I’m sure you’ve heard the saying before: “Cash is king”. It’s the lifeblood of your enterprise and mastering your cash flow is essential to keeping your business financially fit. Just like maintaining your physical health, achieving cash flow mastery requires discipline, knowledge, and the right mindset. In this post, we’ll explore the key strategies for optimising your cash flow and overcoming limiting beliefs that may be holding you back from financial success.

Understanding the Cash Flow Cycle

The first step in mastering your cash flow is understanding the cash flow cycle. This cycle consists of three main stages: cash inflow, cash outflow, and cash position. Cash inflow refers to the money coming into your business from sales, investments, or loans. Cash outflow is the money going out of your business to cover expenses, such as salaries, rent, and inventory. Your cash position is the difference between your cash inflow and outflow at any given time.

Optimising Your Cash Inflow

To improve your cash flow, you need to focus on increasing your cash inflow. Here are some strategies to consider:

1. Boost sales: Look for ways to increase your sales volume, such as expanding your customer base, introducing new products or services, or improving your marketing efforts.

2. Review your pricing: Ensure that your prices are competitive and reflect the value you provide. Don’t be afraid to raise your prices if it’s justified.

3. Offer incentives for early payment: Encourage your customers to pay their invoices promptly by offering discounts for early payment or penalties for late payment.

4. Seek alternative funding: Consider alternative funding options, such as crowdfunding, grants, or investor capital, to inject cash into your business.

Managing Your Cash Outflow

Equally important is managing your cash outflow. Here are some tips to help you keep your expenses under control:

1. Create a budget: Develop a comprehensive budget that accounts for all your business expenses and stick to it.

2. Negotiate with suppliers: Don’t be afraid to negotiate better terms with your suppliers, such as discounts for bulk purchases or extended payment terms.

3. Cut unnecessary expenses: Regularly review your expenses and eliminate any that aren’t essential to your business operations.

4. Automate your payments: Set up automatic payments for recurring expenses to ensure that you never miss a payment and incur late fees.

Monitoring Your Cash Position

To stay on top of your cash flow, you need to monitor your cash position regularly. Here are some best practices:

1. Use accounting software: Invest in accounting software that provides real-time insights into your cash flow, such as Xero or QuickBooks.

2. Conduct weekly cash flow reviews: Set aside time each week to review your cash flow statement and identify any potential issues.

3. Create cash flow projections: Develop cash flow projections for the next 3, 6, and 12 months to help you anticipate future cash needs and plan accordingly.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

In addition to implementing practical strategies, mastering your cash flow also requires overcoming limiting beliefs. Many business owners hold beliefs that can hinder their financial success, such as:

1. “I’m not good with money”: This belief can lead to avoidance and procrastination when it comes to managing your finances. Remember that financial skills can be learned and developed over time.

2. “I don’t have time to focus on cash flow”: While it may seem like a time-consuming task, neglecting your cash flow can have serious consequences. Make cash flow management a priority and allocate the necessary time and resources.

3. “My business is too small to worry about cash flow”: Regardless of your business size, cash flow is critical to your success. Start implementing best practices early on to set your business up for long-term financial health.

By recognising and challenging these limiting beliefs, you can develop a growth mindset that empowers you to take control of your cash flow and achieve financial success.

Joining the 12 Week Business Fit Challenge

If you’re ready to take your cash flow mastery to the next level, I invite you to join our 12 Week Business Fit Challenge. This comprehensive programme is designed to help you optimise your cash flow, overcome limiting beliefs, and achieve your financial goals. The 12WBFC is a 12-week program designed to get your business fit and future-ready. By business fit I mean fit for the purpose of enabling you, the business owner, to live the life you aspire to and to make the contribution you desire to. It is focused on being more purposeful and more profitable without working longer and harder.

The 12WBFC is:

· A reality check for your business with specific actions to enable improvements and expansion

· A seriously effective tool to work through on your own or with your team or with the support of your professional advisors. It gives you clear direction and accountability measures to improve your business and your life on many levels

· An affordable investment in your business that will reap rewards

· A private and confidential way to assess where your business is now, where you need it to be and then to find out how to bridge the gap

· A logical sequence of practical exercises linked to planned objectives which address the reality of business

To learn more and sign up for the 12 Week Business Fit Challenge, visit our website.

