So, while reading his “wake up call of a book” for entrepreneurs, I came across a great sentence: ”The purpose of cash cows is to fund new calves”. Yes! Another kick in the behind to liberate an article from my draft folder!
Let us begin! I would like to expand the idea to: “Cash cows inevitably die, and the ones without healthy offspring take the farm down with them.”
Some executives not only dump all their resources on “cash cows”, but also segregate them and poach resources from other units. To justify their actions they use absurd levels of “analysis paralysis” level formulas and theories lacking logic. These actions deprive their organization of larger AND long-term success. What a bunch of shortsighted baloney!
Here are my quick thoughts on how to help organizations increase their ability to succeed short and long-term
Monthly Archives: January 2009
Kill the cash cows!
Ideas for startups to implement in order to avoid laying off (good) people
Have you ever wondered why so many great entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs tend to sport more gray hair than usual, even in their early 30s? It is because the best ones get it! One of the main things that keep us awake late at night is the worry that our talent may bail on us or we may not be able to find the right people to join us. It is much harder to find great employees than it is to find capital. Now, I am not an expert on manufacturing, but in knowledge-based businesses, people are the biggest investment.
Keeping entrepreneurs and CEOs out of jail and an early grave
I am often asked what I do for a living and since I am not a PR or marketing professional, describing what I do to an “outsider” is challenging at times. I can hide all I want behind my resume and a great group of people I have worked with, but in order to further enhance my network, I must “translate” the role of a business operations leader to those in other professions.
Reading Jeremiah Owyang’s excellent article ”What’s Your Career Mission?” was a great kick-in-the-behind that inspired me to write down my Career Mission and the Value I bring to the table
Doing collections the startup way!
During my career I have become very successful at keeping the number of uncollected accounts to a minimum (in one company we had only one invoice we had to write off). Collections definitely rates in the top 3 of the most undesirable duties, but there are ways to minimize the pain. The best way to do so is by implementing tough practices that send a message out there: “we are serious about delivering what we have promised and we expect the same from you”. Here are some of my techniques
Apolinaras is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of helping companies manage growth, build diverse teams, harness technology, and get a lot more profitable.Read More About Us »
