Edition 518 – Squeaky Bum Time

I have two fabulous clients that are mates in business with each other. One is an Englishman, the other, an Irishman. To me, they’re the embodiment of many things. They took the plunge to set up their own business in April 2020, just when the world was turning pear-shaped. They had the guts to dive in, when everyone else was hiding under the covers.

These two are also examples of the success of the Australian experiment. They each emigrated with a backpack and not much else. Today, they have families with young children, and are leading the way not only in business, but in their personal lives. It’s a wonderful story to play a part in.

One of the joys of working with people from English or Irish backgrounds is their turn of phrase. Their little sayings, I’ve been well exposed to, from being married to Trish for 34 years, and living with her Mum, Peggy, for almost 12 of those, whilst our children were very young. Trish’s Mum once remarked “Oh, this is as hard as old Harry” when she was trying to chop vegetables one evening. I’m pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head when I heard this expression.

“Who is Harry?” I asked. Or maybe I remarked “Lucky Harry”, but I digress to the side of vulgarity for a moment.

“Squeaky Bum Time” is one that was thrown at me in a meeting with these two chaps one day. It’s an expression that means “things are getting a little tight, and we might need to pull the belt in a little”.

It’s when the quotes you’ve sent out, are not getting a response. Or the phone calls you’ve placed to contacts, aren’t coming back. Or a project has run off the rails a little, and its costing more to wrap up, than you’d expected. Or cashflow is getting tight, because there’s a delay in payment from your clients.

The key is to figure out in your business far enough in advance of squeaky bum time, when things are likely to occur. And, to look for patterns. For instance:

1. Do you know your cashflow 1 month, 3 month and 6 months in advance?
2. Do you know how much work you need to quote each year, to win enough of it, to generate the revenue you need to achieve your profit target?
3. Do you know if the amount of work you need in your pipeline changes from year to year, based on external factors, or pricing, or the arrival of competitors?
4. Do you know how much work you have coming up, that will keep your team busy, and ensure they stay, rather than them contemplate leaving, because they’re worried that you don’t have enough work coming in?
5. Do you know when your vehicles or equipment are best to be replaced, or are you leaving it until something breaks, and you’re stuck, somewhere, with nothing that works?

Taking a few moments, or half a day, to look into the future, helps to alleviate the likelihood of squeaky bum time. You can come up with a contingency plan, to ensure that if the amber light starts to flash on your radar, that you need to prepare early, for what might happen, but not leave it too late, where there’s no turning back.

This Week’s Tip

“How much time are you devoting to forward planning each week, and how is that influencing your thinking?”