CFO Magazine recently included an article entitled “Imperfect Futures“, describing the growing challenge of forecasting in an uncertain economy. It’s never been easy but maybe never before, this hard.
There is a valuable perspective in this article worth considering. (more…)
Disappointing sales are the number-one problem afflicting America's small businesses, and few business owners expect consumers to start spending again any time soon, according to the National Federation of Independent Business's latest monthly survey of its membership. As we know, sales declines have also forced businesses to shut down. In…
Judging from a survey by the Boston Consulting Group, your best bet is a business that knows how to cater to women. According to BCG, women today are driving $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in global consumer spending and will contribute an incremental $5 trillion in earnings over…
The North Bay Business Journal, a publication of the New York Times, is a weekly business newspaper which covers the North Bay area of San Francisco – from the Golden Gate bridge north, including the Wine Country of Sonoma and Napa counties.
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Article published -Monday, August 3, 2009
By Lary Kirchenbauer
“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” — Warren Buffett
Victory … Defeat. Won … Lost. Revenues … Expenses. These are well-understood concepts among business executives. Profits … Cash? Oops, sorry. That may be the biggest conundrum among business leaders: If I’m making all these profits, why don’t I have more cash? My company generated $500,000 in profits this year, and we have only $10,000 in cash. We can’t pay bonuses or contribute to benefit plans without cash – where did it all go? (more…)
I have written several posts lately about the value of business plans and the nature of the pitch to raise money.The MIT Sloan Management Review weighs in with a new article Why Business Plans Don't Deliver which offers some ideas about how to avoid the common pitfalls.In short, the article…
This month's issue of CFO magazine included an article, Tripped Up, about the many companies that are violating their loan covenants and offers some ideas about how to avoid those pitfalls.
On Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. PDT, we are hosting a FREE Live Webcast for CEO's and business leaders in the middle market.I believe middle market businesses need to do 2 things immediately:Evade the distractions of contradictory economic…
Wow! According to a NY Times report, a recent study at the University of Maryland found that business plans really don't matter! Their study found that VC's pay little attention to the business plan and rely upon their instincts, networks and other sources to vet business plans and assess the…
The Wall St. Journal reports today on growing tension at venture-backed companies over whether to save money to reduce risk or invest to take advantage of new opportunities. You can never gain enough perspective on this issue, which represents one of the most pervasive struggles faced by growing businesses, and…