This workshop is specifically designed for those persons in an organisation whose responsibility it is to account for business costs and make product and service purchases. It will equip the learner with many pitfall to avoid when starting the profit maximisation / cost reduction process.
Target Participants
- Chief Financial Officers and Financial Controllers
- Human Resource & Information Technology Managers
- Management & Cost Accountants
- Cost Control Managers & Costs Analysts
- Purchasing & Procurement Managers
- Freelancer & Contract Management Consultants
How Participants Will Benefit
- Improve your knowledge of key drivers of organisational profitability and shareholder value
- Learn how global economic fundamentals impact an organisation’s bottom line
- Learn how technologies can be use to lower costs whilst raising revenue at the same time
- Learn how effective people manangement can significantly reduce costs
- Identify critical areas where costs can be prevented or reduced
- Review real life case studies of cost reduction techniques across multiple industries
- Great opportunity to network and share / hear experiences from other business professionals
Course Content
- How to identify areas for cost prevention and reduction in HR, technology, services & management
- Understanding the factors that cause the greatest amount of wastage / inefficiency in any organisation
- Strategies management can deploy immediately and in the future to reduce costs
- How to tell the difference between a positive and negative costs
- Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing / leasing / third party distribution
- How to developing and implementing effective cost-containment programs
- Monitoring the impact of your cost-reduction program
How do I get started?
We start with a preliminary consultation, where we’ll speak with members of your senior management team to find out some details regarding your business. We’ll also go over the basics of profit maximisation (so you understand what it really is) and share some of our experiences. As a matter of professional practice we will only work with clients whom we believe we can offer a significant profit improvement.
How much does your service cost?
The right questions is – how much profit can you help my business make? Our fee are very competitive for the level of service we provide.
Why should we use consultants – we know our business best?
Scale offers a fresh, independent perspective to how your your business is performing. Even the most strictly and cautiously help to do homework managed operations reveal oversights that management have not been able to discover. We have the specialised knowledge, skills and experience that give us the greatest probability of providing a solution.
What is Profit Maximisation all about?
Profit maximisation & cost reduction isn’t about spending freezes and layoffs, or finding the cheapest supplier or vendor, rather it about understanding the dynamic nature of markets, customers, competitors, operations and costs. Above all it’s about increasing the overall value of your business entity.
We already have financial controllers and cost accountants – how can Scale help?
Most finance professionals lack the experience in understanding cost issues across various cost categories. As a result companies spend in the wrong areas or end up paying exorbitantly high fees for products and services.
There are also those unseen and intangible people costs associated with managing teams that are often neglected because they are difficult to gauge such as morale, well-being and engagement. Most financial managers simply don’t have an exact understanding of these issues, nor have the time to carefully explore cost options, obtain multiple quotes, understand the exact requirements of a business and negotiate strongly.
How long will it take to reduce cost and see real savings?
Almost immediately, however, most organisation’s will appreciate any management process should never be viewed as a quick fix. Of course there are some costs than can be reduced in the short-term cycle such as, third-party relationships and others over the long-term such as an IT implementation. Since policy and process changes take time to implement it is difficult to give a timeframe until we have submitted a formal proposal to your team.
Who are your clients?
We work with all size businesses from a local team of a few, to national and international companies of many thousand employees. We also work with start-ups and new ventures looking to create viable cost base before inception, as well as companies looking to expand. The costs associated with expansion are significant and time constraints often place tremendous pressure on business to make purchases without due diligence. We can certainly help in this process. Our experience across all industries, including franchisees, non-profit groups, government and educational institutions places us in good stead.
Will the process take up the time of my staff?
Most of our assessment, including all research and analysis is completed off-site; however it is important for us to spend some time on-site speaking with, and observing your teams in action. We will need access to certain key management / staff to gather more information, to help us make the best possible recommendations. Generally we find that most people feel comfortable dealing with an independent third party, especially when they know we are there to improve work practices.
Staff development and training is critical to any successful cost reduction implementation and is generally required at all level of an organisation. People & management costs are best address through customised training, mentoring and coaching intitatives that target specific issues within an organisation. Some the areas we focus on include:
- Sales and business development training
- Effective negotiation training
- Creating a positive team environment
- Promoting a culture of workplace excellence
- Managing conflicts effectively
- Understanding emotions in the workplace
- How to coach and mentor teams (for management)
Profit maximisation can only come about through a well researched and documented strategy. Many companies make the mistake of reducing costs without creating a sustainable plan, and later regret many cost reduction decisions. After completing our review process, we spend time on your overall strategy:
- Clear, practical and easy to implement strategy
- Purpose and objectives of cost reduction
- Advise which areas to focus cost reductions
- Timeline for cost reduction execution
- Specific roles for cost reduction execution
- Discussion & negotiations tactics with suppliers
- Optimisation strategy for supply chain
- Threats to avoid in the reduction process
- Advise areas in which to focus spending
After our initial audit we will have broadly identified various area where profit can be maximised and costs reduced. The next step will be to drill down and examine current systems, practices, procedures as well as team dynamics and marketing frameworks. This involves:
- Formal interviews with key management
- Interviews with purchasing / buying personnel
- Interviews with human resource personnel
- Interviews with marketing departments
- Review of all current suppliers & vendors
- Analysis of spending vs revenue generation
- Benchmarking with industry & competitors
- Review of supply chain & procurement practices
- Projection of total profit maximisation over 2-3 years
This is the most preliminary consultation, where we’ll speak with members of your senior management team to find out some details regarding your business. We’ll also go over the basics of profit maximisation (so you understand what it really is) and share some of our experiences. This is an informal meeting where we’ll discuss:
- The entire scope of your business operations
- Management and leadership team profiles
- Areas & categories of spending concern
- Profit maximisation expectations / estimates
- Where the Scale fits into the picture
Following this meeting we will take away some of your financial data and statements and our team will look at your financial statements in detail