Download my FREE eBook. This is a MUST HAVE resource for anyone who is considering the freight broker industry (About 40 pgs, 19 Topics) Enter your email address and name for an immediate download.
Mini Operational Audit for Small Trucking Companies
I often think about small fleet owners. Times are tough for some of them. Spot rates suck. These owners may have 25 to 75 trucks and again as many drivers. Or they may own just 2 to 6 trucks.
My questions are: How do they manage their company? Are they in control? Do they collect important data and monitor it? Or do they wing it? Are people and assets being used effectively? Are there constant problems that pop up like the Whack a Mole game? Do these owners have a small in-house team or someone outside the company to sit down with and do some serious thinking and planning?
Listen, I’m putting together a program for small fleet owners – it’s called “Going from Chaos to Peace of Mind and Financial Security.” It’s a serious look into some of the company’s operations. It’s also called the “Mini Operational Audit for Small Trucking Companies”.
This program is “data driven”: collecting information, applying analysis, identifying challenges or roadblocks, identifying opportunities, and lastly, putting together actionable plans to meet the owner’s desires.
Two important tasks that are usually in the beginning stage are: (1) strengthening the balance sheet that will help weather bad times, and (2) to find ways to scale the business to grab more market share. It doesn’t end there. What about cash management – is it efficient and secure? Is there cash available to meet short term expenses? It goes on and on depending on the size of the company.
Knowing where to start with an operational audit or whom to rely on for help become show-stoppers for some. Sad but true. Many accounting firms don’t have personnel with a deep background in logistics or trucking.
Many of you know I came out of an accounting background. In fact, I was a certified public accountant (CPA) in Illinois. I don’t practice accounting any longer except for my own stuff. But, I got into accounting years ago after starting a family investment club – I wanted to become an investment analyst.
Personally, I’ve analyzed hundreds of publicly-held companies and used to tell people that I could strip a company naked regarding their financial fundamentals. Once you do a five to ten year history of financial activity, you make a five-year projection. I used to have 60 ratio analyses before committing to buy a stock. They worked well.
Now here’s something very few of my readers know: I also have a degree in sociology too with a concentration in organizational behavior. This is a focus on how large-scale organizations run their entities. And some of the dynamics apply to smaller organizations too.
Companies and organizations are “systems” with many parts that interact with each other (similar to a diesel engine). Some small business owners are smart and tuned in to what’s going on. They don’t need a degree to run their business.
They intuitively know after years of experience how the parts work. But other business owners are clueless.
If you think you may be clueless and think you could benefit from some independent and impartial input, then email me or call me. I’ll be putting together a concise outline of how you can benefit from your own mini operational audit.