From Greg's Head

While you might think it's all fun and games to attend these conferences, we actually do learn things while we attend these sessions.  Today’s activities were very informative and I believe will be very helpful for both our consultants and our clients. 

The first session I attended was a keynote delivered by Tami Reller, VP with Microsoft and she reviewed several items on the Dynamics platform.  It was a very early presentation, and I was impressed with the energy in the room.  Dynamics NAV resellers are VERY passionate about the product and they love everything about the application.
 
I then attended the Dynamics NAV Partner Advisory Board (PAB) hosted by Mike Falkner and Suzanne Beaudoin (that’s right, Canada is an active player, thanks Suzanne).  The room was packed with several of the top Navision developers, resellers and several Microsoft personnel.  I am very fortunate to be a member of this impressive group.  For two hours we talked about features and functions that we would like to see added to the application.  I was also impressed with Microsoft’s participation in the meeting as well.

After lunch, I saw what was clearly the most impressive session of the conference for me.  The “Hand Apps” session which had a complete demonstration of how hand-held’s can work with the Dynamics NAV.  I am usually not impressed by new applications and features but this product really works and it,s something that several of our clients have been asking about.  At the upcoming Houston User Group meeting we will talk more about that application.

The evening was capped off by a Hawaiian Lula and the PKF Texas Navision team members were there sharing feedback on all the sessions they attended. 

Stay tuned for more from Day Three.

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, this is a continuing series of budgeting tips brought to you by Ventana Research and PKF Texas. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on SuperTalk 97.5. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

Does your company have a “quality” budgeting and planning process? A quality process is one that:

• Aligns the budget to your corporate strategy
• Promotes accuracy
• Increases organizational agility
• Deepens operation insight for everyone involved and for the company as a whole

To gain a leg up on your larger, entrenched competitors, you need to allocate your budget resources to your strengths. Accuracy is important. But in this case, we are talking about wider participation, and increased communication among functional silos. 

Because of our constantly changing world managers should think contingently about their areas and the impact of events on their budget. 

And finally, if your company is growing rapidly, executives in mid-size companies may not appreciate that not everyone is working off the same page the way they used to.

By budgeting and planning more effectively, mid-size companies can recapture the agility they had as a smaller organization and overcome the advantages that their larger competitors enjoy.

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Later this afternoon, I am heading to Atlanta for the Directions 2006 Conference. The conference is specifically for and held by Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partners.

Based on the agenda, there will be a lot of great speakers and seminars to see and attend. 

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Last week,  PKF Texas hosted another successful Jet Reports class for our Microsoft Dynamics NAV clients. You may recall I mentioned we were going to have the class, in a blog post back in September.

The class (held Oct. 17-19^th ) was presented by Sarah Burns, a report analyst from the Jet Reports headquarters in Portland, Oregon. We had a great turn out for the class. Eight clients and two PKF Texans were able to attend. 

The class was well received by the participants as evidenced by their comments below.

“As new users of NAV, the Jet Report writing class is a valuable resource in creating financial reports that will serve as an integral part of our company's decision-making process.”

“Jet Reports will make running my monthly metrics reports faster and easier.”

To my Dynamics NAV readers in Houston, are there specific classes you would like to see in the future? Let us know and we’ll see what we can arrange.

On that note, we’re gearing up for the next Houston Dynamics NAV User Group meeting on November 14^th. Stay tuned for more details. 

Thank you Sarah for making the trip to Houston! And thank you to all the participants!

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on Supertalk 97.5. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

As much as we don't like to talk about it, sometimes the world experiences a disaster. In the wake of a major world event, people's needs change, and manufacturers are challenged with shifting production quickly to address customer demands.

By integrating closely with suppliers, manufacturers have a higher level of agility and can efficiently react to changes, instantaneously. The bottom line? Competitive edge is in the hands of manufacturers with a level of agility that enables them to shift with the global marketplace.

Globalization, declining margins, and shorter product life cycles are pressuring manufacturers to transform their traditional supply chains to demand-driven, adaptive supply chain networks. Creating a collaborative environment to work very closely with suppliers and partners is essential to maintain an edge.

Manufacturing companies must be agile in a shifting global marketplace

How can manufacturers achieve this agility? Consider the following:

• Reduce time to market.
• Integrate supply chain.
• Share costs.

Customer demands in manufacturing get resolved fast with supply chain integration tools

For example, consider the following uses of technology in the supply chain:

• Effective and accurate inventory accounting.
• Tracking products during manufacturing.
• Precise parts selection.

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This month’s newsletter from the CNVE at Texas A&M had a few more insights from this year’s Aggie 100 event.

One article from the newsletter I was particularly drawn to is the “Nuggets of Wisdom” from all 100 of the 2006 honorees.

The advice these entrepreneurs have chosen to share is invaluable both on a professional and a personal level. These three quotes in particular struck a chord with me.

