CEO's Notebook
Selling is tough and collecting is even tougher for small companies these days. Mark W. Troy, CEO of $3-million Flywire, a Web-design company in Portsmouth, N.H., has gotten by with less cash thanks to a few informed reductions in Flywire's expenses.
To get an objective analysis of Flywire's cost structure, Troy retained a freelance financial expert (a former chief financial officer) whom he'd met through a friend. The CFO put Flywire on a cost-control diet: he found areas where the company could either trim financial fat or gain monetary muscle. Following the CFO's suggestions has enabled Flywire to stay solvent and maintain its margins at a time when many Web-design companies are struggling to do one or the other. The specific results of the regime -- complete with before-and-after snapshots and monthly "weight-loss" results -- are charted below.
| Cost and Tactic | Before and after | Monthly savings |
| Legal costs for drawing up contracts Used different firm |
Before: $225 to $300 an hour After: $125 to $200 an hour |
$5,000 to $7,500 |
| Rent Eliminated excess space |
Before: 11,000 square feet After: 8,000 square feet |
$5,000 |
| Traveling Reduced long-distance travel to sales prospects |
Before: National travel After: Mostly local travel |
$3,000 to $4,000 |
| Energy Alerted employees about conserving power |
Before: Machines and heat were left on After: Everything shuts down at night |
$150 to $400 |
| Banking Transferred funds |
Before: Excess cash idling in checking account After: Excess cash moved into a money market |
$300 |
| Total monthly savings: $13,450 TO $17,200 | ||
CEO's Notebook
Licensing Wizardry
Hot Tip: Team Up with Competition
Hot Tip: Partner with Your Banker
Cost-Control Diet
Taking the Bite out of a Price Increase
Thomas G. Stemberg: My Biggest Mistake
Do What You Love. No, Really
In a Former Life: Greg MacGillivray
Please e-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.