I wish had the time to write about all that’s on my mind about the SEC charges vs. Goldman. The crux of my most recent post was that institutional investors – not individual investors – have few excuses for making unsuccessful investment decisions except their own lack of due diligence or the fact that what they thought was a good decision … wasn’t.
I’m happy to see that Warren Buffett agrees as he told his rapt audience in his comments at Berkshire Hathaway’s recent annual shareholder’s meeting. Of one firm, ABN Amro, Mr. Buffett said: “It’s hard for me to get terribly sympathetic when a bank makes a dumb credit bet.”
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Someone recently told me that they’re bored by finance. “Don’t distract me with strategic finance stuff, just let me run my business the way I know how.”
“No problem,” I said, “if you’ll just answer one question. What if the way you’re running it is causing increasing strain on your financial resources, cash flow is dwindling and you’re destroying market value every year. Do you care about any of that?”
“Of course, I do, but when sales start picking up again, all of that will go away and my EBITDA will return to normal levels.”
“Really?” I said. “How do you know that?”
“That’s the way it’s always worked.”
“Have you had any problems with your banking relationship?”
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“If I am through learning, I am through.”– John Wooden
Some of you will remember – back in the day – the E. F. Hutton commercials that intoned, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” (Some of you are probably wondering – who is E.F. Hutton in the first place?) These days, the Sage of Omaha has taken their place and has the ear of many. When I finished re-reading Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter to Shareholders, it resonated with similar messages in a number of recent articles.
From a Wall Street Journal article on March 25 discussing Conoco/Phillips’ future plans: “We asked ourselves, ‘What is growth?’” an executive said. “Growth could be viewed as just growing absolute volumes, but we felt that in this challenging environment what’s really important is to grow the value of the company.”
Or this one, from an article in the April 5 edition of Business Week about the Sears/K-Mart merger: “Simplistic analyses … ignore the fact that negative or below-market returns on invested capital are as harmful to creditors as to shareholders.”
Finally, in Warren Buffett’s shareholder letter,
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“The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong questions.”– Peter Drucker
I have been working recently with a young CEO-in-waiting who is eager to move into the top spot. He recognizes, however, that his struggle to “think strategically” may be keeping him back. On a tactical level, he is very efficient, discharging the assignments given to him, working his way through his daily action list and dispatching players to their intended destinations. He’s proud of his accomplishments, as he should be, but he “can’t see the lawn for the blades of grass,” and is constantly wrestling with how to develop a strategic perspective.
Ironically, many executives bear a subconscious fear about actually getting to that strategic level. After all, it’s a little harder to figure out what to do than to simply — do. It’s more demanding to establish the flight plan than to follow it. Creating the plan also demands more personal accountability, the conundrum that befuddles so many executives in the first place.
What does it mean to “think strategically?”
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The other day we learned of renewed efforts promised by the Obama Administration to stimulate small business.
This week, they announced some plans to sweeten guaranteed loan programs. The administration is allowing a few weeks for comments before finalizing these details.
There is not a lot enthusiasm for this program among banks, however, as many of them report that the paperwork is overwhelming and that few small businesses are seeking loans. Some banks are also concerned about the “strings attached” and don’t want to be tainted by any hint of federal bailout money.
Tomorrow, the Obama Administration is scheduled to announce new initiatives to spur small business lending. Among the initiatives are increasing limits for SBA loan and make it easier for smaller banks to access TARP money.
As we know, the SBA estimates that small business creates 60-80% of new jobs. So, if job creation is number one, access to capital and business building ideas are crucial for small business.
Stay tuned for details.
Despite all the recent publicity about the SBA’s “helping hand” to small business, recent reports tell another story. Loan volume in dollars is down $3.6 billion, around 27%, and 25,000 fewer businesses have been served this year. Pretty woeful record when programs to support Wall St. and the banking industry got delivered virtually overnight … and at least HALF of this nation’s jobs are in small businesses.
Seems a lot like the stimulus package hyped earlier this year … more smoke than fire, too much bureaucracy, slow execution …. Another frayed lifeline for small businesses which are the backbone of job recovery.
Welcome to Exkalibur. I’m Lary Kirchenbauer, President of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc. Please take advantage of our resources to help you build your business ... and let me know what more we can do to serve you.
Read my latest column from the NY Times affiliate, the North Bay Business Journal.
In my former position as a tax partner at KPMG, LLP, I worked closely with Lary on the tax aspects of the plethora of business issues that arise in the life cycle of a start up company. It was unusual to see a senior finance person demonstrate a seasoned business acumen in identifying issues and opportunities, grasping the technical issues, resolving obstacles and implementing change.
Jeffrey Bergmann, V.P. Worldwide Tax, VeriSign, Inc.
