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A document which represents a part of the total stock value of a company

for the first year of operation, and this shows that the break-even point is reached after twenty-two months

I have prepared a detailed cash-flow forecast

at an annual percentage rate of 18.5t, with interest-only repayments during the first six months

This assumes a bank loan of Ј15,000 over five years

will total Ј25,000

My start-up costs

and which shows who owns it

A formal agreement to provide

a company’s financial position at a specified moment

A formal description of

a named person has paid for protection against accidental loss or damage of goods or property

A document which states that

goods or services

A formal letter with an offer to supply goods or services, containing

to make money, showing possible income and expenditure

A description of the ways a new business hopes

a description of the project, including costs, materials, personnel, time plans, etc

I am therefore seeking a bank loan

of Ј15,000. I can offer the truck (estimated value Ј20,000) as security

An official notification from a bank

that it will lend money to a customer

AMT is a 10-year-old computer reseller with sales of $7 million per year,

adding value to our target market segments, the small business and high-end home office users, in our local market

It renews our vision and strategic focus:

position in the local market, but has been having trouble maintaining healthy financials

It has a good reputation, excellent people, and a steady

declining margins, and market pressure

By focusing on its strengths, its key customers, and the underlying values they need

American Management Technology will increase sales to more than $10 million in three years, while also improving the gross margin on sales and cash management and working capital

AMT is a privately-held corporation owned in majority

Dudley, our attorney, and Paul Karots, our public relations consultant

There are six part owners, including four

investors and two past employees

Dudley, our attorney, and Paul Karots, our

public relations consultant

The largest of these (in percent of ownership) are Frank

by its founder and president, Ralph Jones

AMT has been caught in the vise grip of margin

both are active participants in management decisions

The more detailed numbers in Table below

shows that we have had healthy growth in sales it also shows declining gross margin and declining profits

Although the chart titled Past Financial Performance

include other indicators of some concern

Neither owns more than 15%, but

squeezes that have affected computer resellers worldwide

Inventory turnover

throughout the computer industry worldwide

The gross margin % has been

is getting steadily worse

The margin squeeze is happening

declining steadily, as we see in the chart

All of these concerns are part of the general

trend affecting computer resellers

AMT sells personal computer technology for small business

to small business people to know that their business will not suffer an information technology disaster

We have one location – a 7,000 square foot store in a suburban shopping center

really selling information technology

Ultimately, we are

including personal computer hardware, peripherals, networks, software, support, service, and training

We sell the assurance

conveniently close to the downtown area. It includes a training area, service department, offices, and showroom area

Store 4 and Store 5 are both

offering services and that buyers didn’t care, instead preferring lower prices

They are both competing

will complain that margins are squeezed by the chains and customers buy on price only

They say they tried

against the chains in an attempt to match prices

When asked, the owners

in the downtown area

We think the problem is also that they didn’t really offer good service, and

also that they didn’t differentiate from the chains

The home offices in Tintown are an important

is based on an analysis published four months ago in the local newspaper

Our estimate in this plan for the home offices in our market service area

30 million home offices, and the number is growing at 10% per year

Nationally, there are approximately

growing market segment

The most important, for our plan’s focus, are

the home offices that are the only offices of real businesses

There are also part-time home offices with people who are employed during the day but work at home at night, people who work

several types

Home offices include

at home to provide themselves with a part-time income, or people who maintain home offices relating to their hobbies; we will not be focusing on this segment

These are likely to be professional

services such as graphic artists, writers, and consultants, some accountants and the occasional lawyer, doctor, or dentist

We find that the larger companies turn to other vendors, but we can sell to departments of larger

from the box pushers

The 30-employee cutoff

industrial location outside of someone’s home, and fewer than 30 employees. We estimate 45,000 such businesses in our market area

We must differentiate ourselves

companies, and we shouldn’t be giving up leads when we get them

Small business within our market includes virtually any business with a retail, office, professional, or

is arbitrary

Build long-term relationships with clients, not single-transaction

network, in a company with 5-50 employees. Our values – training, installation, service, support, knowledge – are more cleanly differentiated in this segment

We need to focus our offerings on small business as the key

market segment we should own

We need to establish our business offering as a clear and viable

deals with customers. Become their computer department, not just a vendor. Make them understand the value of the relationship

