How to Quit Your Job

Do you to know without ending up on the street? In a nutshell, you need to avoid the self-employment trap, think like a business, and create multiple passive revenue streams. 

Avoid the Self-Employment Trap 

If you quit your job and hang up your own shingle, you might work harder for less money. You may enjoy working from home or choosing your own clients, but you might end up living from client to client without building any real wealth. 

Many self-employed people I know suffer from feast or famine. They spend lots of time and money marketing their services and get lots of clients. They get really busy doing the work and stop marketing and then their prospective client pool dries up. 

If you set up your business so that you do everything - marketing, sales, bookkeeping, operations, and fulfillment, then you are limiting your success potential from day one. You will spend lots of time on non-income generating activities and may get frustrated and burned-out in a short time. 

The real key to successfully creating wealth outside of a job is to avoid the mistake of trading one boss for another boss. You need to stop trading your time for dollars. Stop thinking like a wage slave. Look beyond earned income. 

Think Like a Business 

There are many problems with earned income. The biggest one is that you are trading your time for money. If you stop trading your time, the dollars stop coming. This is a huge problem if you decide to have a baby, get sick, want to take an extended vacation, or are ready to retire.

The IRS penalizes self-employed people who operate as a sole proprietorship with a hefty self-employment tax. How can you avoid this? Well, I am not an accountant or CPA, so I am not giving legal or accounting advice, but I have learned to think like a business. Before you quit your job, interview local tax advisors to educate yourself on different business entities and tax strategies. Start thinking big. 

Build a Company with Multiple Passive Income Streams 

You need to build a company that works for you. My best advice on how to quit your job is to build a business that offers multiple streams of passive income in addition to your earned income. There are so many exciting ways to design your income portfolio. It requires imagination, courage and planning. 

Structure your business so that your daily activities are fun and challenging. Identify the things that you don’t enjoy or are not good at and find other people to do these activities – outside partners, independent contractors, or employees. 

How to Quit Your Job 

My advice for how to quit your job is to avoid thinking that you have to do everything yourself to make your new enterprise run. Think big! Set up systems and structures that work for you so you don’t have to work so hard. Incorporate and make the tax system work for you. Design your work around multiple passive income streams to support your active work. And finally, have fun! 

9 Strategies for Writing Accounts Payable Procedures

So far, in Inventory and Accounts Receivable, we've found $250,000 each in cash savings. Then we found another 250K in Sales and Marketing. And so, now, Accounts Payable is the final process within the Cash to Cash Cycle - and also the final $250,000. 

The cash cycle is undoubtedly the single most important process to optimize for any business – from when you spend money to when you get money. 

Circling the Cash to Cash Cycle 

So let’s tie this back to accounts payable - the event that pays for the liability incurred by purchasing, which is for inventory required by manufacturing to meet demand. Sales generate this demand that creates the accounts receivables, which is turned into cash. And now we have come full circle and completed the discussion on the cash to cash cycle. 

Increasing the Velocity of Accounts Payable Processes 

Your accounts payable is a bit different than the other processes we have examined so far. The first three processes we looked at represented processes where the focus was on reducing the size of assets (inventory or accounts receivable) or expenses (marketing) and increasing the velocity or cycle time. But in accounts payable our focus is on increasing the size of the asset, while maintaining a solid credit rating - and increasing the velocity of the process. 

Now let’s look at how to find $250,000 in accounts payable savings. If your organization has $500,000 in accounts payable each month, then STOP! We can find $250,000 in savings right here. Where, you ask? Increasing payables by 25% will produce $125,000 in cash plus $125,000 from automating tasks, taking more discounts, and managing the process better. 

Service Business Procedures Case Study 

An organization with $600,000 in monthly payables needed assistance. We examined their payables process to understand and quantify workflow, paper processing and credit issues. Then we designed and implemented a process to increase their use of payables and discounts, improve their payables cycle efficiency, and tie it to their purchasing and receivable cycles. We then reinvested $50,000 back into an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to automate some of the processes that weren’t automated already. 

