Posts Tagged ‘manufacturers’
Monday, September 7th, 2009
Cautious investors often place stop-loss orders on their account. These orders sell out your shares should they decline by the amount of pain you anticipate you are willing to endure. Stop-loss orders are supposed to make an unmanageable situation manageable. Brokers encourage this as stock fluctuations inevitably trigger sales creating more commissions and spreads.
In a market break, the sell point may be much lower than the level you specify. For example, on a surprising corporate announcement, it is common for prices to gap down by $10 or more. Your stop loss may have only been down $2, but you will be sold out at the next trade, $10 lower. Of course, you always have the opportunity to buy back in again for more commissions and increasingly wide spreads. Stop-loss orders often lead to anger and frustration as an attempt to bring order to an unmanageable situation fails for you, yet enriches your broker.
Brokerage accounts also offer you a “parking place” for your cash. These are sweep accounts: money market funds that collect dividends and the change leftover from trades. In the old days, dividend checks and change were sent to your home and you had the onerous task of depositing them in your checking account. The sweep accounts are marketed as a great convenience to you. In fact, they are a great convenience to your broker as they gather your funds within short distance of the trading desk. Again, particularly optimistic types should have the dividends sent home. Maybe there is only $1,000 at stake, but would you rather have a new couch to lie on during the bear market or would you prefer to whittle it away in commissions, spreads, and poor stock picks?
Tags: fiscal problems, interests, manufacturers, methodology, mortgage, preserving cash
Posted in banking, budget analysis, business goals | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Do the elements of your strategy make sense? Do they define the direction in which your company wants to go? Do they sound forced or contrived or simplistic? Or are these elements that can guide your company toward success?
If the strategy doesn’t sound right spoken aloud, it’s time to start over. If it makes sense and if it could make sense to any new employee, that means your business likely is on the right track in developing its business plan.
Strategies are important, but never mistake strategizing for acting. The best strategy in the world is no strategy if action isn’t built into the plan. There are companies that spend a lot of time meeting and working out strategies, but not moving on to map out a plan of action. You’re not likely to have heard of them, of course. Wonder why?
Tags: company, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers
Posted in business goals, business patterns, business publications, employee, negotiationg, strategy elements | Comments Off
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
After you’ve defined your business strategy, you should test the elements of that strategy. There are many ways to do so, but there’s one simple test that can be tried without fear or risk:
Say the company’s goals aloud.
Strategies are important, but never mistake strategizing for acting. The best strategy in the world is no strategy if action isn’t built into the plan. There are companies that spend a lot of time meeting and working out strategies, but not moving on to map out a plan of action. You’re not likely to have heard of them, of course. Wonder why?
This can be done as part of a meeting of the board of directors, in the executive suite, or even in the privacy of the department manager’s office. Identify the internal elements of the strategy and say them aloud. Some business people refer to this approach as “Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.” But at this point you don’t want acceptance and allegiance—you want critical thinking and tough questions. It’s time to test, not to salute.
Tags: competition, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers
Posted in business goals, business publications, business strategy, campaigns, companies, strategy elements | Comments Off
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Identify the key steps toward the goal. Knowing the steps the company needs to take to reach its goal is as important as identifying the goal itself. Sometimes entrepreneurs trust too much in their enthusiasm and spirit. That may be enough to motivate their employees, but leaders must plan their campaigns.
So, to sum it all up, you should know what you’re doing (your business) and how you’re doing it (your philosophy). You should recognize who else is out there in your way (your competitors) and decide what sets you ahead of them (your major advantages). Then, you determine where you want to go with your business (your goals) and how you intend to get there (your key steps). All of that forms your business strategy.
Tags: business philosophy, competition, entrepreneurs, manufacturers
Posted in business goals, business publications, business strategy, campaigns, payments, research | Comments Off
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
The quickest way to shortcut both a strategy and a goal is to specialize: Your company and your product or service are the same. Identify one core goal and go for it. Of course, this approach won’t work for diversified companies, although it should apply within each division.
Articulate your goals as clearly as possible. For example, the manufacturer who wants to develop three new product lines is more likely to do it than the manufacturer who simply wants to “grow.” The more specific a company can be in setting its goals, researchers have found, the more likely it is it will reach that goal.
Tags: business philosophy, competition, manufacturers, strategy
Posted in business patterns, business publications, financial principles, management, merchandise, research | Comments Off