This means the 5-20 unit system, tied together in a local area

alternative for our target market, to the price-only kind of buying

As a corollary, the high end of the home

the high-end, high-quality service and support we offer

Our revenue structure has to match our cost structure, so the salaries

to be able to sell individual systems to the smart home office buyers who want a reliable, full-service vendor

We do not want to compete for the buyers who go to the chain stores or mail order, but we definitely want

we pay to assure good service and support must be balanced by the revenue we charge

We must charge appropriately for

office market is also appropriate

Elsewares is seeking a $300,000.00 financial package based

prices and the buyer feels ill-used when they see the same product priced lower at the chains

The market can’t bear the higher

on a note due in five years but amortized over 15 years

We cannot build the service and support

revenue into the price of products

Despite the logic behind this, the market

doesn’t support this concept

It should be noted that the owners of Elsewares do not intend to take any profits

out of the business until the long term debt has been satisfied

The note will be personally

record which will enable the company to seek alternate financing for the balance

By amortizing the note over fifteen years, the company will be afforded the opportunity to establish a healthy track

guaranteed by the Greenbaums’ assets

Whatever profits remain after the above debt payments will be used

to finance growth, mainly through the acquisition of additional inventory

This could cause a serious problem with cash flow, because our working

times to avoid a negative impact on our cost of goods sold and on our cash flow

We have to make sure that our inventory of drawstring bags and any other packaging products turns over a minimum of five

capital situation is chronically tight

We do not want to let our average collection days

is inventory turnover

The most important indicator in our case

get above 45 under any circumstances

We will rely heavily on our subscription to the ASI Credit

hold marketing costs to no more than 20 percent of sales

We must maintain gross margins of 90 percent at the least, and

Service for this valuable pre-sale information

It may be necessary to implement a variety of payment terms with different

distributors depending on their payment history

In extreme cases, prepayment of orders

may be the only extendible terms

Elsewares is organized into three main functional areas: product

sourcing, sales & marketing; production & shipping; and finance & administration

Mrs. Greenbaum ran the financial department for a start up retail operation whose

department of an ASI listed advertising specialties supplier

Mrs. Greenbaum holds a B.A. from U.C.L.A., is

sales rose to just under one million dollars in seven years

She has also spent the last year and a half heading up the sales

married and the mother of one child

Marvin Rosenbaum: Consultant. Mr. Rosenbaum has been associated with the Advertising Specialties industry

and the father of two children

Mr. Rosenbaum is married

for just under 25 years and hold the credentials of a C.A.S. or Certified Advertising Specialist

Mr. Rosenbaum has been responsible for the successful entry of many companies into this industry

and has maintained extensive business contacts with many of the industry leaders

Over the years, Mr. Rosenbaum has been hired by both suppliers and distributors who are either starting a new company as we are or who are attempting

to penetrate the advertising specialties market with products they are already distributing to other markets

Until increases in sales can support additional salaries, Edie Greenbaum

will oversee the operations of Elsewares in an unsalaried position

Mrs. Greenbaum will be responsible for the day to day operations

will consist of the following disbursements

The cornerstone of the personnel plan is to maximize production and minimize

including personnel company policies, and overseeing the sales & marketing and marketing departments

Pursuant to that goal, the initial payroll

the labor burden on the companies operating expenses

Mr. Rosenbaum will be responsible for initiating new leads with the ASI distributor network and for re-establishing existing

that will call on distributors in their preassigned territories

The sales department will be supplemented by Edie Greenbaum who will

also be responsible for calling on distributors as directed by Mr. Rosenbaum

Mr. Rosenbaum will also oversee the network of commissioned based sales reps

hired as an independent consultant at a per diem of $200

The sales & marketing department will be headed by Marvin Rosenbaum who has been

contacts with distributors with whom he has had a previous business relationship

Additionally, Mr. Greenbaum will be responsible for running the company’s computer operations

and is expected to play an important role in sourcing new products

We are projecting the division

department, Mr. Greenbaum will be responsible for assorted secretarial duties in addition to the previously mentioned duties

Until increases in sales justify the additional staffing of this

of this department into two positions at approximately the fourteenth month of business

At a salary of $36,000 per year, Mr. Greenbaum will be responsible for running the customer

service department which will include handling phone orders and catalogue requests

Elsewares will rely on part time help for its imprinting, warehousing & shipping

labor requirements

We have budgeted

$500 per week to that end. Naturally, as the need arises, this all encompassing areas will be split into two departments.

