SMALL BUSINESS PRACTICES IN MUNCIE
An Honors Thesis (ID 499)
by
Tamara Sample
Thesis Director
(advisor's signature)
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana
May 23, 1986
Expected date of graduation (Spring/1986)
SMALL BUSINESS PRACTICES IN MUNCIE
PURPOSE
The
purpose
accounting
of
this
practices
determine whether
of
study
small
or not
is to examine the finance and
businesses
in
Muncie,
and to
their results will be in line with the
findings of Grablowsky and Rowell six years ago.
JUSTIFICATION
From 1976
failed
lion
from
to
an
1982,
original
(Statistical
approximately
nearly
out
million
of
of
the
every
United
.3 f'e.c.Q~Sicn
States).
three small firms.
mortality rate discourages many people from
owning their own business.
small businesses
small business population of 4.3 mil-
Abstract
one
1.3
for what
to
p. 113).
survive
dream of
Since 1982, business has been through
As the country
mayor may not be still another reces-
sion, small businesses need to look for areas they can
order
This high
pursuing a
which pushed many small businesses under.
prepares itself
That is
economic
conditions
(Posner,
change in
March
1986,
By studying small businesses in the Muncie area, I hope
to find some of the common problems.
Once the problems have been
pointed out, business managers can take steps to correct them.
The shift toward small service and retail businesses
last few
years is
another reason
industry alone, small shops now
market share
(Buchsbaum, p.66).
fastest growing sector
small businesses
of
for the study.
account
And the
American
for
55%
in the
In the retail
of
the total
service sector is the
business
today.
As these
become more and more competitive, managers will
2
want to
know what they are failing to do and how they can change
to run their business better.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Nearly all
the literature
clusion category.
I read
They concluded
fell into
that for
one main con-
the most part small
business managers are focused on the
short-term and
for
suggestions
for successful
Although no studies similar
to Brigham and
the
unexpected.
business strategies.
Rowell's
1980
One
survey
offered
were
do not plan
found, the following literature was
analyzed related topics.
A recent study by Brigham indicated that managers do in fact
use
very
tory.
little
quantitative
They primarily rely
cludes
quantitative
analysis when they manage inven-
on
methods
subjective
could
making the right choices when
judgement.
He con-
reassure them that they are
investing
in
one
of
the firm's
most costly assets, inventory (Brigham, July 1984, p. 59).
In another study by O'Neill and Duker, the findings indicate
that the two most successful strategies
prospector and defender strategies.
maintain
become
sharp
price
important
as
for small
firms are the
The prospector strategy must
competitiveness,
so
financial practices
profit margins decrease.
Defender strate-
gists need solid financial practices because they must
attention to
their costs.
pay close
They focus on the product rather than
the customer (O'Neill and Duker, Jan 1986, p. 30).
My
In
1980,
survey
was
Professor
developed
Bernie
based
Grab10wsky
on
the
following study.
and Dexter R. Rowell of
3
Dominion
University
conducted
a
survey
and analysis of small
businesses in the Norfolk, Virginia area.
They found
that small
businesses in that area indeed did not follow the practices which
were
taught.
Their
findings
are
listed
Fundamentals of Financial Management.
in
Brigham's text,
In summary, small business
managers did not follow cash management strategies.
have a
credit policy per see
balance inventory.
Nor did they
They had no quantitative method to
They did take
discounts
for
the
most part
but did
not realize how much they were actually paying for trade
credit.
Most of the managers did
present
value,
internal
capital budgeting.
investment, and
term funds.
The
they failed to plan
reason for
such
in
the
as net
or even payback for
firm
was
made to
stated
that
involved in
for the
criteria such
return,
were being
conclusions
so heavily
of
equity
no efforts
The
managers were
rate
not use
the
the owner's
seek other long
small business
day-to-day functions that
long-term which
may have
been the
high mortality rates in small businesses (Cited
from Brigham, p. 770).
In another
recent article
Entrepreneurs Don't
Plan," the
in INC.
author hypothesized based on his
interviews that many entrepreneurs
It is
much easier
than to try
needs.
to
Richard
for them
determine
magazine entitled "Real
are actually
to get into the business activities
a
long-term
Chambers, president
projection
men don't
for capital
and chief operating officer
of Nashville City Bank & Trust Co., stated,
most small-business
afraid to plan.
even think
"From my experience,
about the forces that
4
affect
them. And
when
those
conditions
begin to change, they
don't know what's hit them, let alone what to do about it." (Posner, Nov 85, p. 130).
