Steps to a Successful Service Shop
Essentials of Financial Management
By William H. Wiersema, C.P.A.


Based on a series published monthly in Electrical Apparatus magazine since 1994, "Steps to a Successful Service Shop" offers guidance in an area too frequently overlooked - the financial side of electromechanical service and sales. In addition to discussing subjects one would expect to find in a basic management text, this book also covers such things as repair versus new product sales and preventive maintenance as a consulting service.

William Wiersema is a principal and director of costs and operations consulting at Miller Cooper & Co. Ltd, a Northbrook, IL accounting and consulting firm. He has worked with large and mid-sized companies setting up systems to track costs and identify profit centers. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in economics from Northwestern University and was a graduate fellow in accounting at the University of Illinois.

208 pages; softbound

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Steps to a Successful Service Shop

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Looking Ahead - Looking ahead financially. Planning for your business. Four stages in the life of a business. Why profits lag when sales are strong. Making sure the price is right. Surviving a customer-driven market. E-commerce: Opportunity or fad? Adding to your business. Repair versus new product sales.

Understanding Your Costs - Buying better, not cheaper. Will outsourcing save money? Better quality at lower cost. Smart shopping for the service shop. Five steps to reducing costs. Upgrade your job costing. Tips for pricing and estimating. Better costing in the service shop.

Keeping Control - Keeping growth under control. Protecting against employee fraud. Reducing the risk of fraud. Keeping the shop floor under control.

Getting the Right Information - Effective management reporting. Better management reporting. Business records we can't live without. Making sense of financial reports. Building profits in the small shop. Choosing the right computer system. Keep automated accounting on track. A new, improved computer system? Doing the budget balancing act. Beating the budget blues.

Managing Your Assets - Managing your company's cash flow. How much is your business worth? The right way to sell a business. Reduce inventory to speed cash flow. Smart inventory management. Why automate inventory records? Inventory - how much is too much? Forecasting for inventory. Improved inventory counts. How to improve collections. When a big customer goes bankrupt.

Improving Productivity - Better pay for better performance. Motivating managers. Getting the most from employees. Becoming a better distributor. How re-engineering can work for you. Just-in-time inventory management. Organizing the shop floor for service. Rightsizing your service facility.

Starting a Business - Preparing a proposal for the bank. Sharing business ownership 50-50. What business form is best? Successful financing. How to buy a business. Starting a consulting business.

Steps to a Successful Service Shop

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