The metrics we developed reduced their purchasing & payables expenses by 25% and increased their efficiency from 50% to 75% within 2 months of implementing the new procedures. With these new processes and reports, the company now tracks payables cycle efficiency and average days payables, rather than just bills paid on time or outstanding balance, as the measure of their payables effectiveness. The result: an extra $300,000 in cash plus a 50% increase in process capability (capacity). 

But how? 

Methods to Design Your News Accounts Payable and Accounting Procedures 

• Eliminate Paper. The single biggest cost for any purchasing and payables department is paper, including: purchase orders, purchase order follow-up, small-dollar purchases, delivery tracking & receipts, and vendor payments. Utilizing paperless invoices, Web-based supplier self-servicing, centralized vendor files, automated workflows for electronic or imaged invoices (see ERP below), and payment methods, such as business credit cards, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), can reduce paper handling costs by as much as 90%. 

• Integrate ERP Systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) automates the purchasing and payables functions, which allows a company to get more work done with fewer personnel. Also, electronic invoice matching applications save time in retrieving paperwork. It is estimated that an ERP system can annually save an organization $300 per million in sales. 

• Increase Payment Terms. Negotiate payment terms based on receipt of goods or the invoice. This can add one week or more to your terms, which can be 25% of 30 day terms. Use EFT for just-in-time payments to maximize your payables terms and minimizing the impact to your credit. 

• Take Payment Discounts. If you are getting 2%/10 net 30 terms, then consider taking it. This means you are offered a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days, instead of the normal 30 day terms. This translates into an 18% return on your capital, and for many organizations this is a good return on your investment. 

• Review Purchases. Purchasing is a continuous process that requires continuous review. Consider: transportation charges, expedited fees, odd lot penalties, new pricing, new products, consolidating vendors, new vendors or purchaseing groups, payment terms, and more. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. And review and monitor everything to account for changes in your environment. 

• Communicate with Suppliers. Communicate with your suppliers to improve the process. Ask suppliers to submit their invoices electronically. This will save you time, resources and losses due to waste. 

• Eliminate Disputes. Disputes with your suppliers are typically the result of a problem with your purchasing/receiving process. When disputes occur, review your purchasing procedures to ensure that they are producing the correct metrics and that you are not forced to pay for your mistakes. 

• Reduce Errors. Overpayments, payments made to the wrong vendors, fake invoices, or even late payments represent a common problem for payables. Increasing your focus on error control, along with written procedures and audits, can reduce these errors considerably. 

• Train personnel. Provide your accounts payable staff with regular formal training. This will arm them with better knowledge of frauds, negotiating skills, and an understanding of the economics of payables – which will result in improved effectiveness. 

Accounting Policies and Procedures for Cash in the Bank 

In the past few weeks, we have showed you four parts of your financial statements that will each contribute $250,000 in cash savings. The last hurdle was Accounts Payable, and we sailed through it. And now we have crossed our final goal: $1,000,000! 

Time was - and is - the key. All you have to do is own it. And, remember, next week we will put together each of the four elements of the cash to cash cycle, and look at how it affects the working capital of your business. 

FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER RESULTS WITH YOUR RESUME

Is every job description you read the same? No. 

Is every job you submit your resume to the same? Of course they aren’t. 

If all these job descriptions are different, why do you submit the same resume? 

Every day, people send the same generic resume out as though each position was identical and each employer was attempting to hire identical skills and attributes. Too often, the results they receive are like the broken watch that is right twice a day—hit or miss success. 

They list their name, address, phone numbers and email address, list an objective, education, and chronology of experience with dates of employment. The resume includes some successes or accomplishments. This is their resume. 

In the days prior to computers when changing a resume required you to re-type different versions, this made sense. Today, when computers allow you to customize, spell and grammar check documents so easily, you are missing out on opportunities and costing yourself money by being lazy and not tailoring your resume for each opportunity you are interested in. 

Here are several steps that you can do to improve your resume and get better results. 

