Category The Week Ender

Entries 11 Total

Work Perspective

Sep 24, ’11 6:22 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Small Business / SOHO, The Week Ender

My favorite YouTube Video Business Video for this week by Geoff Burch:

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The Week Ender: Credit Crunch – See It Coming?

Oct 26, ’08 12:49 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Comments, The Week Ender, plan cash-flow

Credit Crunch, the new scare word of our times. But what does it mean for your business? How can you minimise the effects of it on your business?

In the final analysis the effects are financial, your cash flow is going to stop you will run out of money – that is going to be the problem. So before you can decide what to do about it find out how it would affect your business. Planning your cash flow is the easiest way to see the effects of the credit crunch on your business. You need to ask yourself questions like:

  • Is my bank going to call in a loan/overdraft facility?
  • Is my turnover going to decrease?
  • Can I decrease my fixed costs in my business?

These and other more business specific questions will get you started. Using this information and inputting it into a simple cash-flow model will help you to predict what your businesses future looks like. In the coming years cash is everything, and I don’t mean cash as in ‘money coins and notes’, I mean cash in the liquidity sense of the work – your businesses ability to pay it’s bills and your wages. Nothing is more important than that.

Some people will tell you to get your accounts done and have a look at the numbers. Forget it, it’s all done and dusted – it’s the past. You need to look into the future and get ready for the lean times. Start planning for the above scenarios, but them into a cash-flow and you can see what your problem could be. Having this knowledge will empower you to plan your way out of it, before it is to late.

It is better to make some redundancies and cost cuts now, before the whole business runs out of money. –ST.

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The Week Ender: Greedy Bankers And Your Small Business.

May 4, ’08 6:00 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Comments, The Week Ender

I am – and others – are getting more and more communications from small business and start-up business, like SOHO-, SME, SMB-, Micro-, Lifestyle-, Home-, DIY-, Hobby-, Boomer- or Personal business, like professional, contractors, freelancer, self-employed, sole-trader and virtual assistants, about how worried they are about the credit crunch.

At the same time unemployment figures in the US and elsewhere show no increase in the unemployment, so what kind of recession is this? What started it and how is it affecting small business?

In my personal opinion, the story goes something like this:

Enter the “greedy banker”, who recklessly hands out money to just about anyone how wants any and to some who may not even wanted a credit. Banks are obliged by law to make checks on their creditors. It is all very well to tell creditors they will lose their house if they can not pay the monthly installments on their credit. It is true at the same time that bankers should know they will lose money if they recklessly hand out money.

Then the “greedy banker” gets into trouble, as he/she should have known would happen. Our governments using our (tax-) money recklessly to bail these “greedy bankers” and there shareholders out. So they can go back to “work”, pay themselves the wages and bonuses we all can only dream about, and start repossessing the houses of the very people who’s tax-money was used to bail them out, for mistakes the bankers made.

If I had a mortgage with one of these banks and they wanted to reposes my house, I would fight them in court for damages for miss-selling loans to me and endangering my financial future and that of my family. As mentioned before, they ought to be liable for this mess. I do not see any prosecutions going down for reckless and maybe even fraudulent credit practices, where are all the prosecutors? Did none of the greedy bankers know what they were doing? There certainly is public interest, thousands and thousands of families who have to loss it all, not to speak of all us tax-payers, who want hospitals, school, police to name but a few and not to bail out “greedy bankers”?

Unbelievable damage has been done to our economy by these “greedy bankers”, and now small business is going to get it. Judging from the ever growing number of emails I receive, many banks asking for business loans back, not extending facilities, not providing new finance for small business to grow and with this forcing many small businesses out of business. They are using our own money against us to help themselves.

In short, it is my believe that this whole recession has been created by “greedy bankers”, to fill there own pockets. Which small business has ever received loans from government to stay in business, well we all do not have meetings with the Prime Minister or President, do we?

