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.
Strategy
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.
Let’s Do It!
The Iditaod sled race is coming up. There are some important items to consider for business when comparing to how a leader chooses and trains the team.
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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No Time? Time is of the Essence. There’s No Time Like the Present.
You can’t become a better runner or swimmer without taking the time to practice and confer with others. So, what are you going to do to free up more time for yourself since you cannot create more time? No Time, No Effort, No Growth
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An Update Is Available for . . .
What operating systems do you deal with at work and personally. Do you know what they are? How do you update them?
What is your own WHY.os operating system? Do you need a new B.O.S.S. as in Business Operating System Strategy?
An Update Is Available for . . . Read More »
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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Don’t Get MAD—Get Even BETTER
1. Figure out your personal WHY.os, that of your leadership team, and for your company.
2. Join your PaC (Peer Advisory Council) to get continuing support.
3. Get Clarity on what your business looks like from the outside.
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Do You Know Your Customer?
So, what did this customer want? Did anyone ever ask what she was wanting to accomplish? Was she looking for a drill motor? Or a drill? Or a screw? Nope, she just wanted . . .
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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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Leadership REQUIRES Meetings
Who likes meetings? I’d guess a majority of people don’t. That’s likely due to them being so poorly run and called for the wrong reasons. Yet, leadership REQUIRES meetings. Leaders get things done by…
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Tick-Tock not TikTok
Supply Chain Pendulum Swings—You may have heard the phrase, “Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.” Another one is “Everything old is new again”
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Build Your Team
No matter what size your business, you need a team of people to help you. If you are a public corporation, you’ve got a fiduciary board, a strong management team, lots of people inside the…
Success Planning Beats All
That leaves us with Succession Planning. Normally that implies having someone to succeed you in business. In the corporate world, you won’t be able to be promoted unless you develop someone to…
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All Ashore That’s Going Ashore
What’s the right solution for your company? Is it INSOURCE, NEARSOURCE, OUTSOURCE, RIGHTSOURCE? It’s a good time to search out new suppliers, friends, and partners. It reminds me…
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Don’t Go It Alone
Don’t go it alone. Don’t try to grow it alone. You can’t and shouldn’t. . . . There’s another group you should consider talking with. That’s a group of peers that own businesses, don’t compete with…
CHARGE Ahead. CHARGE it.
Today’s blog is brought to you by the word, “CHARGE.” Those of us that grew up with Sesame Street or watched it as adults with our young children will recognize the opening to various segments. I was…
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Innovation Impacts Updates
Wow! How much time, effort, and stress have YOU experienced in the last week due to the constant, almost continuous, innovation that requires you to update or upgrade something? Here are a few of the things I’ve experienced in the last week that have caused me to pull out a few more hairs, shout expletive
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SWAT the SWOT and Make a KISS
Take a flyswatter and swat the standard SWOT analysis. Instead, do a SWAT for Special Weapons Accelerating Tactics and throw in some love with a KISS.
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Are You a Service or Manufacturing Business?
According to the Shopify Business Encyclopedia, “Manufacturing refers to a large-scale production of goods that converts raw materials, parts, and components into finished merchandise using manual labor and/or machines.
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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…
Can You STOP the Dominoes Falling?
While in lock down or in lock up, I’ve been busy learning some new tricks and making use of LinkedIn for thought leadership. I’ve posted about 90 items since my last newsletter, many of which are…
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I Can See Clearly Now with 2020 Vision
Since this is Oregon, I can’t really sing the song as written, “I can see clearly now the rain is gone.” But, 2019 is now “in the books.” Lots of business are checking their numbers twice to make sure…
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