FTI – failure to implement – is one of the biggest inhibitors of growth, both personally & professionally. Practice JDI – just do it – instead.

The FTI malady is very much alive. An idea or an innovation is worthless if it never sees the light of day. The value is in the application. The longer the time lapse between the idea and implementation, the lower the enthusiasm and the larger the opportunity cost to the business.

How Accountability Practices can help you to JDI

Decisions alone don’t bring results – there must be follow-through, action and accountability.

When making decisions, it’s important to remember that deciding is only half the battle. Too often, people decide to take on a task or project and never follow through with the necessary action steps. This lack of action or follow-through leads to missed opportunities and potential pitfalls that could have been avoided if the necessary actions had been taken in a timely fashion. There is a real cost.

Accountability can help ensure that a decision is followed through once it is made. One way to do this is to engage an accountability partner who will check in and ensure tasks are completed, and objectives are achieved. This helps ensure consistency in action-taking and creates a system of checks and balances that keeps everyone honest about their responsibilities and commitments. You give this person permission to call you out if you are not doing what you said you would do when you said you would do it.

Additionally, having an accountability partner can also be a sounding board, allowing for open dialogue about any issues or questions that may arise while completing any given task. By having a second set of eyes looking over your progress, you can be more confident in the decisions you make daily and have peace of mind knowing that any mistakes or any deadlines looming or missed are noticed sooner rather than later.

Why FTI can Negatively Impact your Team

A culture of open communication, transparency, responsibility, and support is key to ensuring that the desired outcomes of our decisions turn up on time.

Nothing is more confusing and demotivating to your team than hearing the talk and not seeing the walk. This is very obvious where businesses who profess to encourage the teams’ contribution to continual improvement programs, for example, fail to act on the input and very quickly stifle the flow of ideas.

Once diagnosed, the FTI malady must be treated with vigour and without delay because the associated lack of urgency is very contagious and invasive. It will make its way through the entire team and into every corner of the business.

FTI is best dealt with at a cultural level. Culture promotes behaviours that will progress your business and align with your core values. Being accountable for implementation and follow-through is an integral part of a healthy, vibrant culture.

A value statement like – “We do business and life with a sense of urgency and a strong desire to implement”, – when backed up with examples of how this might play out in the workplace, will encourage more desirable behaviours.

It’s Time to Stop Making Excuses

There are many reasons or excuses given as to why actions don’t get done –

1. No one has ownership of the action

2. There was no due date

3. Unexpected blocks turned up

4. Other actions took priority

We’ve all been there – a task is assigned without any clear direction or timeline and eventually gets lost amid other priorities. Reasons for such inaction include a lack of accountability, no due date, unforeseen blocks, or even an overload of other tasks. No matter the reason, these types of situations can be easily avoided with some simple steps.

When assigning a new task or project, it’s essential to clearly communicate expectations and deadlines so everyone involved knows exactly what they are responsible for and when those tasks should be completed. This helps ensure that the task is given priority and will move along the development process quickly. It also ensures projects stay on schedule and don’t fall to the wayside due to a lack of focus or follow-through.

It’s also vital to consider unexpected block that may arise during development. Unexpected delays due to technical issues, cost overruns, vendor delays, and so on, can all contribute to an action not being completed on time. In this situation, planning ahead is essential by considering possible obstacles and addressing them before they become an issue. This could mean having a contingency plan in place, so you’re prepared if something does come up or taking steps during development to mitigate any potential risks associated with the project.

Finally, it’s important to recognise when tasks are taking too long or have become a too low priority due to other activities taking precedence over them. If this happens, it’s best practice to either reassess and adjust the scope of work or delete it altogether if it’s deemed not worth doing. Although this might seem like a daunting task initially, keeping track of your commitments is essential for staying on top of your workload and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.

These reasons must be addressed when the action is entered in the action sheet, and when a decision is made. The action sheet should include the person responsible for getting it done, a due date, potential blocks and how they will be addressed, and the value the action will add to the organisation.

How to Take Action and JDI

You have access to a comprehensive action sheet designed to eliminate FTI here.

