Is the glass half full or half empty? How you answer depends on your perspective. For someone who has always received a full glass and now is being told this is all the water available, this picture can be a perilous omen. On the other hand, someone lost in the desert might describe it as salvation.
Perspective is critical when making decisions within your company. A distorted perspective can lead to the wrong decision, sometimes with disastrous consequences. (more…)
I was perplexed at the outcome of a recent meeting with a prospective client. It was with a business owner referred to me from a current client. This owner clearly was motivated to grow his business but was “stuck in a rut”. In discussing the terms of engagement, he recognized the value and cost-benefit of my services. It was a positive meeting resulting in scheduling our first regular client meeting.
Two days later the owner emailed to cancel this next meeting stating he was “just too busy to take the time.” Needless to say, I was surprised. Could he have found and hired another consultant? Or was my fee to steep? My current client who referred this person assured me the owner could afford the fee and had not hired someone else. My client said this had become a pattern for this owner; identifying potential solutions but never carrying through on them.
This got me thinking (more…)
When I think of the need for planning, I’m reminded of the husband who volunteered to plan and prepare Thanksgiving dinner for his wife’s extended family. Following his well-meaning plan, he started preparations the evening before including taking the turkey out of the freezer. It was still frozen the next morning when he went to start cooking it. Needless to say, his wife was not happy. But at least his plan included ample appetizers, side dishes and desserts. Imagine what it would have been like had there been no plan!
Businesses are a lot like Thanksgiving dinner. A poorly thought out plan will result in crisis. Having no plan leads to (more…)
Frustration is a common sentiment I hear from owners first seeking my advice. Their frustration stems from not having been able to achieve goals despite their unwavering efforts. Sometimes the owner had a plan but was not able to deploy it effectively. Or, the owner was always finding “great ideas” but ended up barraging his staff with a never ending list of “great ideas” not understanding why nothing got done. The other end of the extreme is the replication trap of being stuck in an endless do-loop, too busy to even consider alternative plans. These owners come to me for a fresh perspective; a different way of looking at their operations.
I was reminded of the benefits offered by a fresh perspective from an unexpected source: A public school district. (more…)
I recently broke a promise I made to my wife. I promised I would not bring up politics at our family’s Thanksgiving Day table. Well the conversation turned to college football and started to get heated. I quickly changed the topic and asked what everyone thought of our presidential candidate choices. The tone of the conversation immediately calmed down.
It is amazing which conversation topics turn heated and which are seemingly too uncomfortable to bring up. But some conversations need to be had (more…)
A large portion of my career has been spent analyzing numbers. I have been blessed (or, some would say, cursed) with an ability to see stories in numbers. Once, an intern handed me an incredibly dry report which only reported the numbers from a market research study. I told her to go back and find the story in those numbers. The report she came back with (and with a little guidance) laid out a road map product management needed to create a successful marketing campaign.
Owners need to know their numbers and be able to find the story in those numbers. (more…)
I was surprised recently when someone mentioned they saw my role in the succession planning process as duplicative to that of attorneys. Using client examples, I provided a clearer understanding of how my role as a management consultant and family business advisor differed from and, in fact, eased the process for attorneys. Still, this prompted me to realize a review of the roles different professionals play in succession planning could benefit owners who have not yet begun their planning process.
To that end, below are listed a few of the key steps in the succession planning process along with the professionals most likely to assist in that step. (more…)
Once, when working with a family business client, I recommended they hire an experienced CFO. Since there was no one in the family who fit this bill, the founder said to me: “You want someone from outside the family to see the books?” (Never mind they had already shared financials with me.) Imagine what he said when I suggested they recruit independent, non-family members for a Board of Advisors.
In my last blog I pointed out the roles and benefits of an advisory board. Here I offer advice on how to choose members for that board. (more…)
Much has been written on the benefits of including independent voices on boards for closely-held and family businesses. So why do I and other advisors get so much resistance when recommending a Board of Advisors to our clients? While I may not agree, I understand resistance to adding independent, voting members to a board of directors. But a Board of Advisors is just that: A group of trusted advisors without a vote in the formal decision making process.
This resistance can often be attributed to a lack of understanding of the Board of Advisors’ role and benefits. To clarify these issues, (more…)
A recent Wall Street Journal article focuses on a potential positive in what is otherwise described as “grim statistics” for family businesses. The statistics: Only 30% of family businesses survive into the second generation; 11% survive into the third generation and 3% beyond that. Use of words like “grim” and “only” connote a terrible fate for the families of businesses that do not “survive”. However, selling the business can be the best path for many families. And, as noted in the WSJ article, now is a good time for families to consider selling. (more…)