Dear WW: I own a small retail business which has been open for two years. We have a great idea, a great location, and business started off well. But for the last year our sales have been going sideways. I’m not sure what the problem is. My manager thinks I need to pump more money [...]
Filed under: Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Money, Budgets & Finance, Strategy & Competition | Tagged: Invest more | Leave a Comment »
Dear WW: My company requires that each salesperson develop projections for the coming year. I have a new boss and she ripped my forecast saying my assumptions were too rosy. But I based them on sales from last year, so they should be accurate. IT’S SAFE TO ASSUME I’VE GOT A PROBLEM
Dear Safe,
If you went [...]
Filed under: Conflict & Negotiation, Emotional Intelligence, Money, Budgets & Finance | Tagged: Assumptions | Leave a Comment »
DEAR WW: I’ve got a small company, and I’m struggling to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley. What a waste of time and money. TOO FARDEAR TOO:
Your e-mail reminded me of something I recently read. A Lake City, Mich., man called Emergency Services claiming that a neighbor had stabbed him in the chest. Authorities later learned that, in [...]
Filed under: Legal, Litigation & Laws, Money, Budgets & Finance | Tagged: Sarbanes Oxley | Leave a Comment »
DEAR WW: I need to build a case for buying a new piece of equipment. What is the process for doing this? RAISING DOUGHDEAR RAISING:
Your e-mail reminded me of how a friend of mine used to talk about “Bob dollars.” She was referring to the way I would take the savings I had made when [...]
Filed under: Change & Innovation, Money, Budgets & Finance | Tagged: Return on Investment, ROI | Leave a Comment »
Dear WW: I’ve got a big negotiation coming up and I’m really rusty. I haven’t negotiated a contract in decades. Any chance that I could get a quick refresher course? RUSTY
Dear RUSTY,
We can all learn something about negotiations from Doug Stead. In 1996 he got a speeding ticket for $75.
He was incensed because the evidence [...]
Filed under: Conflict & Negotiation, Money, Budgets & Finance | Tagged: Get most out of negotiation, Negotiation | Leave a Comment »
Dear WW: I got cocky one day and told my boss that I could get money from all of our dead accounts. Now I’ve got to produce. But every time I call one of these deadbeats I hear a pack of excuses. I’m sure they’re all lying. How do you collect bad debts? BORN AGAIN
Dear [...]
Filed under: Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Money, Budgets & Finance, Sales, Marketing & Customer Service | Tagged: Bad debts, Collect money owed, Customer won't pay, Deadbeats | Leave a Comment »
Dear WW: I’m newly promoted to management and suddenly I’m drowning in financial reports and numbers. How do I make sense of all this stuff? And what particular numbers should I focus my efforts on? NUMBER CHALLENGED
Dear CHALLENGED,
You’ve heard of the expression “eating your investment”? Before the last stock market hiccup, restaurants in New York [...]
Filed under: Managing & Leadership, Money, Budgets & Finance, Strategy & Competition | Tagged: Financial terms, Measure success, Quantitative analysis | Leave a Comment »