Every action has a consequence, as does every action not taken. If an action is deemed not worth doing, neither urgent nor important – if the due date is extended week after week – then delete it!

Who holds you to account to make sure that you implement with urgency?

Is there an example of the FTI malady playing out in your personal life? In your business? Why the lack of urgency?

You’re a small business owner. You’ve been hustling day in and day out to make your business a success. But have you ever stopped to think about how your energetic state impacts your performance? It turns out, the energy you bring to your business can significantly impact how well you perform. Here’s a look at how your energetic state affects your small business.

Your energetic state precedes you when you walk into a room.

It impacts everyone that you interact with. Your state is reflected in the energy you feel internally and that others may feel radiating from you, your ability to focus and, consequently, the outcomes you experience.

Checking your energetic state each day, first thing, upfront, without exception, is a habit that brings the focus, energy and clarity necessary for a highly productive day. It is a habit practised by great leaders and high performers, and I recommend that it become a daily habit for you.

Here is how I reflect every morning and before every meeting and meaningful interaction with a practice called ILP (Intentions, Language and Physiology).

Set Your Intentions

WHY are you doing what you are about to do, WHY is it important to you both now and into the future, WHAT do you want to achieve, and HOW will you BE in order to play your big game in life?

Setting your intentions can be a powerful tool to make a change or create something new.

Intention helps us focus our energy and stay on the right path to success. By setting intentions, we can discover why we are doing what we are doing and keep our goals in sight. Stating what we wish to achieve allows us to remain open to opportunities that arise and to notice shifts in direction, which is particularly important in business meetings.

Being mindful of our intention allows us to stay to notice when we’re off track, when we become less intentional. Keeping these four questions in mind – why, what, how and when – is essential for manifesting our desires into reality.

Notice Your Language

WHAT are you saying to yourself and others? WHAT words are you using? WILL these words limit or expand you? Edit your language now to be more conducive to achieving your intentions.

The language we use is incredibly powerful. It can either limit us or expand us. If we’re constantly telling ourselves we’re not good enough or can’t do something, we’ll end up believing it.

On the other hand, if we use language that is supportive and positive, it can help us achieve our goals. So it’s important to be aware of our words, both in our internal dialogue and when talking to others.

By consciously using language that empowers us, we can open up new possibilities for ourselves and our businesses.

Notice Your Body Language and Posture

Does it reflect interest or disinterest, curiosity or closure, excitement or boredom? Adjust your posture now – sit or stand tall, shoulders back, and smile!

People often don’t realize the power of their body language. An action as simple as crossing your arms or furrowing your brow can speak volumes about any attitude or emotion you may be feeling.

When interacting with others, taking a step back and observing your body language is essential, ensuring that it reflects the openness and positivity that we hope to achieve through conversation. One way to do this is by maintaining good posture; sitting or standing up tall while keeping your shoulder back and neck relaxed helps convey confidence and keeps you alert. You can do this BEFORE you go into a meeting to feel more relaxed and in control.

Smiling is also an easy way to communicate enthusiasm visually — if we smile, we appear friendlier, more interested in what’s being said, and open to new ideas! The importance of evaluating our bodies’ positioning cannot be understated: it’s something that everyone should be aware of so that they can project their best self with every interaction.

The benefits of checking your energetic state are not restricted to first up in the morning. Check-in before starting a challenging project, going into a critical meeting, or making an announcement to the team to make sure the best version of you turns up. ILP is like a 3-legged stool. If one leg is weak, the stool itself is compromised. Like the stool, the outcomes will be compromised if your intentions are vague, no matter how empowering your language is or how brilliantly you turn up physically.

There is always an opportunity to fine-tune any one of the components of ILP. This tool encourages awareness of your state and enables you to notice even small shifts in your focus, language, and physiology. Don’t underestimate the power of this ILP process. Make it a habit to check into your state and reset often.

Mastering the skills of ILP is included in the 12 Week Business Fit Challenge. Learn more about the program and register here.

Our LIFE by DESIGN Retreat is booked out at BYRON BAY – our designers will discover what “Being Yourself” really means. 

The most common question I was asked after speaking at a recent International Women’s Day function was “What should women do to succeed in a male dominated work place?”  My short answer was, “Be yourself”.