“Do not be afraid to take risks and, when doing so, remember it is of utmost importance to know the quality and integrity of the people with whom you're conducting business. By adhering to this principle and, with much patience and hard work, you will greatly increase your probability of long term success.”
Danny J. Bowers Jr., Cardan Enterprises Inc., Class of 1982

“Always remember that people matter most. By passionately serving your clients (as well as your own staff) you can accomplish amazing and rewarding things.”
Monty G. Myers, Eureka Software Solutions Inc, Class of 1986

“Provide quality work on all projects -- no matter what the size. Small projects can lead to big projects.”
Gerald H. Schwarz, Schwarz Hanson Architects, Class of 1982

I could not agree with these gentlemen more. I’ve found that to be a successful entrepreneur you must have passion, integrity, and the willingness to take risks.

How will you take the wisdom offered by our 2006 honorees and apply it to your business? Or your personal life for that matter? 

To read the October CNVE newsletter, click here.

To read all of the “Nuggets of Wisdom” from the 2006 Aggie 100 honorees, click here.

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While I was attending the Aggie 100 festivities in College Station, another important event was held in Houston. The Houston Business Journal’s Best Places to Work awards luncheon was held last Thursday. My colleague, Jen Lemanski, attended the luncheon. Here are her thoughts:

Thanks Greg! The Best Places to Work luncheon was very well attended. John Beddow, publisher of the Houston Business Journal kicked off the event by thanking all of the sponsors (including PKF Texas). He then turned the MC duties over to Michele Fisher, morning DJ for MIX 96.5.

The Best Places to Work in Houston are divided into 4 categories. The winners for each category were:

• 10-100 employees – CT Industries, Inc.
• 101-500 employees – FKP Architects, Inc.
• 501+ employees – Administaff
• Companies not headquartered in Houston – CB Richard Ellis

I’d also like to make special mention of the Burnett Staffing/PKF Texas Summit Award winners, SpawMaxwell Company, Sterling Bank, and Walter P. Moore Houston.

SpawMaxwell Company and Walter P. Moore Houston were awarded the Premier Summit Award for appearing on the Best Places to Work list six out of six years. 

Sterling Bank received a Summit Award for appearing on the list for five consecutive years.

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Today at Texas A&M's Zone Club, within the confines of Kyle Field, the 2006 Aggie 100 were announced.  Guest speakers included Richard Scruggs, Executive Director of the CNVE, Bayless Miller of Bill Miller B-B-Q, Dr. Robert Gates, President of Texas A&M and yours truly to give the details of the honorees.

My speaking role was limited, but the role of PKF in the background and verification process was an enjoyable and tedious process.  I want to thank John Stephenson, my assistant for all his help.

Over 650 people attended the Awards Luncheon today.  The event was sold out several weeks ago and is now the hottest ticket on campus. Major sponsors of the event include:  Texas Business Journals (there will be a special section in each of the 4 major cities in Texas); The Association of Former Students, Bill Miller B-B-Q, Holliden Professional Services Marketing, Research Valley Partnership, Infinity Pro Sports, and PKF Texas.

The singing cadets kicked off the event and then was followed by lunch.....The highlight of the day was the countdown to the actual honorees.

Below is the list of Honorees and their % growth from 2003 - 2005:

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Last night at the Association of Former Students, the Aggie 100 Class of 2006 came together for the first time. Over 250 attended the welcome reception.

Richard Scruggs, Executive Director of the CNVE addressed the crowd and welcomed everyone to the campus. Additional comments came from representatives of the Association of Former Students and the Research Valley Partnership.  

John Beddow, publisher of the Houston Business Journal spoke on behalf of the Texas Business Journals and the publishers from Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio Business Journals were also in attendance.

The honorees were very excited about the lunch today and the countdown! I’ll have more later after the winners are announced!

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Howdy from the Aggie 100!

It’s an honor and a pleasure for PKF Texas to again serve as the Aggie 100 accountants. PKF Texas strongly supports the Mays School and its Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship here at Texas A&M. 

A big thank you to Richard Scruggs, Lenae Huebner, Dr. Strawser and Dr. Gates for your unwavering support of a unique one-of-a-kind program at a “Unique American Institution.”

Every Aggie is already a winner. But the Aggie 100 stands for the school’s legacy as well as its future. So how did we get this year’s list of the Aggie 100?

Over 200 companies completed the application process this year. Additional information was sent to our offices in Houston, where we verified the financial information, and reviewed the data submitted by the applicants.

In some cases we spoke with some of applicants to gain additional insight about the business. It took about 6 weeks to review all the applications.

Once we had the data, we calculated the two year compound annual growth rate from 2003 to 2005. Then the individual companies were ranked by their growth rate to get the Aggie 100.

Check back at 1:00 PM CST for an update on the winners!

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on Supertalk 97.5. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

This tip is brought to you by Thomas A. Kayser, author of Mining Group Gold and PKF Texas.

Communication can be one of the most misunderstood and misused tools in business. How do you effectively communicate with your employees and not waste time in meetings? Effective communication does not just happen. 

