The big business quiz

There was a time when owners of businesses were too careful. Sensitive information was always considered “Confidential.” Key managers were not privy to the numbers of the business. Yet owners want the managers to perform well and grow the business. It’s like the captain of the plane telling his co-pilot to fly the plane without any navigational tools, yet expecting him to get to the desired destination in record time, with the least amount of expense.

But times have changed.

Business acumen is one of the key business skills leaders of organizations need in order to work efficiently. But business acumen needs business owners to be transparent with the numbers and to share information.

Big corporations, especially the publicly-listed ones, don’t have a problem with information sharing. One will find a lot of numbers in their annual reports. But whether you work for a small business enterprise or you’re a leader in a big business organization, my question is this: do you really know what’s happening in your business? Are you armed with information in order to make good, wise and informed decisions?

In a world of hyper-competition, guesswork is not a viable option. You need to have business acumen. Do you have it or not?

Below is a really good quiz. Try to answer the questions, and promise me that you won’t cheat and look at your notes.

Based on your company’s performance in the most recent fiscal year, answer these questions:

1. What was the total revenue (or total sales generated within the entire year)?

2. What was the net income (or net earnings or net profit or, in some cases, net loss)?

3. What was the net profit? Would you know your average margins?

4. How much was your cash on hand at year-end?

5. How much cash was generated from operations?

6. What was the inventory turnover? This question is crucial for retail and manufacturing sectors.

7. What was the return on assets?

8. How much did your sales grow (or decline) over the previous year?

9. By what percentage did net income (net earnings, or net profit) grow or decline over the previous year?

10. How was the competition?

11. What’s in the pipeline? (leads, prospects, etc.)

12. What training programs do you need to get in order to increase your ability to do business?

There are many complexities in doing business. So stop thinking like a technocrat, and start thinking like you own the business. Stop being a clock-watcher, always in a great hurry to go home and get to happy hour. Develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

The key quality for the emerging leader will be business acumen, and meaningful profits will have to be high in every company’s corporate values.

This is no longer the time to play games. As the country enjoys an economic boom which, in my opinion, we don’t deserve and yet which God has so graciously provided, we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to make things work.

Develop your business acumen. Stop trying to be successful, and start training to be successful.

(Let’s stay connected! Click on to www.franciskong.com or “Like” my page at www.facebook.com/franciskong2. You can also listen to my radio program “Business Matters” aired at 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. during weekdays over “The Master’s Touch” 98.7 dzFE-FM, the classical music station.)