Ahhh, Family
The brother came to quarterly board meetings, but that was about it. He happily pulled his share of the profits from the family business for years and years and years. Amazingly, he became tired of having to go to board meetings and asked his siblings to just buy him out which they did. The sister [...]
Before You Get Drunk with the Concept of Greatness…
…make sure that your entire executive team wants to do that too. Without real buy in and compelling reasons for each executive, a commitment to greatness can be very fragile. After all, they were already very good. Without the shared belief that greatness is worthwhile and possible, it can seem like nothing could ever be [...]
Are You Held Hostage by Your Beliefs about Initial Public Offerings?
As the President of a midsized privately held company, you have undoubtedly been reluctant to even consider executing an IPO. Yes. The infusion of capital that results from a public offering is very compelling. But then you back off whenever you even think about all of the distraction/disruption plus the legal and accounting fees. Your [...]
It’s Too Easy to Lose Sight of One’s Mission
You see it so often. A politician crosses over to the dark side and trades influence for campaign contributions. That happens so often that many readers just stopped reading this blog and think I am naïve. “Isn’t ‘politician’ and ‘dark side’ in the same sentence automatically redundant?” Actually, I have met a few politicians in [...]
Are You Inadvertently Losing the Option for Succession From Within?
Recently, we’ve been seeing more and more leaders of midsized companies struggle with succession and feeling forced to consider affiliation with larger entities because they have gaps in their leadership and no way to do succession from within. Assessments are revealing that rigid work schedules and lack of choice in benefits may have played larger [...]
Don’t Get Pushed Around During Negotiations If You are Temporarily Short on Cash, Time or Energy
A friend of mine, Jane, owns a service firm that really takes care of its clients. She was starting to feel the strain of high labor-related costs and overdependence on a few key people, so she invested in “productizing.” You know what I mean. She protected her intellectual property (IP), turned their process into a [...]
Keep an Open Mind during M&A Negotiations
A prominent competitor approached our consulting firm saying that they were potentially interested in acquiring us. At the time, we viewed ourselves as the acquirers rather than the acquired. But we saw the situation as a learning opportunity so we met with the leaders of the larger firm. The process shined a light on holes [...]
Financial Privacy is a Benefit of Joint Ventures
If you will need a loan or line of credit, of course, you will be revealing your financial information to bankers, the EDA, the SBA, etc. But if you are launching your second or seventh venture, privacy about the details of your first company can be maintained. Recently, a few of our growth strategy clients [...]
Launching another Enterprise When You Aren’t FLUSH With “Extra” Funds
Is there any such thing as “extra funds” these days? Even the largest corporations are like squirrels hoarding their acorns after an infestation of gypsy moths that destroyed their beloved oak trees followed by several bad winters. Yes, it will involve more work and a bit more creativity, but there is money out there. Folks [...]
Don’t Give Up on Geographic Expansion if You Aren’t Feeling Wealthy
Several of our B2B clients are convinced that organic growth is THE only way to go as they expand into other locations. These companies establish research budgets to identify places with the best potential and surface people within their industry who know the target towns and want to be their employees. The corporate headquarters owns [...]