It was apparent that there was an expectation for a response which was more than two words long – a strategy or tools perhaps, which would help women to thrive in this environment.

The thing is, “being yourself” is a big strategy and absolutely essential to reaching and growing your potential in all facets of life.

The strategy is – get to know yourself intimately so that you know

• What your core genius is

• Which human needs currently drive your behaviour and which ones should

• What your behavioural profile looks like both natural and adapted

• What your mental capital is made up of

• What your relationship capital looks like

• Your non-negotiable values,

• How you make decisions – your points of reference

• Your WHY – your purpose in life

• What your intentions are for community, family, recreation, learning etc

• How you define work and what it means to you

• Your brand, your personality

• And so much more

When you bring all this together you create your very own, unique value stack – layer upon layer of value.

I have found that it is common for women not to have taken the time to uncover this value or to even recognise it as an integral part of who they are and what they have to offer. And, can I say that this is not restricted to women – men also neglect this most important process

“Being yourself” has a very different meaning when you know with clarity who “yourself” is – and when you have unbundled your value, owned it and celebrated what you have to offer.

The first sale must always be to yourself! This means that you must sell the real value of you to yourself first, before you can go out and present yourself with confidence to your “market”.

Let’s consider this in terms of a business context and a sales person selling a product. In order to effectively make a sale, and in order to authentically promote the product as one which will add real value to the customer, the salesperson must firstly believe in the product themselves and believe that the product is worth the price tag – they must firstly sell the value and the price to themselves.

Can you see how important it is to go through the process of unbundling your value and creating a value stack which is unique to you? It is this value stack which you will leverage off to enable you to live the life you aspire to. It will change the way you see yourself, you will be so much more than you ever thought you could be – and your new life will be a reflection of this new you.

We go through this process with care and kindness, over 2 days at our LIFE by DESIGN Retreats.  It is truly worth your investment.

Find out more about our LIFE by DESIGN Retreats today.

Palm Cove Early Bird Special is ending soon – so don’t wait – book now!

 

Winning in every meeting with a prospect is a great goal – and how would it make you feel – pretty successful right!  This level of success generates high energy and the compounding effect is rippled through future meetings.  And this is why we say that success breeds success.

So how do you do it?  How do you become a 100%er?

The answer > Don’t limit your definition of a win to making a sale!

Yes, a sale is a win, absolutely!  But it is only one of any number of possibilities.  A win is also:

These are all wins and there will be others – there will, in fact, be a win in every meeting.  Reflect and identify what you have learned, how you have progressed your position with the prospect, or how you have promoted your business.

And then, work out how you will leverage off this “win” going forward.  Remember to know and not to do, is not to know.  Without leverage, the “win” loses its value and can no longer be considered a win.

So you can be a 100%er – you just have to take your narrow vision glasses off for a moment.  Remember, what you focus on you will see more of – so when you start identifying the wins, the more obscure (and sometimes more valuable) wins will become even more apparent.

The power of the 100%er mindset is in the confidence it builds and the subsequent belief in self that ensues.  From another perspective, if your only definition of a win is to make a sale – every meeting that does not result in a sale is treated as a loss – this can have a devastating compounding effect on the energy and mindset of the “sales person”, particularly for someone new to the role.

This strategy is particularly effective for new sales people, however it must always be qualified with these important stipulations:

So, go forth, enjoy the wins, enjoy how winning makes you feel and make sure that you leverage off the compounding energetic effect in a way that breeds even more wins.

 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you have a read of Getting Better Results.

 

I was enjoying a mentoring conversation with a client (let’s call her Mary) recently – Mary told me that her partner thought it was important that I know (as her mentor) that she never finishes anything.

Some words yell at me – words like “never” and “anything”– both such BIG words – global words or statements like this play havoc with the mind (but that’s another story!).

I asked Mary what she thought – did she agree with that statement?  Mary was sure she finished projects and eventually with lots of prodding could come up with quite a few examples.

But that aside – it was clear that Mary had not clarified what “finished” looked like with her partner or with herself for that matter.

How can we congratulate ourselves on completing something successfully, if we don’t know what completed looks like or what success is?  How can we expect to be congratulated by others when they have different perspectives.

