Upsize is a magazine with a single mission: to help Minnesota's small-business owners build bigger and more profitable companies, and to connect CEOs with the people, products and ideas they need to grow.
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Q&A Best of Upsize ing their balance sheet well: they have too much old equipment with some value still on the books, for example. So the balance sheet is a problem and the balance sheet drives cash flow. That's what we do at Highland Electric: We focus on cash flow first, not on sales. Upsize: How do you focus on cash flow, on a daily basis? Lowenberg: No. 1 we don't believe in a loss leader, meaning giving away work or finding a chunk of business that's low margin thinking that you can make it higher margin in the end. So with every job we do we look to make money on it, but fair to the customer with the service we're providing, and if you do that every day the rest will come in. I've seen some companies if they have four people on their manufacturing floor they want to keep them busy all the time. People some- times take work just to keep them busy, but the work might not be profitable and it's difficult for the company to survive. Upsize: Tell me more about how you focus on cash flow? Lowenberg: We're looking at cash weekly, and sharing it with all the employees. Some of the employees might not have interest, they're not finance majors, but LAW Protect business with covenants not to compete: "It may be tempting to selectively enforce non-compete covenants against some employees but not others. How- ever, selective enforcement can be used as a defense by a former employee. Uniform and vigorous enforcement of non-compete agreements sends a message to existing employees that such agreements will be enforced if violated. That in turn deters future violations." we want to make sure they understand how we're doing on a weekly basis. Because they know if a job's going bad. I hear some companies saying we don't tell our direct labor how many hours we quoted on a job, but I believe in open books. Upsize: Why? Lowenberg: The guys that make you the money are the guys that are out in the field. No different than in manufacturing— it's the guys or the gals on the floor. Not the front office, never the front office. And giving them the transparency helps the company be more successful. Upsize: So much of what you say doesn't seem lofty or inspirational; it seems basic and common sense. But I get the impres- sion that maybe that common sense, basic stuff is missing in troubled compa- nies. Lowenberg: Normally there isn't a busi- ness plan that articulates simple goals, maybe five simple goals. I see too many companies that work on five-year plans and I scratch my head. We don't know what's going to happen two years from now, so why waste your time? Small com- panies just have to worry about the next year. Put together a plan, figure out those HUMAN RESOURCES Who's your new hire? Conduct a background check to find out "If you receive a resume that is too good to be true, it probably is. Recent surveys show that 30 percent of all job applicants lie on their resumes, while 60 percent include misleading information. Deception on resumes commonly entails falsifying education (the most common deception), stretching dates to cover employment gaps, enhanc- ing job titles, fabricating credentials or licenses and inventing employers. Properly conducted background checks have the potential to save compa- nies both time and money, as costly hiring decisions may be prevented." Chris Penwell Siegel Brill 612.337.6104; chrispenwell@siegelbrill.com This expert's advice was taken from an article that ap- peared in Upsize. To see the entire article: CLICK HERE 24 UPSIZE ONLINE THE GROWTH GUIDE 2012 Kari Yonke Eide Bailly LLP 701.476.8778; kyonke@eidebailly.com This expert's advice was taken from an article that ap- peared in Upsize. To see the entire article: CLICK HERE www.upsizemag.com five simple goals, and then make sure you assess, plan and execute on them. Most people kind of dabble with the plan, but they don't execute on it.