. For all intents and purposes commercial “lenders” kept the funds in their coffers which did nothing to help small and medium sized businesses or the economy in general. This is a glowing example that banks really don’t care much about a business owner’s cash flow problems and as a result you must be aware and anticipate the needs of your business. I still remember a great quote (though not the author) which went “The only way they can take you out of the game is if you run out of cash.”
Habit 4: Effective money managers know exactly where business expenditures go. Most business owners have a top line fetish; as long as the trend line for sales is north bound then management ‘s thinking is “we’re good”. Wrong!!!! As indicated in our October 12, 2009 Blog entitled “Waste not, Want Not” (Click here to read) a focus on cost cutting will do more to drive the bottom line. While the thought of digging into every expense item in your operating statement might cause you to hyperventilate, I would suggest that’s not necessary. A more efficient approach is to apply the Pareto Principle; “80 percent of your expenses come from 20% of the line items in your operating statement.” For example, if there are 25 operating expense items in your income statement then by simply focusing on the 5 largest you will have addressed 80% of the money that goes out the door each year. This is an exercise that is well worth the investment of your time.
Habit 5: Effective money managers make no major decision without carefully considering all of the consequences. When I was growing up Dad had two rules; Rule 1) Don’t ever talk back to your mother and Rule 2) Don’t ever lay a hand on your sister. If I broke either rule, I had to pick myself up off the floor, compliments of my father. Those were consequences I clearly understood. As business owners, while the consequences might not be as physically painful, there will be consequences for bad decisions. As an advisor to businesses for over 30 years, I can relate story after story of bad choices made by our client base. More often than not had the clients invested the time to make an informed decision rather then force the timing, the results would have been better. In many instances the decision making process (or not) meant the success or failure of many case studies.
So there you have it and while developing these like any other habits wont guarantee a business owners success, they certainly wont hurt their prospects either. I am reminded of another quote regarding character which, as we know, is a composite of our habits. This quote, however, has a little more prophetic tone; “Sow a thought, reap and action; sow and action, reap a habit; sow a habit reap a character; sow a character reap a destiny.”
This article was written by Gary Field, CPA at Numerico, PC. Click here to view Numerico’s website.
