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Starting with the End in Mind – webinar for business owners and buyers May 16 at 1PM (EDT) If you have the following questions, this webinar is for you! How do I strategically think about my end game? In other words, how do I figure out what game I am playing? What makes a business…
The Red Sea disruption forcing ships to go around Africa creates a new Supply Chain reality. It can lead to late deliveries of inventory resulting in disruptions affecting business globally. One of the noticeable issues is the Reuters report, “Tesla, Volvo Car in Europe Pause Output of Certain Car’s models.” Besides the production disruptions, late…
THE CRITICAL QUESTION FOR BUSINESS OWNERS: DEFINING SUCCESS – WHY ARE YOU ON THIS ROAD? By Ladd Hirsch on April 15, 2024 “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” — From Alice’s conversation with Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland For business owners intently focused on growing their…
It’s midnight. Your recycling bin is overflowing with rejected resumes. Your eyes can barely focus on the letters in front of you — and you have this uneasy feeling that you are about to invest in another candidate who just isn’t going to work out. This has been a vicious cycle over the past several…
“I should demote myself!” joked the head of sales. “It looks like I am better at selling than at managing a sales team.” We were looking at his team’s individual sales numbers. He was selling more when he was a regular salesperson than his whole team today. We too often promote the wrong person into…
Effective March 12, 2024, New York Labor Law prohibits employers from requiring employees and job applicants to provide information about their personal accounts. If you think this sounds familiar, you are right. This idea has been in place in various states for years; now New York is joining in! Under the new legislation, “personal accounts”…
Unlocking Retirement Savings to Fund a New Business Many people have dreams of starting a business but lack the capital or funding needed to launch their new business ideas. It’s true: It costs money to start a business. The US Small Business Administration (SBA) says that how to fund a business is one of the…
In order for your family business to outlive its founder, careful succession planning is a must. That means finding the most frictionless way to pass both leadership and ownership from one generation to the next. While some family business dynamics lend themselves to smooth and simple succession, others hit bumps in the road. One of…
Accurate Asset Assessment for Fair Distribution: When planning an estate, one of the primary concerns is ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of assets among beneficiaries. A professional valuation provides an accurate and unbiased assessment of the true value of all assets, including real estate, investments, businesses, and personal property. This is essential to avoid disputes…
Onboarding isn’t just about shaking hands on day one or drowning your new hires in an ocean of paperwork and procedural manuals. Take it from us, onboarding is about igniting the spark from the moment your new team members step through the door. In this blog, we correct 4 common misconceptions about team member onboarding to…
The other day, a marketing expert asked me for “a hook” to explain what I do. I replied, “I sell smaller companies to larger companies, I am an M&A Advisor”. The truth is that I often say no to a lot of owners who ask me to sell their business, or hear no from a…
Attention all Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan borrowers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is combing through PPP loan records to identify borrowers who committed fraud related to the program, and they are not alone. The U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) is auditing all PPP loans of $2 million or more, and the Department of…
Business owners, advisors, and buyers frequently have widely different impressions of value when it comes to a business. The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Survey canvasses intermediaries who sell privately held Main Street and mid-market companies. One question is about the obstacles that prevented the sale of a business. The number one response is “Owners’ unreasonable…
Whistleblowers can blow their whistles a little louder tonight. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling, Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, decided that an employee may prove a whistleblower retaliation claim without showing that their employer acted with retaliatory intent. As a result, it is now easier for employees to succeed on whistleblower retaliation claims under the…
In the competitive world of business, marketing plays a pivotal role to drive revenue generation, brand equity, and overall business valuation. Companies that view branding and advertising as a growth strategy are twice as likely to see revenue growth of 5% or more than those that don’t (source: “Put Marketing at the Core of Your…
Unleashing the Power of Collaboration Today, we’re diving deep into a powerful quote by Jim Stovall that packs a serious punch: “You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.” Are you ready for…
Dealing with COVID fatigue unites business owners. If that sounds strange to you, let me make my case. I’m not doing this to whine, but I want business owners who don’t have an existing support structure to know that they aren’t alone. I facilitate several peer groups of business owners. For decades, we’ve met monthly…
Do You Need a Virtual CFO? Every company must find an efficient way of handling accounting and bookkeeping functions. For many businesses, an outsourced accounting solution makes good business sense and provides much needed support with financial management. Some businesses and high net worth individuals will want to take their financial operations to another level…
On January 9, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a six-factor test for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This new rule takes effect on March 11, 2024. Classifying workers as independent contractors or employees is extremely important—independent contractors do not receive…
ERTC Enforcement and Withdrawing a Claim The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a tax incentive for businesses to keep employees on their payroll. To qualify, a business must have suffered financially or experienced operational disruptions because of COVID restrictions. Even though it has since expired, it’s still possible for…
Homogeneity among your leadership team is like a decadent creamy chocolate cake: it feels tempting, but when you resist it, you get in much better shape. Increasing diversity on your leadership team leads to better decisions – and better financial results. However we have a natural tendency to surround ourselves with people similar to us:…
Purpose after the sale is one of the biggest challenges for an exiting owner. Purpose – “Having as one’s intention or objective.” Many exit planning advisors discuss the three legs of the exit planning stool – business readiness, financial readiness and personal readiness. In our previous two articles, we focused on two of the “big…
Introduction Running a small business is like navigating through different seasons – there are sunny days full of triumph, and then there are stormy days that test our resilience. One key factor that can make a world of difference in weathering any storm is having the right team members by your side. Just like bad…
On November 22, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York signed into law the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” aimed at safeguarding the rights of freelance workers. This bill closely aligns with the existing law of the same name in New York City, which came into effect in May 2017. Key Provisions of the Freelance Isn’t…
At our February Cross-Chapter Power Networking session, we introduced a new format aptly named “Ask the Cross-Chapter Experts”. Our facilitator, XPX Nashville member, Lisa Kaufman, a sell-side M&A advisor to family-owned businesses called on 5 members (herself included) to present their “Current Client/Deal Challenge” to the group. Fellow members then became the “experts” providing input and possible resolutions for one of…