A couple of weeks ago I attended a fantastic course to help members apply the CASH section of the Scaling Up book by Verne Harnish. We had a great facilitator who knows the material inside and out, and we spent the day working the numbers to figure out where we can squeeze more profits and cash flow out of our businesses.
EO: scaling up – “cash” day with Andy Clayton
In true EO fashion we went deep quickly (it was a members only event for a reason) and everyone shared their financials (often our least shared information!) so that we could get the most out of the coaching.
I spent most of my career in banking and private equity, so I like to think I have a decent grip on numbers and accounting.
Turns out I was completely missing some great tools that are perfect for my business!
What I didn't have?
The best way to describe it is that I knew I needed to get more out of my company, but I was grasping for the right tools.
That day, the 3 tools I was missing appeared (as if by magic!): EO training, The Power of One methodology and “Labour Efficiency Ratios”!
What made this day so immensely valuable was that my wife and I (we work together) went through our financials and shared them around the room. Now, sharing this level of financial information is definitely not something we would do in a normal training environment. However, by the time we left the training (and though the session took 7 hours, it actually flew by!) we already had our specific targets worked out!
So, what specifically did we get out of it?
Well, we worked out our targets, which was incredible considering how little time we’d actually spent, and we benefited from some great “experience shares” by others in the training.
However there was so much more. I’ve realised we are getting a 10x return on the EO membership fees through increased profits from just one of the simple Power of One tools. I expect to get at least 2-3x that amount as we work through the others. To emphasize how powerful these are, NONE of the ones we are implementing require an increase in sales volume. Our growth over the next year will simply amplify the results.
We also have a new way to measure our labour efficiency, a key financial driver in our company. A simple equation can help reveal the efficiency of each department in your business.
We now have a better tool to use for monitoring our productivity, and it is easily shared with our team. It flips the labour equation, so we discuss productivity with staff instead of their cost to the business. A much more positive way to communicate!
Just one of the perks
Courses like this one are what get me really excited about EO. It’s great, straightforward training to help me grow my business done in an open, collaborative environment. And to think, all this for around £70.00 for two tickets…it’s a steal!
The Cash day is one of four full “Scaling Up: Gazelles Training” days EO offers – out of a total of 30 social and business learning events throughout each year (The other three are “People”, “Strategy” and “Execution”. I’ve already booked in December’s full learning day on Scaling Up: Strategy and no doubt I’ll be at the final of the four on Scaling Up: People in early 2019!
Thank you EO.
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