Millionaire Coaching Academy News
November 2009 issue 5
Copyright Albert Wright 2009
This month we feature Strategic Alliance Partner the Directors’ Centre and Robert Craven its leader and founder.
Client Recruitment and Marketing
Adverts and features have appeared again in North London Connections business magazine and Million Impossible’s Raw Entrepreneur issue 9.
We pay up to £1,000 for people and organisations introducing fee-paying clients.
GUEST Newsletters
Your next Guest Newsletter will be from Robert Craven.
Events and Offers
FREE attendance at the autumn series of Barclays Let’s Talk …… seminars, delivered by Robert Craven started in October.
These half-day events come complete with free buffet lunch, networking and marketing opportunities and are FREE to MCA readers. Visit www.directorscentre.com
Millionaire Coaching Academy Strategic Alliance Partner
THE DIRECTORS’ CENTRE
Robert Craven leads the Directors’ Centre, based in Bath. The web address is www.directorscentre.com
Their strap line “' Been there and done it' business consultancy to grow your business sales, profit and cash”is exactly the style MCA wants.
Robert and his team offer so much more than conferences and seminars and have a particular expertise in developing the right strategy for high growth businesses.
His web site contains several Case Studies demonstrating the way they work and the results they achieve see....
Can We Rescue a Drowning Estate Agent? Download the PDF
Robert has done research into the mindset and habits of the owners of businesses that have achieved sales of £1 million pa, the Bronze MCA target.
He and his team are ideally suited to assist MCA clients seeking to do the same.
In addition to having an outstanding team of presenters, consultants and Mentors, Robert has developed one of the best “libraries” of practical resources that can be used by business owners, on their own or with hands on guidance, to grow their businesses.
Robert is not only the author of over 4 best selling business books but also the developer of a range of workbooks and workshops that can help transform a business.
The extensive assets of the Directors’ Centre will be available to all MCA clients, as required, under special arrangement, on an exclusive basis.
This, combined with the Marketing Power of the Rapid Results Marketing System and the expert guidance of our Millionaire Mentors, makes the MCA programme unique.
CASE STUDY
This month we are featuring some “mini case studies” describing the type of work done by Millionaire Mentor Keith Andrew.
Keith is a very experienced mentor who can go in and dissect a business to find out why it may be underperforming and put things right.
Here he outlines what happened in four very different businesses. If any of this looks familiar, you might want to consider signing up for the complete MCA package.
1 Building Contractor
I was called in when the company had already achieved a turnover of £3m, but they were not making any profits.
We took the business apart looking at all the aspects:
· pricing for jobs
· buying of materials
· use of the work force
· the split of employees and using trades as and when
· debt control.
Within just a few months of changing the business model and reshaping the business, we were achieving a monthly profit of £20k at the bottom line, and that continued to increase, as did turnover until very recently when the market was affected by the downturn in the economy.
Whilst the business continues to find trading difficult the changes have given the business the chance to survive this down turn and remain in business and return for the upturn when that comes.
2 Management Training & Development
I was called in when the business had annual turnover of £1.5m, but only a net profit of £5k and were experiencing cash flow difficulties.
12 months later we had not only increased turnover by £1m but also seen net profits increase to £650k and rising.
How Did This Come About?
I took the business back to basics looking at:
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pricing for contracts
-
the ability to add additional value
-
cross selling the benefits
We not only got customer satisfaction but also additional work as a result.
Again we cut overheads, introducing consultants on a job-by-job basis rather than employing permanent people.
I reduced funding costs and wrote a business plan to take the business forward and got buy-in from the management team.
The business moved from a cash negative position to being cash positive.
3 Metal Fabricator
This company was continuing to increase turnover year by year but was constantly running out of cash.
I was called in to offer some insight, guidance and advice.
This was a classic case of taking your eye off the ball, delegating responsibility without putting in safeguards to check what was going on.
Two fundamental mistakes were being made:
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undertaking work at a loss, without realising the pricing was way out, with nobody checking the workings being done
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too much responsibility was being given without proper controls in place.
A director had been taken on, as a result of his cash injection as a shareholder and had been allowed to get on with things, without controls, leading to poor performance on jobs, cost overruns, and claw backs by clients as penalties for over running on time.
This had the potential to damage the company reputation.
Whilst this Director has ceased active involvement with the business, he remains a shareholder.
We were able to stop the mayhem and move to the next step of buying him out as a shareholder.
I completed the pricing review, put a structure in place to control and monitor this process, allowing responsibility but linked to accountability with proper reports and a system that requires two people to review and authorise.
I also spent time changing the financial reporting and explaining to the owner and staff what the figures told them, as well as putting in a monthly review system, and getting them to produce a monthly report explaining what the numbers were saying about the business.
They are now on the right track.
4 Major Retailing Operation
A company I knew very well but that had seen a decline in trade, was finding it difficult to maintain turnover and margins.
They had been selling off the family silver to cover trading losses and a major change was needed if they were to survive.
The Chief Executive was retired and a new one appointed.
He asked me to help with the business planning and refinancing for the Company.
I worked with the Chief Executive on a robust plan, which outlined the changes required to turn this business around, some of which would cause pain and a change in the way things had been done for too long.
Once agreed by the Board it was necessary to cascade this down through the management team to staff so that there was total buy-in to the plan.
I was then able to put in place a refinancing package of £10m on terms that were better than what was being offered by their existing bankers.
The business has gone on to deliver the plan showing a massive increase in turnover and retained profits and has been able to significantly reduce its debts.
Keith, like our other Millionaire Mentors, has worked in a variety of business sectors with businesses facing a range of issues restricting profitable growth.
All our Millionaire Mentors are experienced in diagnosing the main issues facing a business and them clarifying what needs to be done to improve sales and profits.
Our role is to accelerate profitable business growth and help owners achieve Millionaire Targets.
To do this sometimes requires pruning dead wood so new shoots can come through.
The use of experienced outside advisers has time and again brought new insight to business owners who may have been grappling with issues for years.
The present, recessionary period, exhibits issues that most of our Millionaire Mentors have seen before, unlike several of our clients.
Our Millionaire Mentors have the skill of looking with new, objective eyes, the independence to recommend action managers may have been reluctant or unwilling to initiate (even though they know deep down what needs to be done) and with tact and diplomacy, guiding owners and managers to the correct, though often difficult, decisions.
Our work does not stop there.
We are about growth and success. Once firm foundations are in place a business can start building true value once again.
Millionaire Mentors are key to this success.
If you want to become a client, contact Albert Wright on 07906 704337
email: albert@millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk or complete a short questionnaire on line.