1. Each employer will be interested in different attributes of your experience. They often indicate it by the items they describe in their job ad. Emphasize the experiences that you have that relate to the skills being sought and the functions you will perform in the job they will ask you to perform. If you are applying for a staff position, emphasize your staff experience and minimize your management experience. If you are being hired to be a leader, write about your recent leadership. 
2. Employers are more interested in recent work, rather than work you did many years ago. Use more space in your resume to highlight recent experience, rather than things you did before George W. Bush became President. 
3. Like setting a goal where you make them specific, measurable, achievable within a specific period of time, describe your successes or achievements concretely. Reducing costs is a nice start but it is more powerful to describe something as reducing operational costs globally by 2%. Increased departmental sales by 27% resulting in . . . You get the idea. Use action verbs wherever possible (For more on this, read my article, Preparing an Effective Resume” on www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com). 
4. Ask someone you trust to critique what you’ve written. Too often, people believe that they can do everything by themselves without asking for help. Ask a friend in your industry to critique what you’ve written to insure you’re on target and aren’t missing the mark. 

When you go to a restaurant and order a meal, you have the expectation that it will be prepared in a way that will please you and be presented on the plate beautifully. Writing a great resume requires that you be the chef and prepare a meal that is both visually appealing and tastes great too! 

Five Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times

We consistently face new and ever growing challenges in the workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and “left out sizing.” We are faced with the question, “How do we lead in this storm of change?” It may seem difficult at times and the decisions we make define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you five leadership techniques guaranteed to keep you on track during these difficult times. 

1 Integrity. 
I put this first because the lack of integrity will make or break you as a professional, as a leader, as a person in the long run. The lack of this will turn yesterday’s heroes in today’s villains. For example, “MCI was the apple of the business community’s eye. High revenues, high profits, and high growth; MCI was beating the competition hands down. 

Then it was discovered that there were gross accounting irregularities that accounted for the astounding profits. You see, management made a decision, “Do I continue to sustain good growth and be able to look at myself in the mirror or do I cook the accounting books and spend the rest of my time covering up this integrity deficiency? The real shame of the MCI situation was that AT&T, Sprint, and others in the industry had to cut costs and lay off thousands of employees to compete with MCI’s false numbers. The lack of integrity at MCI not only affected the company but also the livelihood of thousands and the industry as a whole. 

I was recently speaking with a recently retired City Council member who is well respected in the community. I asked her what the secret was to her success while on the council? She mentioned that one of her political adversaries said to her, “While you were on the council, I didn’t like the way you voted, but I respected the way you voted because you were consistent with your votes and had the city’s best interest in mind.” 

Ask yourself what decisions that you make are right for the long term? Be consistent in your actions, whether it is with management, your team, or your family. 

2. Knowledge. 
With change happening faster and faster every moment, it is extremely important that you gain the knowledge to master these changes. You owe it not only to yourself, but to your team and management. As I always say, “It’s not having the right answer, it’s that you have the right answer faster than before.” Many times during my teambuilding programs a student will say, “I didn’t know where to find the answer.” Then I will say, “That is an unacceptable answer.” Because part of being a leader is acquiring the skills to find the right answers. With the Internet, classroom and online training, mentors, etc., the knowledge is at your fingertips. 

Challenge your team members to use the same resources to acquire the knowledge to master their challenges. By acquiring this knowledge, you will be able to navigate your team through the ocean of change and achieve your goals. 

3. Decisiveness. 
You have seen them. They wait for information, then more information before making a decision. Then they need more information to support the information they already have.Then they need a committee to analyze the information. Then they wait for the perfect time to make the decision. 

Well, you know what I mean. Anyone you know? Make the decision! Good things happen when you take action; you grow, you adapt, and your team grows. There is no perfect time to make a decision. Leaders make decisions based on past experience, putting into action the decision, and staying and adapting the decision if needed. But make the decision. The worst quality you can show your team is indecision. What do you think your team sees when you can’t make a decision? Make the decision and go for it. 

4. Vision. 
This is the ability not only to see what is the present - anyone can do that - it’s the ability to see the future. Outstanding leaders can not only see their team for what they can do now, but what they can become, and paint the picture for them. These leaders are consistently communicating and coaching their team members to that vision. One of the best ways, and least used methods, to convey your vision is the team meeting. 
Every meeting should start out with the team vision, mission, and goals; and the rest of the meeting should tie into the vision. For example, the motivation portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the information portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the training portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, etc. Also, invest time to develop your team members’ personal visions and show them how they can accomplish their personal goals by tying into the overall vision. By consistently communicating the vision, your team will move with purpose, feel they are personally making a difference, and achieve their goals sooner. 

