Listen to “#599 How to Manage Cash Flow Through Uncertainty” on Spreaker.
On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
SEGMENT 1, starting at 0:00: Are you using the right tools to run your business? With the right systems and processes in place, you can run your business more profitably and manage cash flow uncertainty more successfully. Here to help us figure out what this looks like on the financial side of our business is Tony Ward is the President of Xero for the Americas.
SEGMENT 2, starting at 18:45: One of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make when they start out or when they want to pivot is that they go too broad. They want to be everything to everybody because they figure they’ll get more sales that way. My next guest shares that you actually have to focus on a narrow niche to be successful, and she illustrates that with her own product. Alice Vaughn is the (in)famous creator of Offensive Crayons, an adults-only box of crayons for the wildly artistic with a healthy sense of humor.
SEGMENT 3, starting at 36:15: I think it’s fair to say that the black swan event known as the COVID-19 Pandemic has shifted many peoples’ career paths in the last five months. Here to help us navigate these uncharted times from the perspective of lifeboats on the Titanic is executive coach Maggie Craddock.
Sponsored by HR Direct
More on each segment below.
Segment 1: Tony Ward is the President of Xero for the Americas. He has 20 years of experience in senior leadership positions with global technology companies, including Microsoft Australia, LinkedIn, Spark, SurveyMonkey and Dropbox.
1:45 – How to use cost-saving apps to better run your business.
3:30 – Where’s the best place to start?
6:30 – Accountants want to help; but they need to be invited in to help.
9:45 – Advice for small business owners for how to manage cash flow through uncertainty.
11:45 – What are the most successful entrepreneurs and businesses doing right now?
13:15 – Why do people choose Xero over other accounting software like QuickBooks?
14:00 – The first thing you should do on the financial side of your new business.
Segment 2: Alice Vaughn is the (in)famous creator of Offensive Crayons, an adults-only box of crayons for the wildly artistic with a healthy sense of humor – with names like Boner Bill Blue, Miscarriage Maroon, and Privilege (White), the inappropriately-named crayons have been banned from Amazon as well as Shopify, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Constant Contact, and Reddit.
18:45 – How did you come up with the idea for Offensive Crayons?
21:00 – How do you overcome being banned by all these popular platforms?
22:15 – Why it’s important to niche down when creating a new product or service.
25:00 – Utilizing comedy and current events to create a viral product.
28:00 – How to fan the flames of your fans to become your biggest evangelists.
33:00 – How do you decide what the best product extensions are when you have a successful product?
Segment 3: Maggie Craddock is an executive coach who has worked with clients at all levels on the professional spectrum – from people entering the workforce to Fortune 500 CEOs. She has been featured on CNBC, National Public Radio and quoted in national publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. Maggie is the author of “Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption” – which will be released on this month.
36:15 – Why the skills we’ve drawn on when it’s “business as usual” aren’t the same skills we need to navigate today’s level of unprecedented change and disruption. 38:15 – 39:05
39:00 – Why do we tend to think in black & white in high pressure situations? What can we do instead?
42:30 – Why you need to take a strategic pause (even if you’re totally freaking out).
44:00 – What do strategic pauses look like for business owners in extremely disrupted industries due to COVID-19?
46:30 – Ask yourself: what can you face? That’s a good place to start.
48:30 – Making the shift from a “Self-help” mindset to the “Us-help” mindset to keep our firms on track during rapidly changing times.
Sponsored by HR Direct
