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Sign Up Now for the R&D Tax Credit Webinar on Nov 15th
The federal and Virginia R&D tax credits are often overlooked or underutilized by eligible companies. Your company should make sure it is gaining full benefit of these tax laws to help fund your operations and improve your bottom line. The federal credit has been made permanent, eliminating a maddening uncertainty that kept many companies from bothering with it. Plus,…Read More -
Keeping Your Head Above Water in Today’s M&A Process
A growing trend among leading private equity groups is to provide supplemental resources to the management teams of their portfolio companies that are being prepped for sale. And sponsors are looking to financial consulting firms to serve this emerging need.
As sell-side M&A processes have evolved over recent years to become highly competitive, hyper-accelerated, and heavily data-reliant, the pressures…Read More -
The Price of Free for Startups
Founders of startups face countless obstacles every day. Many of those challenges, if not all of them, have to do with money and not having enough of it. Naturally, founders bootstrap and find cheap or free ways to build their products, gain customers, and keep their team engaged. Managing this process of making something out of nothing is what good…Read More -
Scratching Up Seed Money
Finding just the right financing to start or expand your company is a complex process that involves uncovering sources of money, using the proper means and evaluating whether the timing is good. If the economy is slow, it's more difficult to raise cash -- no matter how clever a business plan you have.
There are several ways to initially fill…Read More -
Is Your Company a Talent Magnet?
In 2010 when we launched The Fahrenheit Group, acquiring talent was considerably different than it is today. The global economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 had created a large, available candidate pool, and the unemployment rate peaked around 10% in October of 2010. So, there were plenty of talented people available; the challenge was selecting the most capable and best…Read More -
Finding and Hiring the Right Candidates In Today’s Fast Paced Market
Finding the right employee to fill a job opening can be a significant challenge for employers. Many employers are not prepared for the fast pace that is required in today’s market to land the right hire. The mantra of “Hire Slowly and Fire Quickly” still applies, but when you are speaking with candidates for a potential role with your company…Read More -
Leadership Alignment: THE critical factor for closely held businesses
Over the past 6 months, I have witnessed several closely-held businesses struggle with misalignment among the partners and seniors leaders. Working to implement business strategy without alignment is like trying to drive a car without the steering wheel. Here are three recent factors that I've observed that can create misalignment:
Timing & Partner Age -- When do you want to…Read More -
M&A 101: Where to Start
If your company has decided the best way to grow is to expand your ownership boundaries, you are probably considering either a merger or an acquisition.
Both are convenient, quick ways to grow, and they both have advantages and disadvantages. But the legalities and tax outcomes of these two transactions are very different.
First, here are the basic differences between…Read More -
“Small” Data, Big Insights–Finding Value in the Data you have at your Fingertips
You have probably heard a good bit of chatter about Big Data and how it is transforming the world of business. This is absolutely true for large businesses that fit a certain profile – businesses with high transaction volumes, those in industries with established data publication processes, those who have advanced data collection systems already in place, etc. However, for…Read More -
How to Turn Employees into Idea Machines
Think that creativity in business is limited to what goes on in the advertising or marketing departments? Think again. Innovation and fresh ideas are needed in all parts of a company to stay ahead of the competition. Without creativity, you risk having a stagnant organization and a bored workforce. Innovation and fresh ideas are needed in all parts of a company…Read More -
Trademark Due Diligence – A Mark of the Future
When it comes to structuring a successful M&A transaction, existing trademarks play an important role for both parties involved. Valuing trademarks and creating a strategic vision for them can lead to success down the line. Increasingly, intellectual assets can be worth more than fixed assets when it comes to a company's value.
Consequently, it is no surprise that valuing intellectual…Read More -
Career Pathing as a Retention Tool
Most employees are driven by fresh opportunities and the chance to grow. Make sure that a valued employee never tells you during an exit interview: "I'm leaving the company to advance my career and take on new challenges." Developing career paths in your organization can help stem turnover and benefit your company in several ways.
Most employees are driven by…Read More