Building Strong Customer Relations

Every entrepreneur should keep ‘front of mind’ that customers are not just good for your business, customers are your business! It is a given that your customers are the most important need of your business: without them you have no business. It follows then that fostering an excellent relationship with your customers is the means to success. Understand […]

Do I Need A Holding Company ?

You, (or you & others), own the shares of the company that operates your business (aka OpCo). Do you need a holding company (aka HoldCo) that would own the shares of OpCo? This is an important question. Some advantages of a HoldCo are discussed below. Setting up and maintaining a HoldCo involves administrative and regulatory compliance requirements, (similar […]

WHY KNOW YOUR BREAK-EVEN POINT?

Navigating the Break-Even Point for Entrepreneurs For entrepreneurs, the idea of aiming for a break-even point might raise eyebrows. Isn’t the goal to make a profit, rather than just breaking even? It might sound like a setback or even a hint of failure. However, understanding the break-even point is a game-changer for your business decisions. At […]

Six tips to better manage Cash flow

We meet so many businesses at ASE. One of their key worry … “running low on cash” Cash in the Bank (and/or availability of credit) is essential to keep the wheels of your business turning. Cash is needed to cover running costs (overheads, supplies, staff etc.) Then of course there is growth. So many get […]

CASH IS KING!

In most businesses, you should be evaluating profitability on a regular basis. This is an extremely important measure. However, equally important, and critical is evaluating cash flow! During a fiscal year, you would be looking at profitability weekly or monthly, but daily you should be looking at whether you are generating enough cash to keep all operations going. As an example, be […]

When To Prepare For Selling A Business

A Succession Plan Although hard to imagine, someday you’ll want to, or need to, sell your business; maybe lack of interest or energy, age or unexpected failing health. You should start thinking about a sale from the day you incorporate. Having a succession plan is critical for an organized, orderly, successful sale. It creates certainty and […]

The Benefits of An Advisory Board

This blog is relating a much appreciated testimonial from a successful client who has been with ASE for over twenty-seven years!   He has recounted well, his ups and downs and how the ASE team helped in supporting, advising, and guiding him and his business over those many years. It shows the importance for any business to have […]

Leadership – Part 2

In last month’s blog (Leadership – Part 1), I identified four key traits great leaders possess; Authenticity, Empathy, Vision, and Resilience. My source of reference is from the book ‘Great Ted Talks – Leadership’ by Harriet Minter.  As with the previous blog, I have ended each section with questions so you use as a planning tool for guiding your business..  This […]

Leadership part 1

LEADERSHIP -Part 1 For this newsletter, I turned to ‘Great Ted Talks – Leadership’ by Harriet Minter. In it, I identified four key traits that great leaders possess; Authenticity, Empathy, Vision and Resilience. My suggestion is you treat this as a workbook and use it as a planning tool for your upcoming year. The questions […]

Marketing strategy

Whether you are a new business entrepreneur or you are a veteran business owner, whether you understand marketing strategy intuitively or have addressed it intellectually in the past, it is important to have another deep analysis of who and what is the target market you are approaching. Every business needs to promote their business, but […]