Consider this scenario which will be very familiar to some of us:

Jill asked her son to tidy his bedroom.  He made the bed and was surprised when reprimanded for not doing what he was told.  He had finished tidying his room according to his understanding of what finished looked like and he had made the bed just like he had been shown – so he also felt like he had done a good job – success was his.

On the other hand, Mum expected to be able to see the floor, dirty clothes in the laundry, magazines, sports gear etc on the shelves.

These two very different definitions of finished caused unnecessary angst and confusion.  Who has a checklist for bedroom cleaning?

The same applies in a business environment – how often do you see a bewildered look on the face of a team member who clearly thinks he has successfully completed a task only to be chastised or asked to go back and finish it?

As a leader and manager, always be clear on what ”finished” looks like – and also be clear on what a successful outcome means.  Clarify the expected standards, the steps, the time frames, the outcomes, the roles with the team – and check for understanding.

When it’s your project – something you have undertaken to do – it is just as important to write down what finished means, what a successful outcome looks like and why, why should you take this project through to the end.  And don’t forget to make sure your stakeholders know exactly what, finished successfully, means to you.

It sounds like a simple concept and it is.  However, I have found that too often these simple concepts are overlooked because we assume we are all on the same page.  Never assume.

 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you have a read of What is Success?  Do you feel Successful?

I completed my first half marathon (21.1 kms!) a few weekends ago at the picturesque Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.  Very exciting!

Some time ago I blogged about “Doing what it Takes” to reach your goals using my marathon training experience as an analogy.

In summary – these where my super success principles:

1.  Set goals and tell others about them

2.  Learn from what others have done

3.  Recognise that there may well be sacrifices

4.  Create a plan and stick to it

5.  Avoid temptations that may derail us

6.  If the dream is big enough – the facts and the opinions of others don’t count.

Did these “Practical Success Principles” work?  Absolutely!

You see, I tripped and fell 7 weeks before the event and could not train again until 2 weeks out when the training program was all about tapering.  So I had a couple of 10km runs under my belt and that was that!

I received lots of advice – don’t do it, transfer into the 10km, you’ll do more damage if you run, have a drink and register for another run later in the year.  And I can assure you, I did consider all of these suggestions – and with varying degrees of seriousness, depending on the day.

But what made me do it?

1.  I had set a goal – 21kms not 10kms and I had told all and sundry that I was going to do it

2.  I read that if you can run 10kms you can run 21 – so I figured if someone else had done it so could I.

3.  I knew it was going to hurt and I knew my time would not be as planned, but I wanted that FINISHERS t-shirt

4.  My plan went out the window and a new plan around acupuncture, massage, chiropractic wizardry replaced it.

5.  I avoided most temptations – and the biggest one was opting out

6.  I did want to do this – it was a personal goal – I enjoy running and I challenged myself to be strong willed enough to face my fears and do it anyway. And looking bad was not an option!

It was all about being willing when I wasn’t willing and the 6 principles really did help.

I know that these success principles will work for any challenge or goal you may set yourself in life and in business.  There may be blocks that at first seem insurmountable and this is when the 6 principles are even more important.

 

SUCCESS – Means different things for different people – what’s your definition?

Do you want to be successful?  Yes?  So what does “being successful” mean, what does it look like, feel like?  And how will you know when you are there?

At our LIFE by DESIGN Retreats, we use proven tools and processes to help you build your own meaning of success – putting you firmly in control of your success journey.

Success is a big word – it carries with it many different connotations, which have been attached to it by society over time from one generation to the next.

Many people are striving for success without knowing exactly what success means to them.  Given society places considerable status on “being successful”, success often forms part of what we say we want out of life – we want to be successful!  This process of aiming for an undefined outcome – this nirvana called “success” – too often sucks the life force out of people, and causes them to focus on goals that are not congruent with their hopes and dreams.

When I am successful, then I will slow down.  When I am successful, then I will celebrate.  Whatever success is!

 

Let’s consider this scenario…

University students are sitting an exam.  Bob’s goal is to pass, Bill to gain a HD, and Bevan to get 100%.  Ann is ultra-competitive and wants to be the best in the class, to come first.  Mary hasn’t set any personal goals – she has studied right up to the last minute and this is just one subject of many.