A full time production person will

run the imprinting department while a second person will be hired to handle both shipping and receiving

Mr. Greenbaum will then shift his duties to marketing & sourcing and a new employee will take over the customer

service department and its related duties

A well-worn saying holds that nothing is certain but death and taxes. Unhappily, governments arc often responsible

for the former, and they are virtually always the source of the latter. Since the United States is the world’s largest capital market, we will focus on taxes levied on US citizens and corporations.

In the US and most other countries, the corporate form of organisation is the most important in terms of dollar value of assets owned, although

many more firms are organised as partnerships or single proprietorships. Legally, a corporation is regarded as a separate entity, while partnerships are considered as extensions of their owners.

We are projecting the need for this additional labor burden at approximately

the eleventh month of business

Most of the specific tax rates and provisions applied in the first half of the 1980s. By far the most important taxes for investment decision-making are personal

and corporate income taxes

Income earned through proprietorships and partnerships is taxed primarily through the personal tax levied on their owners. Income earned by a corporation may be taxed twice - once when it is earned via corporate income tax and again when

of 18 per cent applicable to the next $25,000, a rate of 30 per cent applicable to the next $25,000,40 per cent to the next $25,000 and finally a rate of 46 per cent applicable to all income over $ 100,000

For example, in 1983 there was a tax rate of 15 per cent applicable on the first $25,000 of taxable income, a rate

is relatively simple in one respect. There are usually only a few basic rates

The result is shown in Chart

it is received as dividends by holders of the firm’s securities, via personal income tax

The corporate income tax

1 above – the top line shows the marginal rate, the bottom line shows the average tax rate

The marginal rate is more relevant for most decisions. For example,

a corporation buys a computer for $ 1 million, it is entitled to eventually charge off this cost as a deductible expense when computing taxable income

As the figure shows, the larger a corporation’s taxable income, the closer its average tax rate comes to

the higher marginal rate

The most dramatic instance of this difficulty concerns depreciation of assets. If

if a corporation were considering an investment that would increase its income from $65,000 to $70,000 each year, the increase in income would be (1 - 0.3) X $5,000

Overall such corporations pay taxes equal to virtually the largest

marginal rate (46 per cent)

For the purposes of

reporting corporate income to the IRS, assets are grouped into four broad classes

For tax purposes, corporate income is defined as revenue

fifteen-year property

Automobiles and research equipment are considered three-year property, most business equipment is considered five-year property, buildings are usually considered

the greater the benefit to the company

On 46 per cent rate, this represents an eventual tax saving of $460,000. The sooner the cost can be written off,

minus expenses. The problems arise in measuring these two elements

The question concerns the relevant cost of the 110 boats that were sold and of the 90 that remain. The firm may have sold all the ‘old’ boats first, or all the ‘new’ boats, or

for $10,000 each

To take a fairly simple case, imagine a retailer of sailboats. At the start of the year he has 100 in stock, all purchased

a mixture of the two

Another vexing problem associated

with the measurement of corporate income concerns the cost of inventory sold during the year. This arises when prices are changing fairly rapidly and a company holds inventory for long periods

During the year he takes delivery of 100 more but must pay $11,000 each, ending with 90 in stock. The boats are sold

for $15,000 each

An accountant may assume any of the above combinations without regard to the actual

companies used the FIFO method, suggesting that in times of moderate inflation many managers were willing to sacrifice some real benefits to improve the appearance of their company’s financial statements

However, before 1970 many

in the present and raise them in the future

This will lower taxes

facts of the situation

The impact of different inventory valuation methods is illustrated in Chart 2. When prices have been rising, the LIFO method will permit a corporation to charge more to cost

in the present and less in the future

The projected balance

the financial position the company will be in if all plans are executed. The possible financial results may be arranged as follows

The master budget is prepared from, and consolidates, budgets for separate sub-units of an organization (sales, production, distribution and finance) to give a single budget

for the whole organization

The budget shows

sheet, results budget, liquidity budget, and explanatory statements are together described as the master budget

If a plan has been expressed in financial terms, we speak of a budget. Budgeting is the changing of operational plans (for example, for purchasing, production, research, or sales) into

financial results

A budget fulfils various functions: it is both a tool and a compass for management. By periodically comparing the budget plan with the actual results (‘feedback’) company processes

can ascertain what the consequences of changes in its policy will be. Good use can be made of computerized spread-sheet programs for this ‘ what-if analysis

