Accounting

Finding a good accountant that knows the ins and outs of business as well as the intricacies of your industry and that actually can deal with your personality will take time, but is well worth the energy invested. Not all accountants are created equal. Most have bookish personalities that love to pore over numbers and take your money very seriously, sometimes giving you advice for which you want to fire them. Hear them out—they are trying to save you and your business (Figure 9.1).

Find an accountant that will stand up to you. It is uncomfortable, but businesses can be ruined by well-meaning accountants that do not want to stress a boss who is under mountains of undue stress already, and will tarry on giving you the bad information. That is the kiss of death. You are a business person, responsible for the livelihood of your employees and for the financial success of your company. You have been duly warned that it is not a job for the meek. If you can’t stand the heat, hire a business manager. They thrive on chaos, stress, and last-minute saves.

In my company, I do business turnaround consulting for companies having difficulties. I go in with the mission of any good business doctor to stop the corporate bleeding. Quite often it is the cash flow. One particular company with whom I was familiar had an accountant who was highly qualified and worked in retail for 30 years, had been with an up-and-coming construction company for about a year The owner had hired the accountant and never looked back, pushing forward to get new business and work on other parts of the busy firm that was contracting to universities, etc. When he needed money for a motorcycle trip, or to take a vacation, or even to purchase a heavy-duty extend cab, the money was always there He loved the accountant, until he was contacted by the IRS and was on the verge of losing his company.

His comment upon contacting me was: They were busy, working on huge deals, how could there be money problems? One of the first things I did was to ask to see the books, which the owner replied he had not personally seen for over 6 months. Every time he asked, the accountant was factoring the numbers out further, learning his way from his retail chain past to a construction company scenario with large material purchases, buying on time, cash flow problems, etc. The accountant did not want to stress him and felt if he could break the numbers down further he would find a way. I opted to go in and clean house, firing the accountant and hiring a firm that gave weekly reports and could, within hours, provide any financial statement the owner needed for any purpose. Why? Because multiple hands of a firm understand the industry and cash flow needs.

Know where your money is, make friends with it, do not fear it or abuse it Most people do not have sound financial training. Take some classes. Read some books Do not rely on someone else to handle your money successes or problems; keep your hand in it. Know what your trusted advisors are doing You don’t have to know more, but you do need to know how to read financial reports (at least weekly) and know enough to guide them, or to pick up on a problem Embezzling happens because people are not careful, trust too much, and do not have enough basic financial information to protect themselves.

Sales/Marketing

You can be the next Einstein and have the greatest business idea and plan in the world, but if you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business Money makes the world go round, and your sales and marketing team need to articulate your vision to the clients to sell your products.

Sales and marketing employees, just like accountants, need to be carefully screened and matched to your product and your company The best face in the application pool that has a gift of gab and ″suck up″ may sell you on themselves, but can they sell your company and your product?

HR/Talent Development

Nanotechnology brings with it special problems in hiring even basic people, as many countries do not have the technical background and training needed for the job. Even positions such as administrative assistants need to know the terminology and basics of the industry Universities and colleges are just beginning to graduate qualified candidates.

Getting your HR department and support staff up to the level that they can be productive can take years without training. Training companies are just beginning to look at this problem and groom the talent for new companies.

For those companies lucky enough to find good employees with the technical knowledge and training needed, it can be a task to keep them, as there is a shortage at this point for this type of worker. Meeting the needs of the worker with regards to salary, additional education, and coaching is a key investment into the workers that often keeps them loyal. The technical ″toys,″ often available in the technical corridors, along with the like-mindedness of the group and support system, are attractive extras for this type of worker.

Workers from other countries such as India or China have strong technical backgrounds, but may find it difficult to work as expatriates because of the new antiterror policies that do not allow foreign nationals in many of the labs, both university and government.

Continuous Improvement

While the confines of this book are too narrow to give all the business commercialization secrets, one that I would challenge all company leaders and key development people to do is to become enrolled in a program called Lean Six Sigma. I will briefly look at the program designed to move your company toward efficiency and excellence.

Lean Six Sigma is a management methodology that is driven by data and integrated into your business improvement process The central idea is that if you can measure how many defects you have in a process, you can systematically determine how to eliminate them to approach what is called zero defects. It is about reducing variation and finding out the facts about your business process before acting, thereby creating better product, increasing efficiency, and enlarging your profit margin.

A Six Sigma initiative is implemented through five major stages and begins with what is known as a deployment program from the top down, so that all understand the concept and it permeates the company Individuals go through the required trainings to become certified belts. The program initializes Six Sigma in the company by establishing the goals and installing the infrastructure of the company to support it By assigning, training, and equipping the staff with the information and tools, it is possible to expand the scope of the original initiative to additional organizational units The program is kept strong and fresh via constant realignment, retraining, and actual evolution of the company It is a great way to build a core unit, and to build a company team.

Insurance

Earlier in this text we read about Lloyd’s of London and its report on the emerging risks of nanotechnology. Its concerns were (1) nanoparticles—the fact that the particles can be much more reactive than larger volumes of the same substance and the instability that could become volatile and extremely toxic with manufacturing mistakes; (2) impacts on health—whether from the nanoparticles themselves as toxic agents or the possibility of buildup within the body and the subsequent toxicological effects; (3) unknown impacts on the environment (ecotoxicology)—the possibility of the particles being absorbed and moving up the food chain, or the effect of some nanoparticles (copper or silver) that can be harmful to aquatic life; (4) positive effects of nanotechnology—the seductive charm of money and what nanotechnology can do contributes to the rush to capitalize and commercialize before assessing the safety of the product; and (5) lack of regulation—the lack of specific regulation and standardization can open the door for additional litigation.

Knowing where your product fits in this emerging risk report is important in protecting yourself as a business owner when pursuing insurance As stated many times in this text, there is a lot the common layperson does not know about the intricacies, dangers, and miraculous discoveries made with nanotechnology It is the inherent responsibility of the business owner to make sure that he or she acquires an insurance firm or company with knowledge to protect him or her and share resources with his or her company Ignorance, in this case, is not bliss.

Legalities

There are always cautious people and naysayers in the wings touting the dangers of growth of new technology, and they are often brushed aside until there is a major catastrophe, such as the meltdown of the nuclear plant in Japan. We need both sides, the naysayers and those who push to make discoveries a reality. But there is a fine line of caution that everyone needs to follow with the complexities of working on a molecular level The possibility and inevitability of an accident needs to be discussed Laws for standardization need to be in place. Protection systems for national security need to be reviewed in how to handle the new technology Laws need to be written.

James Brindell (2009), in a recent article for the Florida Bar Journal, stated:

Advice: Keep your money dry and create your exit plan as you create your business plan.