The article concluded that the best way to
beat the competition in the
market
place
was
to
plan
and be
prepared for the unexpected even if it did not happen.
METHODOLOGY
To obtain data for my study, I contacted 50 small businesses
in Muncie and conducted
each
business
I
phone interviews
spoke
responsible
of those.
At
with the accountant, bookkeeper, owner-
manager, or a combination
ultimately
with 30
of
for
the
the
three
depending
on
who was
determination and execution of
various financial policies.
The survey included 28
receivable,
inventory,
management policies.
determination of
questions
accounts
involving
payable, and capital budgeting
It also asked about
sources and
obtaining long-term funds.
cash, accounts
uses of
the type
of the firm,
funds, and the policy for
Each business was
categorized by the
number of employees including the owner-manager.
The businesses
small business.
selected had to meet Brigham's definition of
For retail stores the cutoff was $2.5 million in
sales; and for service businesses, the cutoff was $2.0 million in
sales.
They also had to have
queried about
except one.
policies
for
the
areas
which I
But for the most part, all the firms
did have definite practices in each of the areas.
Realizing that businesses often
do
use
certain techniques
but may not use the same terms as I when referring to them, I did
5
explain
the
necessary.
of the
techniques
involved
in
However, in doing so, I
alternatives I
tried to maintain
a
the
questions
tried not
whenever
to indicate which
personally felt was the proper choice.
neutral
and
unbiased
role
in
I
the ques-
tioning.
I found
the names
and numbers
the yellow pages in the most
phone
directory.
selected them.
in the
Rather
for the small businesses in
recent edition
than
call
of the
businesses
at
and location of the business.
were mostly retail
and
categories because
the Small
service
businesses.
Those I chose
I
selected those
Business Administration recognizes
those groups as the primary areas of small business.
were not
random, I
By doing so, I was able to obtain a wider variety
type, size,
select some
local tele-
that were
well-known in
so well-known,
some that
the city
had many
I
tried to
and others which
employees and some
that had few, and some which were located near the university and
others which were not.
The questions which I used in
my survey
are listed
at the
end of this report.
RESULTS
Considering the
prepare
any
businesses
type
where
test group
of
cash
revenues
as a
budget.
and
whole, over
Many
expenses
were
were
half did not
from seasonal
quite volatile.
Nonetheless, they felt they just knew "from experience"
they should
spend and
how much
how much
revenue they would pull in.
addition, many had not even heard of such a budget.
In
6
Of those
firms which
time sector within the
did prepare a budget, the most common
budget was
a month.
In this
area they
followed the standardized practice of annually preparing a budget
for each month of the upcoming year.
did prepare
However, a few of the firms
a budget for the year as a whole and for semi-annual
periods rather than monthly ones.
The
most
receivable.
commonly
complained
about
area
was
accounts
Although 87% of the firms extend credit to customers
to increase sales, nearly
minimal credit
half
of
checking policy.
even ask for a reference or
those
do
not
have
even a
By minimal, I mean they do not
query their
other colleagues.
This
could lead easily to lending to bad-risk customers.
Fifty-four
checking
percent
procedure.
of
the
Usually
businesses
customers
do
have
simply
fill
a credit
out
application and their credit is checked at the local banks.
feel that such a policy is
with good
necessary to
an
They
protect themselves, and
cause since they are carrying all of their receivables
themselves.
Unfortunately, three-fourths of
not try
had
their other
necessities if
A
very
an
most of
receivables
n/30.
extending
credit do
to speed up the collection of their accounts receivable.
Overall, I found that
early.
those
few
them did
opportunity
cost
only the
offered
not realize
that their
and could be invested in
receivables were collected
discounts
of 1/10, n/30 or 2/10,
7
Fifty percent
accounts.
had a finance charge of some type for overdue
The typical charge was 1.5% per month.
good intentions
about discouraging
over half of the managers
fourth of
For all their
late payments, only a little
actually
enforced
the
policy.
One-
the managers enforced it leniently, often deferring it
until after 60 days.
The last quarter did not bother
to enforce
it at all.
As far
draw.
as aging accounts receivable was concerned, it was a
Half aged them; half did
particular many
of the
computer software.
their receivables
not.
However,
in this
area in
small businesses mentioned a reliance on
Some of the firms which do
not presently age
will soon do so, as they are in the process of
installing an office computer system which will handle it.
Inventory was typically
experience.
When
asked about
responded that in their
sary.
monitored
through
observation and
a quantitative method, they often
line of
business it
just wasn't neces-
This was very much in line with the responses discussed in
Posner's article.
