June 2016
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The Silver Fox Advisor
Advising, Consulting And Mentoring Greater Houston Area Business Since 1986
From the Editor...

Richard Hendee

June 30th marks the end of the first half of the year: That goes without saying, or does it? How many business owners take the time to use this mid-year point to measure where their business is vs. their annual plan and/or budget that they spent hours on putting together late last year?
Often it is difficult juggling those important family events like attending graduations or weddings, planning that summer vacation or the weekend trips to the lake house or hill country ranch. But every successful business owner makes time to balance his or her personal life with running a thriving business.
You don't have to go through a mid-year evaluation alone. Convene your management team or key employees and break down the process by having everyone report on actual results vs. plan, explain reasons for any negative variances and require recommendations be made regarding actions needed to get back on track.
Completing The Sale - Collecting Receivables

By David Neuberger, a Silver Fox Advisor
The salesman is often satisfied with the completion of a sale. However, if his customer does not pay has an actual sale occurred? Or if the salesman implied that the customer should pay in 30 days but the customer has not paid in 60 days. Does the company have the necessary cash resources to operate?
These are some of the important issues involved with managing receivables. Just as an army can't run on an empty stomach, a company can't run without cash and generally collecting receivables are the source of most company's cash.
A business possesses many assets-a strong management team, an excellent marketing strategy, and outstanding products. But if it can't convert these strengths into cash it will fail. The receivable function is the primary vehicle to convert a company's activities into cash. This simple thought is the basis for the thought that "completing the sale entails collecting receivables."
This review will present several ideas that will allow the executive to avoid the pitfalls and potential life-threatening consequences of not "completing the sale." They are:

Visioning Scope
 
Applying Vision Toward Your Organization's Progress
 
By Hank Moore
Corporate Strategist™
Visioning is the process where good ideas become something more. It is a catalyst toward long-term evaluation, planning and implementation. It is a vantage point by which forward-thinking organizations ask: What will we look like in the future? What do we want to become? How will we evolve? Vision is a realistic picture of what is possible.
7 Steps Toward Strategic Vision:
1. Analyze the company's environment, resources and capabilities. Determine where the Big Picture existed before, if it did at all. Crystallize the core business in terms of viabilities to move successfully forward to some discernible point.
2. Clarify management values. Usually, management has not yet articulated their own individual values, let alone those of the organization. This process helps to define and develop value systems to create success.
3. Develop a Mission Statement. It is the last thing that you write, not an end in itself. In reality, the Mission Statement is rewritten several times, as the planning process ensues. The last draft of the statement will be an executive summary of collective ideas and works of the Visioning team.
Silver Fox Advisors
 Silver Fox Advisors are current and former business owners, entrepreneurs and executives dedicated to assisting business owners to improve their enterprises through mentoring and consulting. Advisors have been sharing their knowledge, experience and skills since 1986. To work with a Sliver Fox Advisor, please visit our website at www.silverfox.org and select your advisor.
Upcoming Events
Lunch & Learn

June 23, 2016

Guest Speaker: Sandhya Ganapathy, Head of Investments and M&A, EDP Renewables

Topic: Financing the Renewable World

Time: 11:00 am - 1:15 pm

Location: The Houston Racquet Club
1079 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77024
This Month's Featured Book
by a Silver Fox Advisor

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