5. Unselfishness 
Stephen Covey, in his successful book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, wrote that a true leader must be a servant to the ones he or she leads. The leader must be able to “give of oneself for the good of the team.” In other words, be unselfish in words and action. Be unselfish in praise of others, in public, especially in front of management. 
Be unselfish in the ability to take time to listen, really listen to your team’s concerns. A recent management survey said that the average time management invests doing “pure listening” to employees during the year is a mere two hours- just two hours! What was meant by “pure listening” time was listening with eye contact, acknowledgement, and not answering the phone while listening, not speaking with another person while listening, etc. Be unselfish in the ability to help your team. Whether it’s the ability to readily assist with a difficult telephone call, jump in and remove road blocks for team members, or “be there” for a team member during challenging moments. Believe me, your team will remember those moments and excel for you. 

Now I challenge you to put into action just one of the leadership techniques I mentioned above to achieve your vision, your mission, and your goals in the future. 

7 Numbers that Could Save Your Life

A little bit of math could make a big difference in your health. Here, the stats you need to know.

Exercise minutes: 150
The World Health Organization recommends that adults complete at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. Whether you split those minutes into short, 10-minute bursts or longer sweat sessions, hitting that target will lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and colon and breast cancers.

 Blood sugar: A1C less than 5.7%
 The percent of sugar in your bloodstream indicates if you're heading towards diabetes - which increases your risk of heart disease, says Tracy Stevens, MD, a New York cardiologist and spokesperson for the American Heart Association. Your doctor will likely check this at an annual physical. Normal blood sugar results are an A1C (a test that measures your average blood sugar for the past few months) of less than 5.7 percent and fasting blood glucose (which measures your blood sugar after not eating for at least 8 hours) of less than 100.

Think you're not at risk? The American Diabetes Association reports that 79 million people are pre-diabetic. But, here's the good news: Losing 7 percent of your body weight and exercising for 150 minutes a week can lower a pre-diabetic's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 58 percent.

 Blood pressure: 130/80 mm Hg or less
Your blood pressure is a measure of how hard blood is pushing against the walls of your arteries as it circulates through your body. Ideally, your blood pressure should be less than 130/80 mm Hg; a too-high number can lead to weakened and damaged blood vessels, putting stress on your heart and increasing your risk of heart failure. "Everyone should have a blood pressure cuff in their home," says Stevens. "It's affordable and gives you so much information." Keep your blood pressure under control with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

Target Heart Rate: 85 to 145 beats per minute
This is the pulse rate that signals whether you're exercising hard enough to promote heart fitness. A healthy range for a 40-year-old woman is 85 to 145 beats per minute. Historically, Target Heart Range (THR) has been based on a unisex formula, but now researchers believe that number may be too high for women. THR decreases with age - we've done the math to help you find your female-friendly target.

Cholesterol: below 100 mg/dL for LDL, above 50 mg/dL for HDL
The American Heart Association's recommended ranges for women's cholesterol levels are below 100 mg/dL for LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), above 50 mg/dL for HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and below 100 mg/dL for triglycerides. Too-high LDL can lead to plaque buildup in arteries, says Stevens, which can contribute to heart attack or stroke. Improve your LDL through exercise and diet, specifically lowering your intake of saturated fats, which are found in fatty cuts of meat and full-fat dairy products. And avoid trans fats, which lurk in margarine and in many ready-made baked goods.

Weight: BMI up to 25
One way to find out if you're at a healthy weight is to calculate your BMI. A body mass index over 25 can raise your blood pressure and risk of diabetes. But losing just 10 pounds can help lower your risk of heart disease. Pay attention to your waist size, too. You can have a normal BMI and still carry excess fat in your midsection, which may put your heart at risk. The AHA recommends that women aim for a waistline smaller than 35 inches.

Daily Steps: 10,000
If formal exercise routine intimidates you, try increasing your daily activity. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car at the back of the lot, or get off the train one stop earlier and walk the extra blocks. An easy way to track movement is to wear a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps each day.