Wise Up Wednesday: Don’t Shoot The Messenger… But Do Take His Christmas Gifts!
This is the last Wise Up Wednesday this year so let me start by wishing you, your family and your team a very Merry Christmas.
As Christmas comes around and the end of 2018 approaches, this week’s Wise Up Wednesday sounds a note of caution for 2019, but it also includes a Christmas Cracker Of An Offer!
First The Note Of Caution
Now I fully appreciate that for some of my readers the notion of being put at risk by the Contractors they work for is an alien concept. And good luck to you if you find yourself in that fortunate position, and are happily working together.
But, just take a moment to consider who you might be planning to work for in 2019, and whether or not you actually know enough about their financial situation, or the true nature of the contract you are being asked to enter into, and what they are actually like to work for and get paid by!
Here’s an extract from the Financial Times
The failure of Carillion in January turned a slow-fused crisis into something closer to a panic… and “… exploded the idea that the government would always bail out the sector.” …
The squeeze on government budgets strained a business model that was already weak. Some contractors — such as Carillion, Kier and Interserve — had been drawn into services through private finance initiative projects, which packaged up the construction with the service delivery. When the financial crisis hit, the construction market sank. Services — changing lightbulbs, and manning desks — seemed to provide a steadier stream of income.
The dash for services income might have seemed strategically logical. But it led to reckless bidding for contracts, often on terms that left little or no margin for profit.
And an extract from Investor’s Chronicle
Yet, had investors taken the time to study Carillion’s annual reports they would have found many grounds for concern long before its share price collapse. In particular:
- Low profit margins.
- A reliance on acquisitions and cost cutting.
- High debts both on and off its balance sheet.
- A big pension fund deficit that needed large amounts of cash flow to reduce it.
- A difficulty in converting operating profits into operating cash flow – a classic sign of poor profit quality.
- Poor free cash flow generation – confirming the poor quality of profits
- The need to sell assets in order to maintain and grow dividend payments.
And the author makes this rather insightful comment;
“During over ten years as a City analyst working for stockbrokers and fund managers my experience was that very few professionals read annual reports, preferring instead to rely on company presentations and broker reports.”
So please take care, and do your research, not only on who you are planning to work for, but also don’t blindly enter into contracts you don’t understand.
And please don’t shoot the messenger, because not does this this messenger have your best interests at heart, I have seen the carnage caused to my Clients by unscrupulous and failing Contractors over 28 years, and it is not a pretty sight.
And On A Much Cheerier Note – Here’s Our Christmas Treat
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a special Christmas treat and we have a cracker for you!
So, if you want to;
- get your hands on £2,000 worth of manuals,
- have our Consultants ready and waiting to help you (with 2 hours of their time free every month), and
- enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that your commercial and contractual interests are being protected, and that
- your payment problems can get solved cost effectively.
Then you should treat your firm to Gold Buddy Membership now, and you can treat yourself with our two free gifts;
- A personalised signed copy of my book The Streetwise Subby 4th Edition
- 8 in 1 Bright LED Torch and Multi Tool
Because when you join as a Gold Buddy your benefits include as a minimum:
# Initial implementation session with our Consultants [contractual and commercial, sales and marketing and health and safety]
# Report identifying ways in which to improve your business
# Free Insurance audit.
# 2 x 1 hour free Consultancy every single month to use as you choose and worth more than your monthly subscription!
# 2 x Resource Manuals written by our experts to provide knowledge and guidance in commercial and contractual, and business development
# Regular updates with additional sections.
# Access to our websites knowledge bank of information
# Free Subcontracting Today – the Specialist Contractors news letter
# Unlimited access by phone and email to a wide variety of experts for whatever it is your business needs.
# exclusive discount on a truly amazing Lead Pro! access all areas Glenigan sales lead package.
If all this wasn’t enough we provide in-house and external training sessions, and hold regular conferences and seminars, giving your team opportunities to get together and discuss real business issues and hear from our experts about all sorts of practical solutions.
If Streetwise sounds like something that would benefit your business and would like to grab our Special Christmas Offer, please give us a call today on 01773 712116 or email us at info@streetwisesubbie.com.
Have A Great Christmas
I sincerely hope that you have a fantastic Christmas, but if you have any kind of business problem, and want some good honest no-nonsense advice then please don’t hesitate to call me on 01773 712116 or email us at info@streetwisesubbie.com.
We look forward to keeping you up to date and helping you to resolve all your business problems in the New Year.
Best regards
Barry
P.S. If you intend to take advantage of our Christmas Gift to you please action it now as our offer ends on Friday 21 December 2018.
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