7. Place yourself at right place at right time. Have you been to a job fair or business conference and been disappointed with networking results? Turn tables around. Consider volunteering to help out at job fair or other types of events. This puts you in a better strategic position for presenting your resume or business card. Company representatives might view you differently, if they know you are willing to go extra mile in helping them make their presence easier to manage. Get involved by visiting Eventme.com, TheLunchClub.net, Craigslist.com or view calendar of events for JacobJavitsCenter.com to place yourself in opportunities for giving out your business card. Volunteering for events has been a very successful resource for my business partner and I to expanding our business. Zig Ziglar, one of most successful sales trainers in world says "if you help enough people get what they want in life, you will get what you want in life".

8. Use "In Your Face" follow up. Did you ever have a job interview or meeting with a recruiter, potential client or employer and wonder why they never called you back? “Out of sight, out of mind” is operative phrase to remember. Today’s economic climate dictates you might be competing with 20, 50, 100 or more other people for same position or contract. It’s quite a task for people to keep track of each individual meeting. So it’s up to you to give a person a reason to call you back. Immediately after a meeting snail mail a hand written note thanking person for their time. Insert your business card. Now you’re in driver’s seat in standing out from other people. If you get no response, do it again. Patience and persistence pays off.

9. Use promotions to promote YOU, Inc. Newspapers often have stories of people being promoted to high levels in different organizations? This is an opportunity for you. Consider getting some invitation size blank greeting cards. Use Internet’s search capabilities to find out address of company’s executive offices. Send blank invitation type card with a hand written note sincerely congratulating a person on their promotion. Insert your business card. For cost of a 37-cent stamp, you have just made someone’s day and may create an impression that makes a person feel compelled to respond back to you. Make it a habit to do this once a week. Remember “6 Degrees of Separation”. You just never know . . . People open invitation type envelops faster than any others.

10. Brand yourself with a slogan. Print a slogan on your business card that answers question “Why should I hire you? Or "What makes you different from everyone else?" A catchy phrase or slogan insures people ALWAYS associate a company name with their product or services. People remember even after commercial is over. That’s called branding. Companies pay big bucks to advertising agencies to come up with these lasting slogans. Consider doing exact same thing on your business card. This is your insurance people remember you, after you meet. Don’t just put Hortence Smiley, Accountant on your business card. Add something like "Financial Services With Integrity". A slogan makes all difference between getting hired or not, because people will remember you long after a meeting.

Happy trails networking . . .

A periodic inventory count is a fundamental requirement; any items that are overstocked should be investigated.

A sales forecast is vital, without it you lack necessary management information for inventory control.

Your target inventory investment should equal your normal investment for core sales plus a built in safety stock (for example if a re-order is delayed you want some extra stock on hand) plus some amount for any anticipated growth in sales.

You can use following equation to determine your economic ordering quantity: SQRT (2SO/CP) where

SQRT = square root S = anticipated annual unit sales O = fixed costs per order C = annual inventory carrying cost, as a % of a products purchase price P = unit purchase price for product

Note that above equation attempts to minimize inventory cost by answering question of how much and how often you should order inventory. It is not perfect; equation does not take into account volume discounts and assumes that your demand is constant. However it is a tool that can be used to help in your decision making process.

The following are 10 questions you can use to review you inventory process:

1.Do you have a sales forecast? Do you compare forecast to actual sales and adjust next forecast accordingly? 2.Do you know which items account for 80% of your sales? These items should be managed closely. 3.How fast can you get inventory? 4.How do you order inventory? 5.How much inventory do you order? Do you order extra just to save a few extra cents? 6.Do you know cost of holding your inventory? 7.Do you rely on just one or two suppliers? 8.How frequently is inventory analyzed to determine obsolescence and makeup? 9.Do you have a policy of determining what is obsolete inventory and how and when to get rid of it? 10.Do you have an inventory reporting system to provide necessary tracking information?

Accounts Payable

Although you want to stretch your payables as long as possible, much like you offer attractive discounts to your buyers you should also take supplier discounts as often as possible if terms are attractive enough.

Make sure your payables are tracked on a regular basis - such as weekly - and that your payment system runs smoothly.

As with receivables and inventory, complete a monthly analysis of your accounts payable and compare to previous periods and industry averages. Any material difference or change should be investigated.

Make sure vendors understand your company in case there is a situation where you need to stretch your payables. You need a plan to deal with those situations where you may have an unexpected spike in your payables.

You should re-evaluate you vendors on a regular basis to make sure you are getting best value.

4. Budget

It is fundamental, you need to plan for growth and you need to forecast for problems. You need to prepare a budget. Besides completing a budget for expected sales, you should also complete a budget for a disaster situation, like your sales are cut in half. The benefit is very straight forward; it forces you to ask yourself how you will be able to keep company running in such a situation. It will also point to areas where you may be able to save money right away and free up cash flow. It's like having a disaster plan; you only have to act on it when disaster strikes, but it is much easier to concentrate when you do not have a crisis at hand.

5. Develop a strong relationship with your Bank

Devote attention to building relationships with your bank. Always keep them up to date on where your company stands. If you hit a difficult patch it is much easier to get your bank on board if they understand your business. Contrary to opinion, banks do not necessarily jump ship as soon as you fall into trouble. They are willing to work with small business through tough times, and gaining their trust to do so is much easier more confidence they have in you and your company. They way to accomplish this is to be transparent in your dealings and to give them timely financial information.

Use you bank as a resource for cash management. There are products available that can increase your cash flow, or arrangements that can be put in place to increase your interest returns. But you still need to make sure they are cost effective.