November 20, 2024
How Not to Run a Business
An old contact asked if I could meet with a friend who received an unsolicited offer for his business. They gave me a sheet of…
November 13, 2024
Marketing – A Subtle Value Driver
I lost track years ago of all the business owners who said something like, “If someone knew anything about marketing this business would grow so…
November 6, 2024
Build a Team – Increase Value
A business owner is like the quarterback of a football team (not counting the coaches). He leads the offense, which directly affects the defense (because…
October 23, 2024
Don’t Brag – Find the Issue
We had meetings last week with a couple prospective business owner clients. One said it more directly than the other on why he liked us.…
October 16, 2024
Bad PR
I’m not a PR person (public relations) and still can tell you the Seattle Mariners blew it when they fired their manager. He found out…
October 2, 2024
Innovation = Increased Value
Over the weekend I tested three mid-price-range LED projectors as we plan to take 30-40 to Antigua in February for their primary schools. They all…
September 18, 2024
You Can Only Coast Downhill
It’s a nice business. They do about $20 million in sales with 10% net income margin. It’s been around a long time, has loyal employees,…
September 11, 2024
They’re Not Paying Attention
We recently attended a NW Family Business Advisors meeting and heard Jasmine Donovan, the CEO of Dick’s Drive-in Restaurants. I came dressed for the event,…
August 30, 2024
Deliver What Customers Want
Auto manufacturers are shifting. They’ve realized car buyers want hybrids and plug-in hybrids more than EVs (despite the government pushing EVs). They’re changing their production…
August 28, 2024
Do You Have a Super Dependency?
The blue screen of death was the description used for the July 19 collapse of Window’s operating system. A bug in cybersecurity software from CrowdStrike…
