The Mobile Boardroom

Overview

The journey for a new business is often complex and arduous and The Mobile Boardroom covers some of the bigger questions and challenges those business owners and senior managers will face. It looks at all the important elements to consider when starting up a business through to running it successfully and making it grow.

Covering all the main commercial areas – strategy, finance, accounting systems, strategic IT management, sales, marketing, production and business growth – as well as general management, non-executive directorship and chairman roles, this guide will take your through everything you need to know to be successful.

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Contents

Chapter 1: Better business planning

• Brainstorming
• Analyse the numbers
• What do investors look for?
• Define your business concept
• Clarify the market opportunity
• Developing a strategy
• The management team
• Risk
• Resources
• Customer satisfaction

Chapter 2: Raising capital

• What is venture capital
• Be clear why funding is required
• Which VC to approach and how
• The business plan
• Be prepared to face emotive issues
• Prepare by 'grooming'
• The investment process

Chapter 3: Financial management

• Information gathering and presenting
• The management information proces
• Presenting MI information
• Key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Budgeting
• Managing costs
• Types of external funding and costs
• Risk
• Effective cash flow management

Chapter 4: Sales and marketing

• Recruitment and process
• Measurement
• Motivation and reward.
• Training and mentoring
• Marketing
• Profit, revenue and margins
• Qualification
• Customer retention
• Context-driven sales
• Monitoring

Chapter 5: Information technology

• Business service requirements
• Keep it simple, robust and reliable
• Standardise on IT equipment and configuration
• Managing IT costs and a budget
• Test data backup and disaster recovery processes
• Create a documentation library
• Build good supplier relationships
• Supplement your internal IT support capacity
• Think carefully about 'The Cloud'
• Take information security seriously

Chapter 6: Management of people

• Your leadership style
• Clarify roles and supply resources
• Communication
• Your management style
• Manage information well
• Look at rewards
• Training and development
• Remove barriers to success
• Recruit well
• Build a team

Chapter 7: Operations, production and service

• Introduction
• Operational planning
• People respond to their environment
• Documentation for strong foundations
• Quality assurance not quality control
• Don't be too impatient with new ideas
• Good communication
• Help your suppliers to help you
• Pareto – Make it work for you!
• Speed up throughput times
• Resolving any underlying issues

Chapter 8: Mergers and acquisitions

• Get your strategy right
• Research potential targets
• First approach
• Due Diligence
• Negotiation and closing the deal
• Post-acquisition management
• Run your company
• Control the deal
• Make sure you can afford it
• Advisers

Chapter 9: Management buy-outs

• The MBO journey
• The benefits of the MBO
• Identifying the opportunity
• Reviewing the framework
• Get a team together
• Structuring the MBO
• Financing the MBO
• The exit of the institutional investor/sale of the company
• Proceeding with an MBO

Chapter 10: Post-acquisition management

• Set clear integration objectives
• Appoint an integration team
• Document the post-acquisition plan
• Communicate the plan
• Keep employees informed
• Implementing key financial controls
• Maintaining the customer base
• dentify supplier savings
• Focus on essential administration and IT
• Understand the commercial risks.

Chapter 11: Selling your company

• Get your strategy right
• Timing and tax planning are vital
• Valuing the company
• Grooming the company for sale
• Consider the alternative exit options
• Prepare a decent sales memorandum
• Identifying interested parties
• Keep your focus until the transaction is complete
• Control the deal and negotiate sensibly
• Seek a clean break