It is time to develop mechanisms to hold our politicians accountable for what they do with our money, it is also time to hold our public servants/prosecutors accountable for their failure to investigate these – in my personal opinion – at best reckless “greedy bankers”! After Arthur Anderson, Enron, WorldCom and others, why not clean out the banking system and make them accountable for their mistakes and greed – no more dividends for any shareholders until all this public money has been payed back with interest and charges.

To all of you who have written to me about this, I’m really sorry, but I have no answers for you other than not to get involved with banks if you can and bootstrap the hell out of your business.

As you can tell it’s been one of these weekends, I hope you have a better one. — ST.

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The Week Ender: Dargons Den or How Not To Invest In Micro Businesses!

Mar 9, ’08 10:59 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories The Week Ender

Kate Walsh of The Sunday Times wrote a piece last weekend on how the Dragons – who ever came up with this name (?) – had made a promise of investment to those HungryHouse entrepreneurs and how they did not get the promised investment. Of cause it is clear to me that there will be a contract in place which allows the “Dragons” to humiliate and abuse the poor people who had the bad judgment to appear on their show, but any promise made by the Dragons during the show is virtually of no consequence.

Kate writes at the beginning of her piece:

How do those Dragons do it? They see business potential where the rest of us see people in bad suits hyperventilating their way through terrible pitches. …..

I guess the “bad suits” comment was needed to make her appear an equal to the Dragons, since I fail to see what a bad suit has to do with a good or bad business idea. I certainly agree with her that the Dragons Den is only good for the Dragons themselves and their egos.

Anybody making an judgment for or against investing into those entrepreneurial ideas, based on the performance on TV, needs help in my opinion. The fact that due diligence is being done helps me to believe in some sort of sanity, in this whole charade of entrepreneurial wizardry by the Dragons. But it all misses the mark by light-years!

Even some bad ideas will succeed, we can see that every day in our high streets. Investing in micro businesses is all about trust, vision, focus and the insight that mistakes will be made and then corrected. Most small businesses and micro businesses, have numbers that will make any advisor run for the hills. What a good investor in small business will bring to the party is coherence and experience, apart from the money of cause.

Why entrepreneurs who at least have a go – more that can be said for the majority of people – have to be humiliated like this, is beyond me and I find it quite revolting to watch some people, who call themselves “Dragons”, dish out their questionable wisdom on the unsuspecting population in the UK. Is there really no better way for us to help entrepreneurs to start a business in this country?

One thing is for sure, if I had listened to some of these advisors I would have never had the business success I have enjoyed. If I have learned one thing, it is that you can not judge any business idea on some superficial data or a good or bad performance on TV, it is a highly questionable practice.

There is only one person who can find out if your business idea is any good – you guessed it, it is you yourself. Don’t let people tell you how good and or bad your idea is, listen, evaluate and move on. — ST.

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The Week Ender: Never Throw Good Money After Bad Money!

Jan 18, ’08 10:13 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Comments, The Week Ender

Sometimes the best small business lessons can be learned in the media. Here in the UK we have one of those lessons happening right now: Northern Rock!

One of the UK’s embattled mortgage lenders, Northern Rock got in to trouble and what should have been resolved in private has turned into the biggest economical and financial debacle ever. Rarely has a financial crisis been so incompetently handled by everybody concerned.

Without wanting to bore you with all the details, the exposure for the British tax-payer could get up to £100bn, but suffice to say Mr Darling, the Chancellor, has been at the forefront of this “incompetence wave”.

The result will be an even bigger squeeze on public spending, crime, our schools, crumbling health service. And of cause small business is going to suffer, as Mr. Darling will have to find new ways to tax us all, to pay for his incompetence.

Small Business and Government Lesson – Never throw good money after bad! Have a nice weekend – ST.

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The Week Ender: Waiting for small business success?

Jan 11, ’08 11:44 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Failure, The Week Ender, Work/Life Balance, be successful

What is business success? I guess it can be different things to different people, for some it may be the big pay day when they sell the business. For others it may be getting your business to tick over, generate a good income and still have time for your family. Have you asked yourself what business success means for you? It is a question worth asking and answering for yourself!