All
in
all
63%
of
the
businesses
had no
quantitative method for inventory.
Almost
half
of
them
did,
however,
calculate
turnover, reordering points, carrying costs, or
through their accounting system.
a duty of a software package.
inventory
reordering costs
This too was often mentioned as
Usually, the
turnover ratios and
reordering points were monitored more closely than the costs.
Accounts
payable
was
another
area which was studied.
An
overwhelming 87% of the businesses did try to take most or all of
8
the
discounts
of
the
discounts available to them.
every manager was quick to point out that
in the
But nearly
last couple of
years nearly all of their discounts have disappeared or decreased
drastically.
The typical discount was 1/10, n/30 or
maybe 2/10,
n/30 if they were lucky.
Although they
did try
managers had no idea
credit.
Sixty-three
abo~t
to take
the
the discounts,
cost they
percent thought
were paying
to
or
very
near
the
specified
comprehension that a 2% discount missed
most of
them thought
for trade
that the cost to them when
they missed a discount, if it was considered
equal
most of the
a cost
at all, was
1% or 2%.
They had no
cost them
37%.
Indeed,
it quite humorous that I would even ask if
tbey would borrow money from the
bank at
current interest rates
in order to take a 2% discount.
Fifty-seven percent made no effort at all to slow down their
disbursement.
or as
They often pay as soon as they receive the invoice
soon as
they have an adequate cash inflow.
cash flow was cited most often as the reason for
gamble"
by
holding
it
until
Unpredictable
not "taking the
the end of the payment period or
discount period.
In the area of capital
most part
all.
NPV
budgeting,
the
businesses
for the
did not bother to follow any guidelines or criteria at
In particular, only one of the businesses I spoke with used
or
IRR.
That
particular
business
businesses did use their own criteria
of sales,
used both.
based on
The other
estimated volume
earnings, or the accounting formula for ROI.
However,
9
for the
most part
they did not consider the time value and cash
flows.
The next area was the business type.
incorporated.
were Sub-S
Specifically,
corporations.
63%
This
were
Most of the firms were
corporations,
clearly
reflects
and
the
10%
owners'
desire to take advantage of the limited liability associated with
a corporation.
88%
were
However, among those which were not incorporated,
sole
partnerships
proprietorships.
are
much
more
This
likely
led me to conclude that
to
incorporate
than sole
proprietorships in small business.
For everyone of the firms, the primary source of equity was
the owner's personal investment
with very
Other
came
long-term
funds
always
necessary and allowable.
Two
debt
structure.
in
their
capital
of the
few others investing.
from
debt.
aspect
himself on
also prevented
secure enough
him from
to have any
One firm in particular had
generations and
that
bank if they were
firms refused
been in the family for three
Unfortunately,
a
which
had never
the
leveraging a
had any
grandson prided
firm that was
to endure several decades of economic shifts.
But
overall, the businesses considered the local bank the only source
of outside long-term funding.
Sources and uses of funds can be evaluated often to indicate
what area
is
"eating
generating more
annually in
the
up"
excessive
funds
funds than
expected.
This
preparation
Financial Position.
of
The
and
what
area is
process is required
Statement
of
Changes in
Of the firms I spoke with in the survey, 73%
10
only evaluated
ment.
sources and
uses of
funds for the annual state-
The others usually evaluated them
needed
to
make
a
decision.
if they
felt they were
Only 13% made a sources and uses
statement on an established time
period,
such
as
quarterly or
monthly, so they could monitor the business.
From
a
more
focused
overall findings when the
aspect,
there are exceptions to the
test group
is broken
down into three
1-9, 10-19, 20 & up.
groups by number of employees:
In the next
section, I will point out those exceptions.
Although the overall consensus for the cash budget indicated
that over
half of
the small
businesses did
budget, in the 10-19 group 70%
This
indicates
that
the
of
the
large
and
not prepare a cash
firms
did
small
prepare one.
group weighted the
overall data heavily.
In accounts receivable management,
substantially
from
the
overall
the
results.
which extended credit, most did not try to
tion of
this.
the receivables.
In that employee group,
attempt to
norm
The 1-9
as
speed receivables.
far
Overall, 54%
as
credit
92%
1-9
Among the businesses
speed up
the collec-
group was an extreme case of
of
the
businesses
made no
This group also deviated from the
checking
procedures
were
concerned.
had a credit checking procedure; whereas in the 1-9
group, 67% did not.
