Tag Archives: business planning

Your Official Inflation Notice

A number of my clients have not yet reacted to the crashing of the financial world around them. They are not idiots, but San Antonio remains relatively healthy, and almost 2/3 of the companies we currently work with (about 104 … Continue reading

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3 Responses to Your Official Inflation Notice

  1. rob@flextx.com says:

    John:

    I would agree to a point – but I think business insurance is an area that will remain open to negotiation – we saw our business property premiums increase only slightly at our recent renewal. Perhaps they are not fully feeling the pressure, yet.

    Since insurers will be hurting just as badly, they want to convert coverage from their competitors, which means more aggressive pricing models – more coverage for the same amount or the same coverage for less money.

    Analogy – how do you know a bank is in trouble right now? It offers the best rates on CDs, to suck in capital now to shore up its balance sheet while pushing higher expenses down the road.

    Since any cash from a new account is better than no cash, insurers will compete on price to put money in the bank. And, of the three entities you discussed, insurers are the easiest to change, at least for property and casualty insurance.

    Health insurance is more difficult to change, and in fact, you could argue it is more of a hassle to change it instead of your bank. But, for every business there is a point where no matter how badly you want it, the health insurance premium becomes unsustainable. Looking at the trend, a lot of businesses have already reached that point.

    Unfortunately for insurers, they don’t have the direct power of the state to force you to buy.

    Thoughts?

  2. kiramatali shah says:

    . The Center for Media Research has released a study by Vertical Response that shows just where many of these ‘Main Street’ players are going with their online dollars. The big winners: e-mail and social media. With only 3.8% of small business folks NOT planning on using e-mail marketing and with social media carrying the perception of being free (which they so rudely discover it is far from free) this should make some in the banner and search crowd a little wary.
    http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com

  3. kiramatali shah says:

    very niec……………..

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The Double Bubble

After three positive days in the stock market, it is tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and forget the doom and gloom reports. There are still dynamics, however, that will take a while to work through the system. Take … Continue reading

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If This Goes On…

Today the government is announcing a trillion dollars for “asset based markets.” The government has become a vague amalgam of “Treasury and Federal Reserve officials.” The asset based markets are apparently banks, hedge funds, credit card issuers and private equity … Continue reading

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One Response to If This Goes On…

  1. Chuck Smith says:

    Good suggestion on Thomas Friedman and I thought that article was great.

    Can you give 2 or 3 quick hits on what a plan would look like. Is it financial, operational, some combination?

    Chuck

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The Overview

Two stories from last week. I was making a couple of follow up calls to prospective clients. These are business owners who have expressed an interest in our peer group and coaching process. The first was to a sign shop … Continue reading

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2 Responses to The Overview

  1. Valerie Riefenstahl says:

    Very interesting reading. Do you have an RSS feed link I can get so these come to my email?

    Valerie R

    LinkedIn Tip of the Week: You can join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn, BUT do you know the business case for WHY you should join 50 and HOW to strategically pick from the thousands of possibilities?

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  2. Allan says:

    Excellent post John. It really hits the nail on the head. Some of the owners may need to be hit in the head. The business owners that think small stay small.

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Taking a 360 degree view

This is an article I had published in the San Antonio Business Journal yesterday. http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/02/16/editorial1.html When the economy slows, small-business owners most often focus on the top revenue line as a key indicator of company health. In reality, the events … Continue reading

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