Articles
Business Succession: What Happens To Your Business if Something Happens to You?
There is a saying that some people live by – the only two things in life that are certain are death and taxes. Both apply to business. Most business owners have the tax side of that equation more than covered, but what about the other part? Let me ask you, if something were to happen to you today, what would happen to your business tomorrow? Most of us don't want to think about it. We don't like to consider our mortality and because of this, we try as hard as possible to avoid thinking about what would happen if we [...]
A Better Way to Plan Business Continuation & Exit Planning
When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people. ~ Chinese Proverb Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning. ~ Thomas Edison Good plans shape good decisions. ~ Anonymous With an increasing number of owners of small and family owned businesses reaching retirement age, business continuation and exit planning are critical issues for owners, employees, customers and communities. We personally know of at least 400 good paying, stable jobs at risk in local businesses if the owners should retire, die or become disabled. All [...]
Strategic Planning in Turbulent Times
"My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things." – Bill Gates "We wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour." – Philip Knight I'm able to bring business expertise but, more importantly, operating experience. The people here at Google are young. Every day there are lots of new challenges. I keep things focused. The speech I give every day is: "This is what we do. Is [...]
If People Aren’t Your Most Important Assett, What is?
In a recent study of over 1600 CEOs Vistage asked the question, "What is going to be your biggest priority to advance your business over the next three years?" The top three results ? Innovation in new products or services 35% Quality employees 27% Strong leadership 21% Given that the number one issue is innovation, which is highly dependent on people, the results are pretty clear. These CEOs clearly understand that the right people doing the right things and being led by effective leaders is critical to their success. Other findings of interest to those of us highly engaged in [...]
Another Family Business Protected from Poor Succession Planning
Jerry was a 20 year old young man who was the son of a very successful small business person who had founded and run a well-regarded construction company for over 30 years. Jerry had a core belief that he was destined to take over the business when his dad retired. This is a common expectation in these family-owned businesses and one that is fraught with problems. Jerry did not want to own/operate the business, and upon careful assessment, including business based personality profiles and in depth interviewing, it was clear he did not have the aptitude nor interest to do [...]
Performance Appraisals Often Hurt Performance
I was very pleased to have a CEO client tell me he was considering tossing out their whole performance appraisal system. They hired a firm to help them build it several years ago, modified it for all departments, trained all managers and supervisors in using it and felt really good about it. But it doesn't work! As with most of these systems, it was coupled with raises, creates havoc, fear and resistance and is far too complex. Tweaking it won't work! What will work is making sure the right employees are in the right spots, organizational goals are clear and [...]