Every meeting should have an agenda with time allotted for each topic. There should be a facilitator, timekeeper, and a scribe.

The facilitator plans the meeting, prepares the agenda, and keeps the group on task during the meeting.
Planning for meetings should include answers to the following questions:

· What is the purpose and desired outcome?

· Who should attend?

· What is the agenda content and topic flow?

The time keeper reminds the group what time it is and if they are exceeding the time allowed for each topic.

The scribe is responsible for keeping meeting notes and action item assignments.

In practicing these simple techniques you will be more effective with better results. 

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Just to let everyone know, the annual Aggie 100 awards luncheon is this Friday (10/13). 

It’s being held at the Zone Club at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M campus.

As the accountant for the Aggie 100 (just as prestigious as the Academy Awards accountants!), I can tell you this year’s list of winners is impressive. 

Who are this year’s winners? You’ll have to stay tuned for a special Friday blog about the event to find out! Check back at 1:00 PM CST on Friday to see who the winners are.

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I knew Microsoft Dynamics offered a great set of solutions, but didn’t realize how trendy the Dynamics solutions are until I found out the guys at Orange County Choppers (OCC) use several of the Dynamics solutions to help run their business. 

Even such a hands-on, mechanically based business like OCC looks for technology solutions to assist inventory management, accounting, budgeting, etc. 

Paul Sr. made the comment, “The way the operation is now, we probably hire more people that are computer smart than we do mechanical people, because that’s what makes our business run.”

It makes you think about how far we’ve come from the days of using the paper ledgers for accounting and the “black books” with lists for inventory. To quote Paul Sr. again, the solutions “just help everything run a lot smoother…”

How have you incorporated the latest technology solutions to run your business? Where do you think the technology will evolve next?

Stay tuned for more wisdom from my head and Paul Sr.!

To view Paul Sr. and the OCC crew discuss Microsoft Dynamics click here.

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Note: Running most Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on Supertalk 97.5. Audio files can be found on the Entrepreneur's Playbook page of the PKF Texas website.

This tip is brought to you by Rebecca Ryan, of Next Generation Consulting, Inc.and PKF Texas.

Can your company be considered a next generation company? 

Next generation companies work to put in place policies and procedures to ensure their employees come first. They look at what motivates their employees and adapt to meet the needs of both the talent and the marketplace.

These are a few questions you should ask yourself in order assess how your company can provide a better work/life balance for your employees.

·        What are you doing now that makes the most difference to your staff?

·        Which current practices should you maintain and enhance?

·        Which should you abandon?

·        What new practices should you implement?

Because of the shrinking talent pool, companies are facing greater pressures to change their policies and practices in order to compete for and to retain talent. Have you thought of forming an internal taskforce to provide a forum for your employees to voice their preferences?  Allowing your employees to have a voice will ensure they are more engaged and committed to delivering the results needed to run a profitable business.

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I’ve detailed several human capital best practice tips for the Entrepreneur’s Playbook here in my blog. The topic of the shortage of talent in the marketplace is being discussed in boardrooms across the country. 

I received an e-newsletter the other day detailing some interesting human capital software.

The ProfileXT software, from The Leadership Edge, Inc., is an assessment tool developed to “put the right person in the right job, reducing employee turn over.”

How does this software play into the human capital discussion? If the software can place the right employees with the right job the employees will be more productive and less likely to leave. This is all well and good, but what about the person-to-person aspect? 

Are computers better at determining whether a potential employee is a good fit for a company or not? Shouldn’t we trust the interview process? 

One interesting thing to note, the newsletter called the loss of a talented employee “brain drain.” They define it as:

“…each time one of your key employees resigns, you risk the loss of customers or even the loss of proprietary information to your competition…”

Does your company have policies and procedures in place to help reduce the “brain drain”? Do you think utilizing this type of software would help retain talent? If you did use this type of software, how much weight would you give to the software report vs. the interview with the candidate?

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Just when I think technology can’t get any more cartoon-like, the proverbial “they” come out with something new, once only imagined in a 1940’s sci-fi or detective cartoon. 

Fossil and Sony-Ericsson have developed a line of watches, using Bluetooth technology, that allows you to read your caller id when your cell phone rings. 

The image of Dick Tracey talking to the Chief on his watch phone comes to mind.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) you can’t actually answer your phone from the watch, you can only send the call to voicemail. 

This is a good thing I think. Imagine sitting in a meeting and all of a sudden someone says, “Excuse me for a moment, I have to answer an important call on my watch.” At least a Blackberry is relegated to a pocket or your belt. It’s obvious when someone is checking their Blackberry. With a watch you’d never know if they are receiving a phone call or if they are just checking the time. 

Would you rather be chained to your Blackberry or your watch? Would people even use the watches? They seem like a novelty to me that will be trendy for a few months until the next latest and greatest gadget reaches the market. 

Click here to read the original article in The Houston Chronicle.

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