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Business Planning
Get the Most out of Your Marketing Team, Agency or Consultant
Here’s How to Optimize Your Marketing Team One of the most important jobs for any leader is to marshal their resources to optimize performance. Whether those resources include budgets, employees, outside consultants or even your own time – knowing how to get the most out of them can be a challenge. Given that different people […]
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Surviving a Business Divorce
Conflicts between business partners are nearly inevitable. Thankfully, there are a number of ways for parties to negotiate up-front. Precautionary agreements give you space to resolve issues more easily or, at least, provide a picture of what the result will be when resolution is not possible.
The Importance of Succession Planning for a Thriving Family Business
Succession Planning Means Looking Beyond the Second Generation Most family businesses don’t make it beyond the second generation. Even fewer reach the third generation of ownership. Why is that? As much as one generation would like to hand the business off to a next-generation family member, the following critical questions are often not adequately considered: […]
Understanding “Reasonable Cybersecurity Measures” to Safeguard Data
Reasonable Cybersecurity Measures for Protection After collecting personal information, businesses must take “reasonable measures” to safeguard it. Some states, such as Florida and Alabama, have this standard (or a similar one) in their cybersecurity statutes. On the federal level, the Federal Trade Commission has brought numerous enforcement actions against companies for engaging in “unfair” cybersecurity […]
Business Valuation Tax Act of 2017: Comparability and Calculation
What is the Business Valuation Tax Act of 2017 Anyway? The Business Valuation Tax Act of 2017 (Tax Act) has introduced changes to the financial and regulatory landscape that specifically affect business valuation in the context of C-Corporations. This article provides a general overview of commonly used valuation methodologies and highlights a few key effects […]
Overcoming Common Business to Business Sales and Marketing Challenges
Show Business to Business Sales and Marketing Who’s Boss Businesses that focus on selling products and services to other businesses are very similar to those that sell to consumers. The differences between the two lie in their sales and marketing activities. In business to business sales and marketing, lead generation, targeting buyers, and the sales […]
The Real and Rising Threat of Cybercrime for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
For the Threat of Cybercrime, Get a Cyber Liability Policy If cybercrime were a nation state, it would be the world’s 13th-largest by GDP, just ahead of Australia. The threat of cybercrime can take many forms – from hijacking sensitive robotics to holding consumer data at ransom – and the impact to your operation (and […]
Small Businesses Are Key to Driving Economic Recovery
Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of a similar article published in March of 2015. To view the original, click here. Creative Capital is Driving Economic Recovery As small business owners get creative in raising capital, the economy is beginning to show steady improvement. It’s no secret that credit is a long-standing problem for […]
Guidelines to Improve Banking Relationships (What Does Edgar Allan Poe Have to Do With It?)
Good Character and Cash Flow Improve Banking Relationships Typically, there is significant triage to be done before determining if you can improve banking relationships. Most often, the problems come back to cash flow and misunderstanding what banks do. While Boards do not manage bank relationships directly, they are responsible for the firm’s capital structure, and […]
Overcoming the Biggest Consumer Sales and Marketing Challenges
Consumer Sales and Marketing Challenges That May Challenge You Too Consumer-focused businesses have three key challenges: Understanding what the customer/market wants Targeting the right segments Differentiating what they offer from what their competitors offer In all my years creating marketing plans, these challenges continue to pop up the most frequently. And the product, service, size […]