Finally, the overall results
of
aged
the
group differed
businesses
their
reflected half
receivable, while half did not.
Actually, over two-thirds of the medium and large
groups did age
11
their
receivables,
but
that
was
balanced
by
the
fact that
three-fourths of the 1-9 group did not.
As far as inventory is concerned, in the overall picture 63%
did
not
have
a
quantitative
method
to
optimize
inventory.
However, it should be noted that in the 20 & up group, 67% of the
firms did
utilize a
quantitative method.
small and medium groups which
Also,
the
manager
to
costs, and
firms.
presence
of
calculate
pulled
an
the
inventory
turnover
Therefore, it was the
overall
method
ratios,
result down.
which allows the
reordering
points and
carrying costs proved to be in just under half of the
This was weighted downward heavily by the 1-9 group which
\ reported that
71% of it members did not have an inventory system
which could perform those tasks.
Looking at the accounts payable, a
whole test
group did
not try
group was an extreme case.
slow disbursement;
to slow
little over
half of the
disbursement.
The 10-19
Eighty percent of that group
whereas 67%
of the
did not
20 & up group did try to
slow all outlays of cash.
As far
as
capital
budgeting
results
are
concerned, the
overall picture showed that approximately two-thirds of the firms
had no criteria.
fairly
even,
but
Actually,
it
pulled the average down.
was
the 10-19
and 20
& up
groups were
the small 1-9 group which once again
Eighty-six percent of that group had no
criteria.
Sources and
uses of funds were usually evaluated only on an
annual basis for the required accounting reports.
However, among
12
the 10-19
group, 50%
of the businesses calculated them monthly.
The group's effort is outstanding compared to the
others in this
area.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall,
the
survey
does
indicate
that the practices of
small business managers in Muncie today are very similar to those
in
Grablowsky
and
Rowell's
virginia six years ago.
survey
and
analysis
For the material tested,
in Norfolk,
the results of
this study have a positive correlation of 0.7113 with the results
of Grablowsky
and Rowell's
survey and
analysis.
This correla-
tion was derived based on the following comparisons.
*********************************************************
COMPARATIVE RESULTS
TOPICS
Variables for correlation equation
Prepare a cash budget-----------yes
Speed up collection-------------yes
Slow disbursements--------------yes
Credit check procedure----------no
Late charge enforced------------yes
Age accounts receivable---------no
Quantitative inv. method to
optimize inv.-----------------yes
Inv. system allows costs &
turnover ratios---------------no
Take discounts on payables------yes
Cost when miss discount---------equal
Criteria for capital budgeting--no
Primary source of equity--------owner
Long-term funds-----------------bank
G&R
SAMPLE
(y)
( x)
30%
34%
34%
95%
50%
34%
40%
27%
43%
46%
27%
50%
6%
37%
54%
69%
40%
50%
100%
100%
53%
87%
63%
67%
100%
100%
*********************************************************
There are
a few
Grablowsky and Rowell.
topics which
The
effect
I was unable to compare with
of
the
lack
of
a credit
checking policy would be observable if the specific sales and bad
13
debts
figures
were
Unfortunately,
available.
owners were not willing to divulge
would
not
release
figures
invested in inventory which
local business
that information.
relating
to
Grablowsky
They also
the amount of capital
and
Rowell
do
cite in
budgeting
was not
their study.
The
subject
of
criteria
for
capital
limited to NPV, IRR, NTV, PI, or payback methods.
primarily due
This
was done
to the fact that from the answers I was receiving,
I felt they were using cash
their criteria.
flows
analysis
to
some
degree in
However, whenever I would mention the previously
listed terms, the manager
inevitably did
not understand exactly
what I meant and "read" too much into the question.
The question
borrow in order
difficult to
relating to
to
take
obtain a
discount
on
saying that
would borrow.
really worth
accounts
the effort.
payable was
The managers often
if the
However, since
nesses, the invoices were rarely large;
were not
not the manager would
straight answer from.
qualified their answers by
enough they
a
whether or
amount was large
they had small busi-
therefore, the discounts
One manager stated that his
typical discount would amount to $0.50 per invoice.
The findings
potential for
every
small
although I
of this
study are
error inherent
business
tried to
in any
advertises
remain unbiased
asked the question different ways to
the data
in
of course
survey.
the
in my
limited due the
For instance, not
yellow
pages.
And
approach, perhaps I
different people.
Finally,
base was fairly small even though it was representative
14
of several
small businesses
in the two categories which make up
a large portion of small businesses.
so definite,
such as
100%, are
The values which seem to be
of course
subject to change as
the data base grows larger.
