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4 Digital Marketing Tips for Every Business
How can you take advantage of the sales and marketing opportunities offered by today's digital technologies to grow your business? If you don't have a professional managing your digital marketing effort already, here are four basic tips to get you started:
Make your website mobile-friendly and add quality content. Your website is your "front door," and must be friendly, engaging,…Read More -
The Increasing Importance of Adaptability in Business
Businesses behave a lot like living organisms -- they require fuel (cash); they have inter-dependent organs (departments and teams), and they have unique personalities (culture). Just like all living organisms, businesses evolve, they adapt to survive. Some do so effectively, others, not so much. (This post is Part One of a two-part series about "The Power of Adaptability." My next…Read More -
How Can You Take Customer Service to the Next Level?
Just about every business intends to provide world-class customer service. And though many claim their customer service is exceptional, very few can back up that assertion. After all, once a company has established a baseline level of success in interacting with customers, it's not easy to get to that next level of truly great service. But, fear not, there are…Read More -
New Software is Live — Great! But Where are My Reports?
Implementing software can be a costly process, between the expense of the software and the time and labor it takes to complete the process. But, I urge you to invest time and resources in the reporting features that you'll need. After all, the last thing you want to say to anyone in the company is, "we used to be able…Read More -
3 Hot Spots to Look for your Successor
Picking someone to lead your company after you step down is probably among the hardest aspects of retiring (or otherwise moving on). Sure, there are some business owners who have a ready-made successor waiting in the wings at a moment's notice. But many have a few viable candidates to consider -- others have too few.
When looking for a successor,…Read More -
Making the Most of Your Capital Investments
An important part of creating value in a business is ensuring that the money invested in it is generating strong returns. This discussion focuses on capital investments made in property, plant, and equipment, and best practice steps you can take to help get improved returns on them. To illustrate, we share a couple of mini case-studies at the end.
A…Read More -
Do Not Let Benefit Issues Derail a Transaction
If your company is planning a merger or acquisition, don't overlook an important factor — the existing benefit programs and liabilities of all parties.
The decision to sell a company or expand operations through a merger or acquisition is generally guided by business considerations. Consequently, issues involving employee benefits plans are sometimes overlooked until well after the deal negotiations are…Read More -
Creating Value Through Better Planning and Execution-Final in a Three-Part Series
Part C: Make Better Decisions Using Analysis and a Structured Approach
Running a business requires you to make decisions every day. Some are simple and straightforward, but others are of major importance with significant impact. Of course, you want to make the best choices you can, since these will affect your company’s performance and, therefore, value. You’ll almost never have…Read More -
Business Transformation — Building Efficiency through Control Rationalization, Optimization, and Redesign
Companies of all sizes have begun to understand the value of building control and reporting systems focused on addressing compliance and risk rather than just complying with regulations. The mindset is shifting to a more proactive rather than reactive approach, but companies still struggle to create optimal control environments that balance cost with risk. This suboptimal performance hampers efficiency and…Read More -
Thriving Through Disruption
A band of friends grows up together and goes to work in a niche manufacturing company owned by one of their fathers and serving the private aircraft industry, a risk-averse and highly loyal business segment. Approaching retirement, the father sells a majority interest to a private equity firm, which levers up the balance sheet to normal multiples for such an…Read More -
Creating Value through Better Planning and Execution-Three-Part Series
Part B: Developing Reporting that Helps You Increase Company Performance
Generating clear reporting, and setting up processes to review and act on this reporting, enables you to better control your business. By monitoring performance against expectations you can quickly identify where any changes need to be made (whether to correct a problem or capitalize on an opportunity). This process also…Read More -
Creating Value through Better Planning and Execution – Three-Part Series
Part A: Five Steps to Creating an Effective Budget
Developing and managing to a budget is a cornerstone of maximizing your business’ performance. The positive impact of a budget begins even before the first numbers are put down on paper, as management begins the process by discussing the goals and vision for the company, and aligns on what the strategies…Read More