It occurs to me that being successful in business, whatever your precise small business goal may be, means one thing – Leadership! The simple fact however is that leaders will fail more often than others, so failure has to be part of your way to success. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you will get there.

        Success Is A Staircase of Failures.

Failure is a prize you need to pay for being successful, a leader will know that. If you look at what leaders do, you will understand that failure is an essential part of the course and not such a big problem as society at large will have you believe. The reason for this is quite simply the fact that any problem, in this case being successful, has not a single simple answer. Different strategies will have to be tested and some will not work. This is where you see the difference between a gambler and a leader, or risk-taker.

If you are running a small business, home business or any other micro business, you are probably already successful. Because, here is the thing, it is not the big pay day that is your success, but what gets you to your big pay day is success.

Being a successful small business owner requires commitment, passion and risk-taking, or as some would call it a pioneering spirit. So, don’t complain if the stepping stones to success bruise your feet. Have a great weekend. ST.

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The Week Ender: 2008 And The Party Is Over Or Is It?

Jan 4, ’08 7:32 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories The Week Ender

When you listen to the news, read some business magazines they will tell you about how tough the new year is going to be. Sub-prime housing crisis, soaring property prices, terrorism and climate change among others are to give us a big hang-over.

This assessment may very well be true for the large banks and big business, it will undoubtably create an economic downturn and this will in turn restrict the money availability for business, including small and micro business. But is it really the disaster may talk about, for small business?

I think not – granted it will be tough – but small business needs to be proactive with cost-control, credit-control and develop more outsourcing and bootstrapping mechanisms. Most of all, small business and start-up business, like SOHO-, SME, SMB-, Micro-, Lifestyle-, Home-, DIY-, Hobby-, Boomer- or Personal business, like professional, contractors, freelancer, self-employed, sole-trader and virtual assistants, need to do cash-flow-planning . You will be able to see any cash crisis coming a mile off, this will enable you to do something about it, before it is too late.

Don’t let the scare-mongers get you down, just be clinical in your business approach and your small business will be better for it – recession or not! ST.

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The Week Ender: Finding that Home Business Idea!

Nov 16, ’07 11:46 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Business Ideas, Question & Answer, The Week Ender

I received a great weekend question the other day, “How can I find a great home business idea for me?“. What I would do in these situations is get a pad of paper and a pencil – yes paper not my computer, that comes later – and sit by myself in a corner somewhere.

I start writing down what it is I’m interested in or passionate about, so for myself I write down things like diving, photography, traveling, boating, physics, computers, internet and stuff like that, not to forget small business. In my next step I try and find reasons, why I like this particular subject or activity, again write them down.

Next, I try to find out what my personal traits are, with the help of my family and friends, am I:

  • a good teacher,
  • a traveling person, like driving all day
  • do I thrive on new ideas,
  • and so on?

Now I combine the two, diving and teaching, I’m a bad teacher, so diving instructor is out – you get the idea. I may come up with some close ideas – but doing gardening everyday, no matter what someone payed me would be a definite NO-NO!

Somewhere down the line I get to small business and I can say:

  • I have had 30 years of small business experience;
  • I have had formal business education;
  • I’m passionate about small business;
  • I know I make and will make mistakes everyday, failure for me is just another way of learning;
  • I love listening to customers and their ideas about my business; I’m always surprised and learn something new;
  • mad about the inability of politicians to understand very small business;
  • sad about the accountants lack of a forward looking outlook in their profession;
  • know we are in trouble with our environment, and I would like to make a difference;
  • always loved high-tech, computers, software, my years as CEO of a leading ISP;
  • building a company from zero to tens of millions in turnover in just four years.

This is my personal list for my small business interest and after all that, what you get is WinWeb – my way of dealing with my passion and frustration about small business and start-up business, like SOHO-, SME, SMB-, Micro-, Lifestyle-, Home-, DIY-, Hobby-, Boomer- or Personal business, like professional, contractors, freelancer, self-employed, sole-trader and virtual assistants – and it’s a great business!

