"Strategic Planning" Posts
Make No Little Plans!
By Ken DiPrima
Is a Goal Enough to Enable Change?
How are your New Year resolutions going? Have they been helpful? Have you ever achieved any of them, anytime in the past?
Why do they always seem to fade into never-never land, while life marches on?
Most of us never stay on target, long enough, to actually achieve our stated objectives. January, which is usually the coldest, darkest and dreariest month of the year in the Midwest, can also be the most depressing. Not only for the weather, but for the likely-hood of well intentioned resolutions going astray, leading people to burden themselves …
I Won’t Change, Don’t Make Me…
By Ken DiPrima
Every time, that I hear someone say, “I don’t need to change what I’m doing, even though, I’m not succeeding,” I think about the southern Illinois town of Shawneetown. You’ve heard the clichéd definition that insanity is doing the same thing, over and over, and expecting different results.
Here’s an example of how intransigence can destroy lives, communities and, literally, break the bank.
Past Success Does Not Predict Future Performance
Shawneetown, Illinois, one of the oldest towns in the state, is located on the shore of the Ohio River. Early residents established a ferry service across the river and Shawneetown …
Hostess Brands – The Sweet Taste Of Success, The Bitter Bite Of Failure
By Tom Ryan
It has been said that there are only two ways to learn from mistakes, you can learn from your own mistakes, or you can learn from the mistakes of others; and it is a lot more expensive to learn from your own mistakes…
Twinkies were once the go-to after school snack.
Most everyone is familiar with Hostess Cupcakes, Hostess Twinkies, Dolly Madison Cakes and (anyone over the age of 50, for certain!) Wonder Bread. The baking company which owned the Hostess brand, until March 2013, was Interstate Brands, when they were forced to sell the rights to these iconic products …
Creating Buy-In For Change
By 
Change can be a fear generating activity and developing buy-in may seem impossible. The more established a business, the greater the resistance to change. New ideas will bounce off a wall of “this is the way that it has always been done.”
Often there is a vested interest in maintaining the status quo by management and employees, alike.
Perhaps there were past attempts at change, which failed, so that future change is deemed hopeless. A cynical attitude can develop among employees that change is only being given lip-service (think of numerous companies that claim customer service is number one, yet …
What Lies Beneath
By GPS
Where is your company’s value lurking?
In combination with mapping the value of the entity or benchmarking, an owner must ascertain other aspects of the business that differentiate it from the pool of existing industry participants.
A professional business valuation, conducted by an objective expert, is the vehicle that identifies where a company’s underlying intangible value is lurking to help sellers increase shareholder wealth, as well as obtain a better deal price and identify strategic buyers.
In some cases, the intangible value of the business is far more valuable than the actual tangible value of the business. There are two …
Want To Grow? Think Merger
By GPS
A key consideration is why the merger is taking place rather than how a merger is taking place.
Al stood peering out his office window. His daughter had just graduated from the MBA program at a prestigious Texas university and now wanted to join him in the family business. The family business, originally formed by Al in the early 1970s, is located in the highlands of western North Carolina and manufactures quality upholstered furniture. The business had been good to Al and his family, and he was content operating the business at the status quo. Al knew his daughter had …
Dress Your Baby
By GPSAs with a child, upon the birth of a business, the owners must “dress” their business by selecting an entity structure from which to operate.
While most of us would smile at seeing a baby waddle through a park While most of us would smile when seeing a baby waddle through a park wearing only a diaper, the sight of a fully grown man wandering through the park clothed only in a diaper would result in a much different reaction. I have never witnessed such a sight, but I imagine laughter and ridicule would be the most common responses. Fortunately, …
Does Incorporation Protect My Assets?
By GPS
The most common reasons a court disregards an entity are undercapitalization, failure to maintain corporate formalities or failure to treat the corporation as separate from the shareholders.
One of the largest motivating factors for business owners to incorporate their business is preventing their personal wealth from being exposed to potential litigation involving the business operations.
Essentially, a corporation is formed to build a legal barrier between the company and the shareholder’s personal wealth, such as their home, vehicles, personal checking and savings accounts, retirement accounts, educational funds and other investments. Because a corporation is a separate legal “being” created under …
