July 31, 2019
What’s Worse Than an Owner Dependency?
The company does $15-20 million in annual sales and the owner has taken a fancy to being “one of the guys.” He thinks it’s fun.…
July 27, 2019
Do You Listen?
The workers at Vale, the Brazilian iron-ore giant, predicted the dam holding mining waste would fail. It did. Boeing workers complained there were shortcuts taken…
July 24, 2019
The Pitfalls of Absentee Ownership
Absentee ownership is a dream of many would be business owners. Imaginations run wild when thinking of having a business where all you have to…
July 10, 2019
Build a Stronger Business Foundation
I was talking with the founder of a private equity group, we got on the subject of management in the companies they’ve acquired, and he…
July 3, 2019
A Variety of Vendors is a Must
Recently I wrote about customer concentration issues and about obstacles to growth. This memo is about something often forgotten and a perfect example of it…
June 26, 2019
Are You Experienced?
Headline in the Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2019: Help Wanted: Hitting Coach. Question from (many) business sellers: Does the buyer have experience in my…
June 12, 2019
Don’t Drive (Your Business) Over the Curb
Owners travel a road every day and their road has curbs. The wider the road the better. Last month I wrote about customer concentration, a…
May 29, 2019
When Sports, Kids, and Relationships Collide
This is not about sports, but it’s based on the April 5, 2019 Wall Street Journal’s sports page, which had an article about former UCLA…
May 22, 2019
Early Retirement, Forced Retirement, What Retirement
There was a column in the Seattle Times Sunday business section a few months ago titled, “Early Retirement Can Be Hazardous.” This was a financial…
May 1, 2019
Lipstick on a Pig; Homes and Businesses
“Buyer Beware: Hollywood Special Effects Now Permeate Property Listings” is a headline in the Wall Street Journal’s March 5, 2019 edition. The gist of the…
