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How to Attract Business Support for Your Nonprofit by Greg Wingfield
I recently read a blog post by Latasha Doyle of GuideStar that interested me greatly. The topic was how to best build a partnership with a for-profit entity. She wrote about four specific opportunities for engagement: sales, social responsibility, employee satisfaction, and marketing. Below is a recap of the article with a few thoughts of my own added in for…Read More -
Be Vigilant About Your Business Credit Score
Most people know they’ll face financial difficulties with a subpar personal credit score. Your business credit score is important for the same reason. Various reporting agencies use proprietary algorithms along with other data associated with your employer identification number to calculate this score. Important factors include your bill-payment history, annual revenues and entity choice. Be sure to build a strong…Read More -
The 3 Essential Qualities of An Effective Sales Leader
Over the course of the past 25 years, I have had the opportunity to work alongside, coach and develop dozens of sales leaders across a wide array of industries and business challenges. Some of those leaders achieved outstanding results despite many personal flaws, while others have continuously struggled despite possessing some of the stronger “leadership” personality traits I have witnessed.…Read More -
How to Develop Your Greatest Asset
So many factors go into making a company successful, but few are more important than developing the right talent internally. It’s interesting that this factor is often overlooked — or at a minimum — underappreciated. Even if you have a team of seasoned leaders, there are significant benefits to continually training, coaching, motivating, and mentoring employees who can be the…Read More -
Is Your Business Prepared With A Turnaround Strategy?
To prepare for the worst, every business owner should outline a general business turnaround strategy. It should begin with a keen awareness of warning signs such as poor key performance indicators and a rapid increase in debt and employee turnover. The turnaround will likely involve five steps: 1) assessment of the decline by external advisors, 2) re-evaluation of management and…Read More -
M&A Deal is Done, Now What? Time to Integrate the Sales Force
So, you’ve closed on an M&A deal and you’re going to make this new asset part of your existing organization. Diligence revealed that this addition to your business will support your strategic goals and the integrated company will produce value beyond the acquisition cost. Now what? Presumably you’ve read the abundance of literature reporting M&A failure rates between 70% and…Read More -
Financial Statements Tell Your Business’ Story, Inside and Out
As a business evolves, it will encounter the need to build credibility with outside parties, such as investors and lenders, and to make well-informed strategic decisions. In short, financial statements are a necessity. Typical components are an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. Also frequently included: a retained earnings/equity statement and a notes section. Financial statements…Read More -
3 Ways to Be a Better Community Partner
Many business leaders I speak with want their organizations to become more civic minded. We also know that engaging employees in the process can be a be win-win for everyone; I discussed this in my article “Magic 8 Ball Says YES To Volunteerism and Employee Engagement.” If your business longs to get more involved in the community, here are…Read More -
How to Select a CPA
Smart business owners know that a good CPA is a valued business partnership. Very often we are asked “How do I select a CPA?” The basic answer comes in three steps. 1) Define your company’s requirements for a CPA firm. 2) Interview and conduct due diligence on several firms. 3) Combine the results of your due diligence with your gut…Read More -
Are your Employees Ignoring their 401(k)s?
For many businesses, offering employees a 401(k) plan is no longer an option — it’s a competitive necessity. But employees often grow so accustomed to having a 401(k) that they don’t pay much attention to it. It’s in your best interest as a business owner to buck this trend. Keeping your…Read More -
Your Strategic Plans Aren’t Strategic, Or Even Plans
I recently read an article in Harvard Business Review by Graham Kenny entitled, “Your Strategic Plans Probably Aren’t Strategic, or Even Plans.” While not a new article or concept, the content is to the point and something all management teams should read, understand and embrace. It even struck close to home as my own organization tends to call our annual…Read More