How does a 114-year-old privately-owned firm re-invent itself for the 21st Century? Join us as Mitch explains how Thomas Publishing has embraced cloud computing and is advancing finance to the outer edges of the firm’s business.
Made Possible By
Finance Philosophy
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- “I’ve always encouraged finance to be proactive rather than reactive, and although we’re a support function, we can identify and create revenue opportunities, perform analysis, and provide new metrics, KPIs, and cost-cutting measures as well as the typical finance functions.”
Key Metrics:
“In right-sizing the company and turning around our business model, we have really been looking at profitability, expenses, and billing. We are really looking at cash flow and the number of days for our payables vs. our receivables, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement over the past few years in this regard. The other metric that we use is expenses in various areas and the profitability of business lines.”
Mentoring Round:
“I learned early on that it was really important to get a mentor and be very open to listening to advice. Over the years, this thinking transformed into networking, and today I have a broad network of peers and resources and we all help each other. A major tool for networking is LinkedIn, but I really believe in face-to-face networking as well.”
“One habit that I have is that on Sunday nights I really plan my calendar for the week ahead. I actually put to-do items on my calendar so that I make certain that things get done. I will tell you one thing that this has really helped me to do: Get a better sleep on Sunday nights.”
Business Book Picks
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t
Interview Links
- Mitch’s site
- Mitch’s screencast