How To Financially Protect Your Business From Y2K Business Interruption-The Essential Workbook [Spiral-bound]

Ken Lagasse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

This workbook is an invaluable tool to help business owners sustain financial viability and profitability in the face of the most serious crisis the global economy has ever faced-Y2K business interruption. Readers are guided, step by step, through many effective actions that will help them navigate through the financial risks that are waiting to capsize unprepared businesses. There is a lot that can be done. This workbook includes: Undeniable validation about why and how the economy will be affected by Y2K, what Y2K financial risks really are, how they are likely to affect your cash flow and what you can do about it. Many adaptations of normal financial routines to include Y2K financial protection activities-including Y2K financial risk assessment exercises. Many insider reports and professional interpretations about what is really going on about Y2K-that you'll never get from the media. Dozens of tables, checklists, templates and step by step routines desig! ned to quickly maximize results. Guerilla tactics on how to: adapt the 80/20 Principle to your Y2K efforts; protect your assets and cash flow; ensure your 1999 and 2000 financial reports are beneficial to your Y2K needs; find cash resources; implement financial protection strategies to include your stakeholders, bankers, suppliers, customers and investors; get the most from your accountants and lawyers; save on taxes, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the author Ken Lagasse is the president of the Year 2000 Research Group (Y2KRG), established in 1996, as part of a communications and publishing firm in the government procurement and high tech area. After several years of promoting Y2K awareness, Y2KRG currently specializes in Year 2000 financial contingency planning for small and medium sized businesses. As the writer of the second book on Y2K published by his firm, Ken brings to bear over 25 years of experience as a trouble shooting public accountant for small and medium sized businesses. His thorough knowledge of the financial and business impacts of Y2K provide the many insights, tips of the trade and detailed frank analysis that businesses need to face down the financial risks of Y2K interruptions.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

How To Get Started. Start with yourself. We assume you have agreed the economy itself is at risk and you want to quickly evaluate that risk for your own operations. Complete the following checklist of Y2K Business Interruption Vulnerabilities. Decide which of these vulnerabilities could disrupt your operations. The next step is to proceed with the deliberation of the following actions to be taken immediately. You could use the 80/20 Principle to help you decide what decisions would be no- brainers for any business in perceived or actual financial jeopardy. Please note that these actions also coincide with our prediction that business interruption and the resulting reactions will be rather short-term (six months). You will be able to get back to the long-term planning and "normal" business activities later.

CHECKLIST OF Y2K BUSINESS INTERRUPTION VULNERABILITIES

Each of the following statements that you can validate makes your business more vulnerable to the devastation of Y2K business interruption. It is not just one or two presumptions that will create problems. It is the cumulative affect of these vulnerabilities that can overwhelm even the best. The reasons to take the actions listed herein will become evident.

You don't have a formal financial contingency plan. You also believe that neither does a great many of your smaller vendors and suppliers.

Some of your bigger suppliers and customers you depend on really don't need you. Their Year 2000 contingency plans will cut you off.

Your cash flow depends on business as usual. You cannot survive reduced sales without quick reductions to your fixed costs.

Some of your key suppliers or customers are not committed to do business with you on a contractual and long-term basis. The loss of their activity cannot be easily or cheaply replaced.

Your product or service is a luxury, not a necessity.

You operate a seasonal business or depend on uncontrollable external influences to sales such as interest rates and/or consumer confidence.

Your fixed expenses and labor costs are proportionately high. Your margins are small and you depend on a consistent and high sales volume.

There are plenty of payment commitments (equipment or premises leases, term loans, employee benefit and training programs, marketing/advertising costs, utilities and telecommunications).

You have already received demands from your stakeholders about your Year 2000 plans and you're not quite certain how costly or successful your Y2K compliance will be.

You have not creditor-proofed your business, the money you have invested or loaned to it, or your own personal affairs.

You are an executive who is personally responsible to stakeholders and personally liable for some contractual commitments resulting from guarantees, government withholding taxes and employee settlement liabilities.

Your firm has not experienced a battle for survival or identity crisis lately and is not tuned to fight a battle together.

You do not have sufficient cash resources to finance at least a 20 percent reduction in sales and a significant increase in consultants and professional fee expenses.

Your cash flow is dependent on a bank operating and revolving line of credit that in turn depends on the level of trade accounts receivable for the amount of the line of credit you can use. If receivables reduce, so will your available cash.

There are multiple security documents registered against specific, present and future assets of your business. If there are financial problems there will be many conflicting claims and many different parties to please and negotiate with.

Your operations are widely dispersed or depend on inventory, support, and services that are not close by (Ex: typical franchise operations)

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 206 pages
• Publisher: Year 2000 Research Group (April 1, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0968237215
• ISBN-13: 978-0968237212
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,788,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Convinces me why and how my firms finances could be hit!, April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How To Financially Protect Your Business From Y2K Business Interruption-The Essential Workbook (Spiral-bound)

This is quite a packed collection of different aspects of Year 2000, most of which have some form of financial delimma. I like the way this is such a hands-on book though I'll be leaving the different analysis to my accountant. For myself, some of the actions to take that are so detailed throughout the book are right on if their prediction of business interruption is even close. No more new projects until the smoke clears and I like how the tax section makes sense.

Lagasse seems to have an instinct for what small business goes through, especially with banks and the financial types that try to run our affairs, though I find it hard to believe all that legal complexity is going to be any fun.

In short, this book has saved me lots of time and I finally can relate to how Year 2000 could affect my business because of business interruption. I've got plenty of decisions to make and maybe I'm going to try to build in some of the suggestions into our day to day routines. I'm not worrying so much as thinking what minimum to do to keep Y2K from causing too much financial grief. The way Lagasse trys to keep you one step ahead of the 'Y2K elephants' is worth it. But someone there has quite the strong attitudes and sense of humour, unabashed that they are. Definitey ground level if not ground zero for many small businesses.