[flashvideo file=https://seminar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Leonardo-and-Albert.mp4 /]
What Would Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein Say if They Saw The Current Business or Marketing Plan of The Average Townsville Business?
Answer: If they had their business hats on – they would ask to see your cashflows before they considered your marketing.
Is there much point making a profit with great marketing if you cant pay your bills and go out of business? Marketing has to put cash in the bank so you can do more marketing to put more cash in the bank. Even if your marketing works nicely – you still need to collect the cash. Or at least have enough.
There are some models of business out there – eg Google – that did not collect any cash at the beginning. Did they still pay their bills? Yes. How did they do that? With borrowings. Your bank account does not care where the money comes from. It does not care how hard you worked for the money…. And neither the does the electricity company who will turn off the lights if you don’t pay them.
Knowing your current cash position and being able to approximate your future cash position [ie if and when you will able to pay your bills, or take money out of the business for investments!] is a critical part of your business system. Commonly small (and even medium) business owner look up at the roof and do some mental maths when asked what will be in the bank at the end of next week or two weeks or next month. Others will literally write some numbers down on the back of some scrap paper [often the envelope that a bill came in]. Is that you? What about for your household cashflow – it is the same.
As soon as you write it down [hopefully in an autocompleting spreadsheet] – YOU take control. Until then you a VICTIM of a poor cashflow management system – and it may send you broke – or at least keep your stress levels wastefully high.
Just lately I have been playing with different ways of getting messages across. The little video above featuring Albert and Leonardo is amusing – but the point is that it often takes hearing the same message from a different source for it to ‘sink in’.
Look out for some more historical figures soon. It might be interesting to hear Napoleon on marketing?
Cheers
James Hooper