The lecturer may have a different set of expectations for her students.  The students’ parents may have yet another. If the students achieve their individual goals they should be successful on their own terms, shouldn’t they?

If Bob passes the exam and that was his goal – then he has succeeded according to his criteria – and he should acknowledge and celebrate that.  His lecturer, however, may believe that Bob is capable of a HD and anything less could not be considered a successful outcome.

So who is right?

It depends from whose point of view, in whose shoes we are standing.  You are fighting a losing battle if you allow someone else to decide when you are or are not successful, to set the bar for you.

It is important to “own” your own definition, to be clear on why you have set this standard and then stand your ground.  Don’t be disempowered because someone else holds a different definition of success for you.

What about Mary – she also passes the exam.  She had no clear goal pre-exam – maybe just getting there was a win.  Or maybe Mary measures success on completion of the course and she doesn’t check in to assess success until then.

You are more likely to be influenced by someone else’s definition of success if you haven’t taken the time to create your own.  If you don’t know what success means to you, then how will you know when you have achieved it?

We contend that you are successful at the time when you choose to do the things you need to do to achieve the outcome you desire – the outcome is a result of your success – success is a journey.  There is no better time than NOW to start your journey of success.

Take the time to design your life and then do what it takes to enable your desired future to turn up – getting started is the first measure of success!

And, there is no better place to get started than at our LIFE by DESIGN Retreat.

Join us at our LIFE by DESIGN Retreat and become clear on what a life well lived looks like to you and a big part of that is understanding what success means for you.

Don’t delay – take this opportunity to design your life’s journey – take charge and lead your way.

 

Doing What it Takes (WIT) – Practical Success Principles

I have signed up for the Sunshine Coast Half Marathon and I am implementing these super success principles:

1.  Set goals and tell others about them – yes, I announce that I am doing this crazy thing!  And in so doing have created a high level of external accountability.  My ego will be sorely impacted if I don’t go through with it.

2.  Someone else has done what I am doing so I will follow their lead and learn from what they have done.  I have researched the must do’s and must not do’s.  If it is possible for you, it is possible for me, it is just a matter of how.

3.  If you want something badly enough – sometimes you have to sacrifice stuff.  Oh yes, that would be a sleep in, a fine wine, and pain!  Just do WIT and remember WHY!

4.  Create a plan and stick to it – yes I have a plan and have taken the best advice AND yes, I am sticking to it.

5.  Avoid temptations that may derail me – the first step here is to know what these temptations are so that I can be prepared to take them out before they do me in.  The biggest temptation for me is not to train when I travel – Oh the excuses come out then and I have had some serious conversations with myself!  Just do WIT!

6.  If the dream is big enough – the facts don’t count.  And neither do the opinions of the naysayers who seem to be able to accumulate masses of evidence as to why I shouldn’t put myself through this physical challenge.

So the proof will be in the pudding (what is the origin of that saying?) – the only organised run I have done was 8kms 2 years ago – so 21kms should be “interesting”.

These success principles will work for any challenge or goal you may set yourself in life and in business – very simple and very effective!

 

So you know what you want to achieve this year?  You are clear on what your goals are and why it is important to you that they are reached.  This knowing is so powerful – clarity around goals means that you are more likely to make decisions and take actions everyday with these desired outcomes as your point of reference.  If I take this action… will it take me closer to my goals?  You are FOCUSED on the main aim of your game.

You have EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES.  You know what and how to do what needs to be done.  There is a purposeful series of actions needed to be taken to achieve your objectives.

It is just as important to consider what might “do you in” – what disempowering beliefs or thoughts could block your progress?  Be honest and write them down.  Now you are better prepared to take them out of the equation – to recognise these disempowering beliefs when they show up as inhibitors to your success.

Will any of these “do you in” – laziness, fear of failure, lack of focus, procrastination, when-then??

Engage someone to keep you on purpose and to remind and support you to stay FOCUSED, to hold only EMPOWERING BELIEFS and build EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES which will accelerate your success.

FOCUS, EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES & EMPOWERING BELIEFS equals the “A” ZONE – combined these 3 factors compound the power – accelerating your success!

 

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