What Does This Past Weekend’s Credit Crunch Mean for SMBs?

Las Vegas, NV, October 16, 2008 --(PR.com)-- According to the Wall Street Journal, one of Wall Street’s most chaotic weekends began Friday, September 12. In a twin debacle for the mortgage and banking sectors, Lehman Brothers was pushed into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch was bought over by Bank of America for $50 billion. There are also fears of a possible collapse of insurance giant American International Group (AIG).

Commenting on this spate of financial disasters on Wall Street, founder and CEO of ActionCOACH - the number one business coaching firm in the world, said that the credit crisis is stressing the importance of protecting the most critical organ of a company’s fiscal health - cash flow.

ActionCOACH operates through more than 1000 offices in 26 countries – helping the owners of small-to-medium sized businesses thrive and succeed by enabling them to overcome the challenges that exist in the economy.

“Smaller companies need to know that they are not going for market share, but wallet share,” Sugars said. “Boost the dollar value of your average sale, and you boost your cashflow and ultimately, your bottom line.”

In this deteriorating economic climate, Sugars advises business owners to become more prudent and use a simple business model, which is applicable to any product, service, and industry or time period.

The components of this model include leads, conversion rate, customers, number of transactions, average sales price, total turnover, margins and profits as illustrated by the following formula:
Leads x conversion rate = customers x # of transactions x average sales price = total revenue x margin = profit

In Sugar’s formula, every component that follows an “equal to” sign (customers, total revenue, and profit) cannot be directly influenced. Those components that precede and follow the “Multiplication” sign can be directly influenced. An increase in any of the variables leads to better results.

“Increasing sales, reducing overheads and converting debt into equity are some of the ways in which you can improve your Cashflow,” Sugars said. There are several other strategies that can be considered and a qualified Business Coach can work with business owners for the most suitable and appropriate strategies for a particular business.”

The formula, which ActionCOACH refers to as the “5 Ways,” presents the conventional view of a “business model” in a new way.

“The credit environment presents new challenges for small business. Business has indeed changed - so you need to also change the way you do business,” Sugars said.

As the credit crisis spreads, its impact is being felt in terms of small businesses being able to set up credit lines or expand existing lines of credit.

According to an article published on AFP.com, Asia tumbled first on Monday, followed by the Middle East, Russia and then Europe - before the ripples were felt in the North and South American markets.

Many financial experts describe this as the biggest, most severe industry shake-up since the Great Depression.

The economy is slowing, markets are tumultuous and economic morale is dismal. Because of business conditions over the past several years, more business owners than ever are turning to business coaching as a way to grow their companies – as opposed to the sometimes costly and highly specialized world of business consulting.

“ActionCOACH Business Coaches offer owners a variety of proven, tested systems and methodologies that have been shown to grow profits no matter what type of environment or conditions they are facing. Business coaching gives owners the tools and strategies needed to thrive and succeed – despite the current economic outbreak,” Sugars said.

Business coaching was still in its infancy when Sugars started ActionCOACH in Brisbane, Australia. Today, it is the second fastest growing industry, next only to IT. ActionCOACH’s leading position has been attributed to the results its coaches bring to their clients – all around the world.

ActionCOACH is the world’s number one business coaching firm, with more than 1,000 offices in 26 countries. To learn more about business coaching and ActionCOACH, go to actioncoach.com.

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