Appreciative Inquiry

As we are in the season of thankfulness and thanksgiving, it occurred to me that an introduction to the discipline called Appreciative Inquiry would be timely.

Briefly, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is the process of change management that seeks out the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. Instead of negativity, criticism, and diagnosing “problems”, AI helps people improve, dream, and offer new solutions through a process of asking positive questions and thus learning what has worked in the past, and learning of achievements, assets, competencies, strengths, unexplored potentials, and opportunities.

The opposite, which I suppose could be named negative inquiry, focuses on what is broken, is pessimistic, and and lead to a downward spiral. AI produces optimism and helps an organization and empowers people see what is possible and find ways to turn possibilities into realities.

There are several books describing AI in detail, including the Appreciative Inquiry Handbook by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jaqueline Stavros. For a quick introduction to AI read this paper  by David Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Will Limkemann

Cutting costs or increasing profits?

A publication editor contacted me this week asking for my input into an article they are thinking of running about what small businesses can do to cut costs. This got me to thinking that business owners should not be focused on cost cutting but rather on increasing profit and improving cash flow.

In good times, and especially in tough times, business owners should always be concerned about costs. Costs need to be analyzed. Vendors need to be negotiated with. The best possible deals need to be made in purchasing energy, paper clips, and inventory.

But a cycle of cutting costs can rapidly pave the road to extinction.

Rather, owners need to concentrate on profitability and positive cash flow. Sure, cutting costs can contribute to both – but for how long? When times are tough, the owner needs to bolster sales and marketing activities – possibly even increasing expenditures of time and money in both areas. Then the fundamental issues need to be addressed, issues such as: improved productivity, customer service, customer satisfaction, and innovative services and products. For survival the owner needs to play to strengths – not weaknesses.

What is your business doing to improve profitability?

Will Limkemann
Siqua Group Limited
440-871-0976
www.siqualtd.com

Peer-to-Peer Lending

An alternative financing source that has gained traction over the past few years is peer-to-peer lending facilitated by on-line site such as www.lendingclub.com, www.prosper.com, and www.peerlendingnetwork.com. Small businesses hit with high credit card interest rates and which can’t find banks willing to lend money are increasingly funding their needs with low-cost peer-to-peer loans. Investors concerned about the volatile stock market and low interest rates are attracted by returns offered by peer-to-peer lending.

Peer-to-peer lending web sites are on-line market-places that bring together borrowers and lenders, often pooling the investments of many vendors over the loans of multiple borrowers. In some cases lenders can actually bid on individual loan requests.

According to a September Washington Post article, peer-to-peer loans will reach $5.8 billion in 2010, almost doubling the 2009 loan values.

Will Limkemann
Siqua Group Limited

How secure is your data?

Are you confident no one can hack into your systems and access sensitive or proprietary data? See this Wall Street Journal Article called Passwords 101: How to Protect Your Data.

Will Limkemann

Payroll Services

One piece of advice I give consistently to small business owners, even those with only two or three employees, is to engage a payroll processing service. Why? I’ve seen way too many small businesses get into serious financial difficulty by failing to file quarterly tax returns on time, and worse, not making payroll tax payments when they are due. As trustees of taxes withheld from employee paychecks, employers are obligated to timely and properly deposit these taxes. The IRS and other taxing authorities can impose not only interest but severe penalties when taxes are not deposited, and they can go after the owner and anyone else who may have the authority and responsibility to make the tax deposits.

So how is this problem solved with a payroll service, such as Ahola or ADP? The payroll service makes the deposits and files the tax returns. An established and reputable service can be counted on to make all the filings when required. The payroll processing fees are well worth the peace of mind and will most likely be less than the costs of late filings or deposits.

The small business owner needs to keep track of countless details. Delegating payroll-related details is just smart.

Will Limkemann