The point I’m making here is, the answer to this question – Finding the right home or small business idea for you? – is within yourself. So spend some time with yourself over this weekend, find out what you like and what you are like, get some feedback from friends on how they see you, write it down. Then go though the permutations and I’m sure you will find a few ideas that will make your heart jump, when thinking about the possibilities – e-voila, your business ideas!

You need to have passion, interest, a love for change, and control your fear of failure. You noticed, I didn’t mention an MBA, lots of money or bookkeeping, marketing, IT, and law experience, these are “nice to have” items, but not essential, unless you are working in those fields of cause.

Like someone once said, when you are older,

“You don’t regret the things you did, you regret the things you didn’t do.”

At the beginning and the end of our life we are all the same, what makes the difference is the bit in the middle, making it exciting and interesting is something you have to do – nobody is going to do it for you. On second thoughts, my wife would possibly disagree, she keeps telling my that at least life with me isn’t boring. I think I will have to think about that this weekend.

Have a great weekend and an even better “middle bit”, Stefan.

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The Week Ender: Having a weekend.

Nov 2, ’07 9:12 AM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Relationships, Small Business / SOHO, The Week Ender, Work/Life Balance

Now that I given you a recommendation on a book to read over the weekend or made you ponder your time management, you may also just consider having a nice weekend with family and friends. That is exactly what I’ll be doing – it is firework & bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night in the UK – this guy tried to blow up parliament, he did not succeed, that is what is celebrated here. I’m often a bit fuzzy about it all, since Halloween gets mixed in with this – but I don’t really care either-way.

We have a family tradition, that we invite all our friends to join us for this evening every year. We learned that Christmas & New Year are often difficult times to meet with everyone, so we have chosen to meet on a “lesser” occasion during the year – and it works out great every year. So I will be spending my time with friends and family – I may only see once a year, and I’m looking forward to it.

What are you doing this weekend? Why not pick up the phone right now, and get some family and friends together and celebrate Guy Fawkes capture – I’m sure you can come up with a story why it might be important to you, even if you live in the US, Canada, Australia or India – it will be total BS, but who cares?

Even better is when you don’t need a reason, just get together and have a nice weekend, I know I will!

Have a nice one, Stefan.

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The Week Ender: There Is Hope Yet For Small Business.

Oct 26, ’07 1:13 PM
Author Stefan Töpfer (Editor) Categories Comments, The Week Ender

While I have been quiet annoyed with the current Labour government and it’s failure to understand small and micro business, it is nice to see that some parts of the political establishment, seem to have some sort of idea what small business and start-up business, like SOHO-, SME, SMB-, Micro-, Lifestyle-, Home-, DIY-, Hobby-, Boomer- or Personal business, like professional, contractors, freelancer, self-employed, sole-trader and virtual assistants need.

In the US, the Office of Advocacy at the SBA-Small Business Administration, is listening to the authors of the Small Business Growth: Searching for Stylized Facts – in order to get a better understanding of the right business environment for small business in the US. Hardly surprising, with almost 27 million small businesses in the US, government pays attention – good for them.

Even in the UK, some are waking up to the fact that red-tape may be a problem for small business and may prevent entrepreneurs from starting new ventures. In this case Edward Leigh, the chairman of the PCA-Public Accounts Committee said:

“It is vitally important that new businesses get the assistance and simplified requirements they need so that, right from the start, they can get their tax affairs in order and are well-placed to continue to comply as their tax affairs become more complicated. Providing each business with a unique tax reference number would be an important step towards the department being able to have an overview, for each business, of all of its tax affairs.”

This follows from the fact that the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) operate a “ridiculous” registration process, whereby the same questions need to be answered to different parts of the HMRC.

So one both sides of the big pond, there are people still thinking about small business – good. With that in mind I will go into this weekend and hope against all hope that things could improve. Have a nice weekend. ST.

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