Are You At Risk?
You ARE at risk in many ways. What are the risks? What can you do about them? Consider a webinar on June 11, 2025 to hear from 4 experts on commercial insurance, contracts, negotiation, and business.
7 Forces
Broken COGs in a Wheel
COGS are not just teeth on a wheel or gear that keep a machine running. They are your Cost of Goods Sold and are an essential part of the financial equations that determine pricing and revenue, lead to profits, and affect value.
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Disrupt Yourself or Be Disrupted
Before you decide to accept an investment from a private equity company, consider the alternative of improving the company yourself. Accept PE investment dollars and you very likely will need to continue working at the company for 1-5 years after you take PE money. You may be enticed to make more money with a “second bite of the apple” when the PE firm exits. That exit has grown from a typical 3 years to nearly 7 years.
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He Who Has . . . Wins
Why is your business not doing better? How can you deal with it? What does it look like now and what could it look like with the right tools applied effectively to improve your Revenue, Earnings, and Value.
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Constant Change—Constant Risk of Disruption
Like it or not, change is constant. Change is a risk of disruption in your business. Supply chains are particularly susceptible to disruptions that add time and cost to manufacturing and transportation businessses. A new report on shipping containers is interesting.
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Advertising Reigns Supreme
Advertising must be among the most common business models and methods of marketing. I am constantly bombarded by advertisements. . . . don’t hate advertising, but I’m not a big fan. It is everywhere. . . . it is often recommended to use the AIDA approach.
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Rocks in a Stream
Do you know the story of the rocks, pebbles, and sand in a glass? How about half full or half empty or something else? Oxygen for the body can be likened to cash for a business. Both need to be available and flowing.
Think Like a Banker
While at Daimler Truck North America, I had a group that spent in excess of $10 million a year (back then). I was not a profit center. I was an expense center. Yearly I had to put together a zero-based budget. Monthly I had to review my results and annotate for the CFO group any
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7 Essential Documents When Buying or Selling a Business
Many people are looking to buy or exit from a business with revenue from $2 million to $20 million. These are at the lower end of the middle market. I have seen it done very simply between a benevolent owner and an employee, as well as more formally when selling a 50-year business to those building a portfolio of business investments. At this size, it is still important to understand 7 key documents and processes. Unfortunately, too few companies are able to run this hurdle race and exit successfully.
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“Times Are A Changin’” — Is Your Business Keeping Up?
No matter how you voted, we can all agree that something has changed and more change is coming. Are you ready? It is time to dust off your strategy for the next 5 years and make your own changes. If not, you will not achieve your growth goals, exit on your terms, and may end up closing your doors as is happening with so many restaurants, retailers, and other businesses.
“Times Are A Changin’” — Is Your Business Keeping Up? Read More »
The GAME is UP. Or is it?
The GAMEs are over! At least The Games of the XXXIII (33rd) Olympiad are over. But your GAME never ends. The race to the finish for the year is now on and in full swing. You likely closed the books on the first 7 months of the year and you now have choices for the remainder of the race. . . . The choice is yours. What is your GAME plan?
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Don’t Lie to Yourself!
It’s likely human nature for people to lie to themselves and to others. Have you ever caught a child doing something wrong, confronted them, and their immediate response is something like, “I didn’t do it!”?
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7 Pricing Options
There are three ways to improve your business. Increase revenue, decrease costs, and/or make it easier to run. Of the three, it is impossible to avoid increasing revenue. I’ve often said, “growth is an imperative.” With inflation, it is also impossible to avoid increasing prices. Improving the business and decreasing costs can only take you so far, even when the sales of units are increasing. So, let’s briefly discuss 7 ways of pricing your products and services.
What’s Your BOSS Like?
Do people leave their boss or their BOSS? What? Your people leave because they don’t get along with someone or with the company itself. Your values, culture, and WHY you exist matter more and more to all stakeholders. The people leaving could be employees, contractors, consultants, suppliers, customers, investors, or customers.
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Who WILL You TRUST to Run Your Business?
My wife and I recently finished updating our wills and trusts. It had been ten years since the last update. . . . Our lawyer and our financial planner, separately, asked about our plans for the consulting business. . . . What about YOU?
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Peer Into The Future
January is a good time to look to the future. It starts in the first week with the big CES show in Las Vegas where concept vehicles, prototypes of all sorts, and advanced ind advanced ideas for technology are…
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Get Over It!
My last trip on a plane, like many people, was just short of 6 months ago. From the forecasts I’ve seen from airline industry analysts, it’s likely to be quite some time before people are willing to regularly get…
It’s Time to Hit
YOUR business deals with risk. My wife shared an article with me regarding a 2008 Airbus A320 plane that had its computers experience ten things going wrong at the same time, taking inappropriate…
We’re All Buying All The Time—Who’s Ready To Sell?
My wife wants a new car, so we’ve stopped in to a couple of dealerships. I’ve checked on things online and looked at financing. My wife has asked for testimonials and referrals from friends. Some things that…
We’re All Buying All The Time—Who’s Ready To Sell? Read More »