In my most recent post, Mark Tranter, partner with CFO Selections in Bellevue, differentiated between well-networked executives and executives who didn't pay attention to building relationships. Here are some more in-depth strategies you can use today to make your transition more successful.

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"There are two types of CFOs, those that have a network and those that don't," says Mark Tranter, partner with CFO Selections in Bellevue. While both executives are competent, the non-networked CFO averages one year of unemployment while the networked CFO gets multiple job offers within weeks of announcing a move.

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Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know our economy is still struggling. As a result, many businesses are strapped for cash. This is particularly true for small businesses, which haven't had government largesse to fall back on the way some of the big guys have.

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We've all heard it said: cash is king. And in these days of tight credit and a generally "down" economy, that's more true than ever. Whether you are looking for a loan, or just trying to keep your business afloat, it's hard to overestimate the importance of knowing where your cash is -- and were it will be in the near term future.

Regardless of the exact type of account, the best place for cash to be is "available for use." But often, businesses find their cash is tied up, stuck in a bottleneck that causes it to come in too slowly or go out too fast to meet the needs of the business. Here are some of the main places that can become cash traps, stopping you from growing -- or surviving at all.

• Your customer's bank: Are your receivables growing faster than your revenue? This can be due to collections issues, problems qualifying customers, or invoices that don't go out in a timely manner.
• Your vendor's bank: Are you paying your vendors too soon? Can you improve the pricing you get by asking for multiple bids, or negotiating better deals?
• Your warehouse: Is your inventory growing larger and larger each month? Do you have good processes in place to tell you what is actually selling, what needs to be ordered, and when and how you should move out aged inventory?

Once you have identified where your money is now, it can be very helpful (and is required by many lenders) to create models showing where it's likely to be in the next four quarters. You do this by identifying and modeling all the major drivers of your cash flow, for example revenue projections, seasonality of the business, average number of days to collect receivables, inventory turns, average payables outstanding, and the timing of major asset purchases.

CFO Selections can help you manage your cash flow by quickly providing a clear picture of your current cash position, strategies to improve cash management, an objective assessment of how current and potential lenders will view your situation, and a roadmap modeling multiple scenarios so you can anticipate problems and devise solutions.

About Tom Varga
Tom is the Founder and Managing Partner of CFO Selections. He has 20+ years of experience in finance and other executive positions at a variety of companies. Tom enjoys seeing business owners overcome challenges and take their companies to the next level. If he ever had spare time, he would spend it hiking, climbing, and teaching mountaineering.

We are living in interesting times — seriously challenging times economically. As a business owner, I am fighting to keep my business going and growing, in spite of the economy. Worrying about the economy and my business is very draining. To keep myself out of the doldrums, I take a step back, consider the larger picture and find something to celebrate.

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All of us are affected in one way or another by the current recession. Business owners and managers are facing very tough choices as they struggle to keep businesses afloat and profitable. Employees face the specter of potential or actual job losses. The resulting fear can immobilize workers and make it difficult for management to make and implement good decisions.

So what's a manager or an employee to do?

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Running a small business means you are handling multiple responsibilities. The product or service you sell is only one part of the equation – there is an accounting and finance component to running a business that can differentiate a successful business from a struggling business.  You don't have to be an accounting expert, but  you can save yourself a lot of trouble - and a lot of money - by understanding some of the basics like the time value of money, the difference between cash and accrual accounting, and why only some costs are relevant to business decision making.

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If we accept that employee accountability and measurement are good things, when tied to appropriate goals and performance expectations, how can we make the process useful to all concerned?

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The past two weeks have been wild in the business world. Some of the pillars of Wall Street have fallen and the government is scrambling to pick up the pieces and prevent additional breakage. The taxpayers are groaning as the abacus beads fly, adding up the tab. 

When times are bad, focus on the basics of good business: continue marketing, take care of your people, and, communicate your goals and strategies to your staff. 

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Stepping into management for the first time is a huge challenge, whether you are an entrepreneur hiring your first employees or a corporate employee moving up. The biggest obstacle we face is simply not being prepared. It is a common misconception that as long as you can do the work well yourself, you can seamlessly transition into managing a team doing the same work. Not necessarily.

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Research has shown that it is far cheaper to sell more to existing customers than it is to woo and win new ones. One statistic often quoted is that it can cost six to seven times more to get a new customer than to retain an existing one. So it makes good economic sense to keep your current customers satisfied and happy.

How? Simple. Make sure every customer receives truly excellent customer service.

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In order for any business to function properly, many high-level skills are required. What skills? Think financial management, people management, legal issues, strategic planning and information technology, to name just a few. It is the rare entrepreneur who has them all. Fortunately, during the startup phase when funds are an issue, high-level skills are not usually needed full time.

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Big ethical problems and some of the big corporate frauds that have hit the headlines in recent years are pretty obvious to us all. But what about the smaller issues, those little ethical dilemmas that crop up during the regular course of doing business every day?

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Continuing to run a business without a sound operational foundation is rather like running a sports car stuck in first gear. It looks sexy, but that car isn't going anywhere fast and it's hard on the engine.

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When disaster strikes a business and forces it to close, even temporarily, the impact is enormous. It affects all parties involved -- the business owner, whose livelihood is lost for a time, employees who can't work to support their families, customers who can't get critical goods, suppliers who don't get new orders, and the business entity itself, which may or may not be able to recover.  So what should a business owner do when disaster strikes?

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