Even with the
that Muncie small
limitations
mentioned,
study
did show
business practices are similar in many ways to
the practices in the previous study;
evolved.
the
Hopefully,
this
thesis
small businessmen in the area and
and some
will
see the
cular businesses which need improvement.
improvements have
provide information to
area in
their parti-
15
QUESTIONS FROM SURVEY
1. Would you classify your business as retail or service?
2. How many employees, including the owner, work for your
business?
3. Can you give me
from last year?
a rounded figure which estimates your sales
4. Do you prepare a cash budget?
5. What is the periodic breakdown within the budget?
6. Do you extend credit to customers and carry
ables?
your own receiv-
7. Do you try to speed up collections of your accounts receivable? In other words, do you have a policy which encourages
customers to pay before the actual due date?
8. Do you have a credit checking procedure for those customers
who would like credit?
9. Do you have a charge for late payments?
10. What is the typical charge?
11. Is it strictly enforced, leniently enforced, or not enforced?
12. Do you age your accounts receivable? In other words, do you
classify them into groups like less than 30 days, 30-60 days,
60-90 days, etc.?
13. What is the amount of your average bad
sales?
debt as
a percent of
14. What percent of your capital is invested in inventory?
15. Do you use a quantitative method to determine the optimal
level of inventory, that inventory level which does not cost
too much for you to maintain but is enough to meet customer
needs?
16. Does your
turnover,
costs?
inventory system allow you to generate inventory
reordering points, ordering costs, or carrying
17. Do you take discounts on your accounts payable?
18. What is a typical discount on accounts payable?
16
19. If you had a choice between (A) missing a discount on an
account payable or (B) borrowing from the bank to pay the
bill and take the discount, which would you do?
20. When you miss a discount of «their typical discount», what
do you consider the cost to you to be?
(A) Much greater than «typical discount»
(B) A little greater than «typical discount»
(C) Equal to «typical discount»
(D) Less than «typical discount»
21. Do you try to slow your disbursements? In other words, do
you time your payment so that it just arrives at the end of
the discount or payment period, or do you attempt to pay you
bill as soon as you have enough cash available?
22. When you evaluate a new capital budgeting project, such as an
expansion, buying new equipment, carrying a new line of
products, or moving to a new location, do you have any formal
criteria that you use to decide whether or not the project
will be good for your business in the long run?
23. What is your criteria?
24. Do you use IRR, NPV, NTV, PI, or payback?
25. Is your business a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, Sub-S corporation?
26. What is the primary source of equity in the firm?
27. Where would you seek
them?
other
long-term
funds
if
you needed
28. Do you evaluate sources and uses of funds more often than for
the annual year-end statement of changes
in financial
position?
17
THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY
*************************************************************
(10-19)
(20 & UP)
(1-9)
OVERALL
YES
NO
YES
NO
YES
NO
YES
NO
Cash budget?
40%
60%
21%
79%
70%
30%
33%
67%
Credit?
Speed AIR?
Credit check?
Late charge?
Enforced?
Lenient?
Not enforced?
Age AIR?
87%
27%
54%
50%
13%
73%
46%
50%
54%
23%
23%
50% 50%
86%
8%
33%
42%
14%
92%
67%
58%
33%
50%
17%
25% 75%
90% 10%
44% 56%
78% 22%
56% 44%
100%
83%
40%
60%
40%
17%
60%
40%
60%
67%
33%
100%
80% 20%
Quant. inv.?
Inv sys allow
turnover
and costs?
37%
63%
21%
79%
40%
60%
67%
33%
47%
53%
29%
71%
60%
40%
67%
33%
Disc on Alp?
87% 13%
Cost?
Little > disc
12.5%
Equal to disc
63.0%
Less than disc
12.5%
Slow disbursements? 43% 57%
79%
21%
100%
83%
17%
Criteria for
projects?
Type of firm?
Sole proprietor
Partner
Corp
Sub-S Corp
Primary Source
of Equity
Owner
Other L.T. Funds
Bank
Evaluate S&U?
Annually
Quarterly
Monthly
As needed
33%
67%
21%
71%
8%
50% 50%
10%
70%
20%
20% 80%
67%
33%
14%
50%
50%
50%
86%
50%
33%
67%
23%
4%
63%
10%
36%
7%
36%
21%
10%
17%
90%
83%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
73%
3%
10%
14%
100%
30%
10%
50%
10%
67.0%
----16.5%
16.5%
************************************************************
-
18
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