The master budget is the keystone which demonstrates the overall position of the company if the plans are executed. If, on the basis of this projection, undesirable positions come

maximum possible extent

By trying out various scenarios, management

to light, the management can readjust its policy

Finally, the management makes its choice from the policy options so that the objectives will be realized to the

can be controlled

Control requires a set of goals (the budget)

authorization. The staff member responsible for a section of the budget (‘un budget, c’est un monsieur’) is authorized to make expenditures to the extent given in the budget without the further consent of higher management

A budget is also a means of

is an important means of co-ordination

The budgeting stages formally determine the internal cohesion and necessary harmonizing of company activities which may be functionally divided between various departments. In this sense, a budget

and feedback as to how well those goals are being met. Budgeting obliges the management to contemplate the future

Thus, certain authority is delegated, and

to be purchased

The employee or supervisor concerned is then only responsible for the amount of units in the budget, and not for

a reflection of the financial results to be expected from the planned activities, quantity budgets which are only concerned with the number of units produced can also be included in the total budget system

Although the budget is typically

possible price fluctuations

Such a budget might be given to the head of the Production Department if he or she is not in a position to influence the prices of the materials

management is freed to direct its attention to the future. Intervention in the actual course of business is then only necessary if there are (significant) deviations in the actual results as compared to the plan

A good rule of thumb

report on this function is concerned

Otherwise, the budget would cease to be an accountability standard. An employee will generally not be accountable for changes in uncontrollable variables

to cover risks on the futures market

A quantity budget is also ultimately converted to financial consequences, so that it can be integrated into the master budget, but the price effect is eliminated so far as the performance

such as interest rates, inflation, and taxes

However, the senior financial manager of a company may be held responsible for costs arising from changes in the general level of interest rates, to the extent that his or her strategic choices are to borrow long or short, to make a share issue, or

is to include in a budget only those elements which are controllable by the employee or manager concerned (controllability principle)

Companies are beginning to recognise that they do not have enough high-quality people for their international activities. They often have problems releasing experienced people from existing operations in order to resource

reported that the proportion of managers with international experience ranges from about 1% in some UK companies to 80% in one Swiss company. In many firms, only 5-10% of managers are likely to have international experience

Indeed, there are signs that a shortage of internationally-skilled people may be an important

constraint on firms’ global ambitions

Similarly, at some levels and in some situations, wage levels are partially controllable by the personnel management. The most senior management is responsible for ‘the bottom line’, that is, they are accountable

for the end-result, be it profit or loss

A recent survey of EU companies

and lead new international ventures

Developing the international company’s management

importantly, by working and living abroad

Such experiences open people’s minds to the fact that things are done differently elsewhere and encourage them

to think in a wider context

If a company answers “yes” to

the last question, considerable resources and effort must be spent in preparing managers for international assignments

How can a company develop international managers with international skills and perspectives? The only way is through direct international experience either by participating in international task forces or, more

resource is a demanding exercise. Should there be an elite group of managers given international experience as part of their grooming for top jobs.

According to a recent survey, the top characteristics

matters affecting several countries

The manager should be

self-reliant and have an open, non-judgemental personality.

Another important characteristic is strategic awareness: the manager should have a global view of his or her contribution at work

Since the 1980s there has been

a trend for large companies to think globally: producing goods or delivering services and selling them, all over the world

In other words, the manager should think “world” and not see work responsibilities and needs soley from the perspective of his or her own national background. An international manager must become quickly involved in

of an international manager include many soft skills, such as the ability to work in international teams, adaptability to new situations, sensitivity to different cultures (and awareness of own cultural background), and relational skills

For example, he or she must be sensitive to, and aware of, the market

transport business, with myself as sole proprietor.

Initially, I shall have one truck with a load capacity of 1.5 tonnes. It will be fitted with a mobile phone.

