Tag Archives: business performance measures

A Small Business is not a little Big Business – Part 2

In the previous post Welsh and White (1981) argued that just the size of small businesses creates special conditions “which can be referred to as resource poverty – that distinguishes them from their larger counterparts and requires some very different management approaches”.  Small businesses usually cannot afford to pay for the professional services they need to implement… Read More »

A Small Business is not a little Big Business – Part 1

Back in 1981, John Welsh and Jerry White wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review* using the catchy title above.  For any small business it is worth a read even though it was written so long ago.  The thinking at the time was that small businesses should use the same management principles as big… Read More »

Cash Flow is King …

In my experience, many business owners focus their attention on the Profit and Loss (P & L) Statement when considering their plan.  “As long as I am making a profit everything will then fall into place.” they say.  Not so …. Most small business owners who are not usually trained in accounting do not understand the importance… Read More »

Let’s clear up Gross Margin/Profit and Mark-up

I was once talking to a student who was puzzled about Gross Margin – “Is it Gross because its big or is it that it is ugly?” he asked. (Was he joking???). If you are well versed in these terms no need to read further. However, I have come across small businesses that are not… Read More »