Should Your Capital Go on Strike? Insider Concerns Revealed and 3 Secret Defenses Provided

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently asked that question in their article Our Pro-Business President with reasons they feel business is hunkered down. Business Week talks about cash going on vacation with leadership in evaluation mode. Other periodicals and articles are talking about the likelihood of a second downturn at the same time other experts say we are at the bottom with great strategic profit opportunities awaiting.

It is easy to be concerned regardless of your political persuasion and possibly the industry you are in. How do you make sense of these contradictory statements? What should you do in your life or business? After all leadership knows that with no risk, there is no growth or reward. And yet if you are too optimistic and thinks get worse, you lose your business or job. Conversely, if you are too pessimistic, competitors will take away your best people, best customers, or even your business.

The WSJ article said "The big political news out of Washington yesterday is that the White House wants you to know that President Obama is not anti-business. That reassuring word comes in a dispatch from Politico.com quoting senior White House aides that they have launched a coordinated campaign to push back against the perception that its agenda is hostile to business."

For your background information as you decide what to do with this concern, what reasons do the Wall Street Journal and others say indicate the Administration, is anti business? If those issues could impact your business, look deeper. If they are not a concern for you, ignore the Wall Street Journal article.

1. They continue to be concerned about how Chrysler and General Motors secured lenders rights were set aside.

2. They question the bully pulpit or worse which was used on the insurer WellPoint to justify and pass ObamaCare.

3. A number are concerned about the larger range and number of proposed tax increases and how they can plan for business operations next year.

4. For another point they ask about new regulations underway and being proposed.

5. Some are staggered by the sheer magnitude of money being spend and committed.

For the vast bulk of us, what can you do and what strategic planning should you do with your cash and capital?

One way to hedge your bets is too move to making decisions on an OPEX (operational expenditures) not a CAPEX (capital expenditure) basis. That allows you to scale up or down easier, as business careens up or down. The downside is that you pay for the flexibility.

Another way is to create an internal or outsider led enterprise risk management assessment (ERM) of your business. That can help unearth hidden opportunities or under appreciated risks. The downside is the investment of your time and consulting costs.

The third insider secret costs very little and yet is what most corporations even leaders will not do. Gain six months visibility on your cash through better and more timely budgets and metrics follow-up to see what is happening to your business both as potential opportunities or looming catastrophes.

The business version of the saying pay me now or pay me later follows. Ignore this article, concerns noted and solutions offered and risk losing your best people, best customers, even your business or job. Consider these tactics and performance management tools to exploit the new normal economy.

Bottom line? - Control your financial destiny! Capitalize on hidden high return opportunities, while limiting exposure to risk.

Stop Profit Leaks Now. Apply this information to improve your profitability, reengineer business models, and strengthen or gain competitive advantage in the marketplace to check companies vital signs and diagnose problems before unpleasant side effects show up on their balance sheets.

Benefit from his extensive C-level experience in accounting, IT, sales, management, manufacturing and HR to work writing, speaking and consulting on enterprise risk assessment (ERM), risk analysis, corporate governance, change management and leadership.

The FiscalDoctor corporate checkup helps you identify internal problems from inventory mismanagement, outdated and incomplete financial reports, and false accounting assumptions to external forces like misreading the market, losing competitive advantage and missing golden opportunities.

I can help you create peripheral vision in your business, so you are not blindsided. And you can start with the free Fiscal Test available at http://fiscaldoctor.com/fiscaltest.html.

From the author of the book, 'Stick Out Your Balance Sheet & Cough: Best Practices for Long Term Business Health'. Available on Amazon. If you would like to improve your risk management process on a beer budget for your champagne taste or determine the top 3 to 5 issues to prioritize in your business, open this book and say Profit.

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