I wish to set up a refrigerated road

requirements of a wide range of countries right from the start

I shall undertake deliveries for chilled food distributors, offering them a service on which they know they can rely at short notice and

all important parts of this process

Language training, overseas visits, in-house management courses and general management training at business schools are

in case of emergency

Their response

was very favourable

I shall drive the truck myself and also employ

we can find a small office to rent

I have made preliminary enquiries with a number of firms, which I contacted while following a marketing

course at Cardiff Polytechnic

My fiancee will help me with administration, book-keeping and telephone enquiries. Her parents have offered us the use of a room in their house as an office, until

part-time drivers

To finance this venture, I have Ј10,000 capital. My start-up costs will total Ј25,000. I am therefore

cash-flow forecast for the first year of operation, and this shows that the break-even point is reached after twenty-two months

This assumes a bank loan of Ј15,000 over five years at an annual percentage rate of 18.5t, with interest-only

repayments during the first six months

I have prepared a detailed

as security

seeking a bank loan of Ј15,000. I can offer the truck (estimated value Ј20,000)

seeking a bank loan of Ј15,000

We must remain on top of the new technologies, because

this is our bread and butter. For networking, we need to provide better knowledge of cross platform technologies

In order to hold costs down as much

we can still get decent margins, 25% to 40%.

We have for years supported both Windows and Macintosh technology for CPUs, although we’ve switched vendors many times for the Windows

(and previously DOS) lines

We need to concentrate on making sure our volume gives us negotiating strength. In accessories and add-ons

as possible, we concentrate our purchasing with Hauser, which offers 30-day net terms and overnight shipping from the warehouse in Dayton

Also, we are under pressure to improve our understanding of direct-connect internet and

the computer system

AMT focuses on local markets, small business and home office, with special focus on the high-end home office

room for estimates and nonspecific definitions. We focus on a small-medium level of small business, and it is hard to find information to make an exact classification

The segmentation allows some

and the 5-20 unit small business office

Finally, although we have a good command of desktop publishing, we are concerned about getting better at the integration of technologies that creates fax, copier, printer, and voice mail as part of

related communications

The high-end home office business is a business, not a hobby. It generates enough money to merit

office is even more difficult. We generally know the characteristics of our target market, but we can’t find easy classifications that fit into available demographics

We say that our target market has 10-50 employees, and needs 5-20 workstations tied together in a local area

network; the definition is flexible

Our target companies are large enough to need the high-quality information technology management we offer, but too small to have a separate computer management

the owner’s paying real attention to the quality of information technology management, meaning that there is both budget and concerns that warrant working with our level of quality service and support

Defining the high-end home

staff such as an MIS department

Computer dealers: storefront computer resellers, usually less than 5,000 square

links between computing, telecommunications, and video

Chain stores and computer

for buyers to shop with them. Their service and support is not usually very good and their prices are usually higher than the larger stores

We can assume that we aren’t talking about home offices used only part-time by people who work elsewhere during the day, and that our target market home office wants to have powerful technology and a lot of

superstores: these include major chains such as CompUSA, Computer City, Future Shop, etc.

These are usually old-fashioned (1980s-style) computer stores and they usually offer relatively few reasons

feet, often focused on a few main brands of hardware, usually offering only a minimum of software, and variable amounts of service and support

Others: there are many other channels through

City, Incredible Universe, Babbages, Egghead, and others. They benefit from national advertising, economies of scale, volume buying, and a general trend toward name-brand loyalty for buying in the channels as well as for products

They are almost always more than 10,000 square feet of space, usually offer decent walk-in service, and are often warehouse-like locations where people go to find

by mail order businesses that offer aggressive pricing of boxed product. For the purely price-driven buyer, who buys boxes and expects no service, these are very good options

The national chains are a growing presence: CompUSA, Computer

which people buy their computers, usually variations of the main three types above

Mail order: the market is served increasingly

products in boxes with very aggressive pricing, and little support

Local computer stores are threatened. These tend to be small businesses, owned by people who started them because

accustomed to buying from vendors who visit their offices

They expect the copy machine vendors, office products vendors, and office furniture vendors, as well as the local graphic artists, freelance

they liked computers

They are under-capitalized and under-managed. Margins are squeezed as they compete against the chains, in a competition based

on price more than on service and support

Small business buyers are

writers, or whomever, to visit their office to make their sales

There is usually a lot of leakage in ad-hoc purchasing through local chain stores and mail order. Often the administrators try to discourage

the concept of service and support, and are much more likely to pay for it when the offering is clearly stated

The small business buyers understand

buyers may not expect to buy from us. Many of them turn immediately to the superstores (office equipment, office supplies, and electronics) and mail order to look for the best price

Unfortunately our home office target

this, but are only partially successful

There is no doubt that we compete much more against all the box pushers

than against other service providers

Short-term

sheet

Accounts

assets

Balance

receivable

Debt and

equity

Other ST

payable

Accounts

notes

Short-term

liabilities

Paid in

capital