I live with the ups, the downs, the peaks, the valleys, the rewards and the occasional nightmares that impact scores of business owners. It is my passion. Some folks say it is my obsession. This is where I provide my personal thoughts and opinions on anything that might effect business owners.
Where are All Those Jobseekers? Workers: There are currently 5.1 million job openings in the US; an all time high. While the official unemployment stands at 5.5%, the U-6 unemployment rate, which includes people working as little as one hour a week for “economic reasons” … Read More » Does Investment Capital Make Sense for Your Business? In the business acquisition world, deals where a seller keeps some equity for a future round of merger or acquisition activity is generally known as getting a “second bite of the apple.” Private Equity Groups (PEG), of which some 5,000 currently operate … Read More » Regulation: Between a Rock and a Hard Place True story: A fortune 500 company implements a new wellness plan for employees. It’s designed by consultants who use the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) as a template. Workers are incentivized to get regular exercise, quit smoking and lose weight; with … Read More » We Can't Legislate Job Skills “Why can’t we find enough good people to hire?” As a consultant to business leaders, I hear this complaint with increasing frequency. From tradesmen to programmers, and from executives to scientists, we seem to be lacking a workforce with the … Read More » Investing in Your Own Business: Will It Pay Off? A few months ago a business owner asked me to evaluate an acquisition offer for his small business. It was from a larger company headquartered in a different region of the country. They had a branch operation in his city, and wanted to expand … Read More » Is Uber Really Disruptive Technology? I attended a technology awards event a few nights ago. The speaker extolled technology as the engine of change and economic development, while attendees posted pictures of each other for the Pinterest feed on the screens to either side of … Read More » How Can You Sell a Business to a Buyer Who's Broke? According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank, over half (52%) of Americans could not pay for a $400 car repair without borrowing. We can assume that most of these folks would not be legitimate prospects to purchase … Read More » The Luxury of No Resources Among the Baby Boomer business owners who are beginning to plan their retirement, there are millions who founded the companies they plan to sell. Many of these were technicians when they started. They began as employees, and then used their … Read More » "Tis an Ill Wind... …that blows nobody good.” That old sailor’s proverb, first recorded in 1543 and further popularized by Shakespeare in “Henry VI” in 1623, is as plain today in its meaning as it was almost 500 years ago. Anything that is bad … Read More » Small Business Owners are the Same Everywhere I’m returning to this space almost exactly a month from my last post. It’s the longest period that I’ve missed in the last 6 1/2 years, but I heartily recommend a refresh break to business owners, and it was worth … Read More » My Interview with Bob Morris: Part II Robert Morris is the number one reviewer of business books for Amazon.com. A few weeks ago he posted a great review of Hunting in a Farmer’s World, and asked if he could interview me. Bob’s questions were really fun, and the interview … Read More » Meetings Part IV: Action! Meetings are for the sole purpose of making decisions. Sharing information is important, but there are many far more efficient and cost effective ways to do it. As an aside, unnecessary meetings are frequently excused by “But if I send a … Read More » Meetings Part III: The Meat of the Meet We will presume that you’ve started your meeting with the proper preparation, as discussed in last week’s column. Now it is time to get into the business of the meeting, the meat of the meet as it were. This week, we will … Read More » Meetings Part II: Start Right Thank you to everyone who posted or emailed their suggestions for productive meetings. Please keep them coming! By far the most frequent suggestion was to have a written agenda. That is as good a place as any to start. Distribute … Read More » "Death by Meeting" Meetings are often a painful necessity, but they are a necessity none the less. What makes a “good” meeting? The saying “Death by meeting” is common enough. Patrick Lencioni authored a book with that title in 2004, but I remember it … Read More » |