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Buy A Business Over A Million Dollars-With No Money, Credit, Banks Or Prior Business Experience
If you’d like to be “set for life” as the owner of a multi-million dollar business -- sitting back and collecting a six-figure salary while other people (who have several years of business experience) “run” everything for you –- then this article will show you how. Listen to this: I've bought over 200 businesses in the past 40 years. In the first 25 of those years, I got owner financing. I got bank financing. I had vendor financing. I did all sorts of things. But, what happened was, I didn’t realize there was investor financing. I actually discovered this on complete accident because I needed financing to buy a business in Mexico. You see, nobody was going to finance anything in Mexico. Even today, they won’t. So, I had to go back to the investors we had and talk to them. I didn’t even realize they would do something like this. So I just sort of lucked into this. And now, for the last 25 years, we have never gone to the bank other t

Every company needs to think about its future. Developing a long term strategic plan is a key best practice within wholesale distribution. A Board of Directors has the responsibility of reviewing, approving and monitoring the success of the company’s strategic plan. The CEO is responsible for the company vision.

The executive team should create the roadmap, the strategic plan and the Board will review and approve it. Monitoring the company’s financial performance, reporting policies and accounting practices are part of this process. Compliance and risk management also become a part of the Board’s responsibilities.

So What Does the Management Team Do?

It sounds like the management team will spend most of it’s time trying to keep the Board happy. Not true. The role of the CEO and the management team is quite clear. They run the company. The company’s day-to-day business will always remain the responsibility of its employees under the direction of senior management and the CEO. The CEO is held accountable, as he should be, by the Board of Directors. Once the mana

Your Service Firm's Brand - It's Your Voice!
Branding, branding, branding. About every fifth newsletter or article I see online or in business journals has some spin on branding. How important it is. How it is a piece of intellectual property that must be leveraged and protected. How it must be invested in--this assertion (surprise) is from branding consultants who invite you to hire them to "do" you. I am so tired of hearing about how lofty and complex branding is.This is one of the sacred cows of marketing that needs to be defrocked, at least as far as service firms are concerned. Branding is important, yes. It is essential for a product firm, especially one selling consumer products, where even the way the item is packaged is part of the brand. And it is also important for a service firm, but in this case it can be greatly simplified.As a provider of intangibles, you need to pay attention to "proxies," those things that will convey the nature of your company's services to your audiences in lieu of the services themse

Family owned/privately held organizations in wholesale distribution, both small and large, with succession issues, family preparation and second and third generation leadership issues have been subjected to the evolution of leadership. These organizations are often founded by an aggressive, highly talented entrepreneur. Many of the principles of leadership employed by the founder that helped build the success that the organization enjoyed in the past is not the type of leadership that will maintain that success through generations of ownership. The formation of a board with several outside directors can help ownership cross the transitional divide that often accompanies generational succession.

A Board of Directors, elected by ownership, can provide the kind of support necessary to take the company to the next level. No man is an island and it can become very lonely at the top. Growing an organization is hard work. The president of the corporation not only has to surround himself with an excellent team but he must be able to rely on another power to challenge him and his team. The Board of Directors, in exercising its business judgment, acts as an advisor and counselor to the President and his executive team. The Board can help define and enforce standards of accountability. Accountability that is often found lacking in a privately held family run organization. A Board can challenge and help the management team execute their responsibilities to the fullest extent in the best interest of the shareholders.

A Sounding Board

A Board can have differing types of responsibilities based on its written charter and by laws. However, the typical responsibilities that a Board for a privately held corporation must live up to are generally aligned with ownership/shareholder objectives. Overseeing the way the company conducts its business to insure that it is managed effectively is one primary responsibility. Selecting, compensating and evaluating the CEO is another key responsibility. Someone has to have the power to take the CEO to the woodshed when it becomes necessary. No one person has all the answers and the board can provide the kind of advice and insight that may circumvent mistakes or validate the direction the CEO is taking the company in. Boards can be structured under a wide range of responsibilities and personalities. They can be very formal with strict procedural requirements or they can be very informal, made up of predominantly family members without the necessity of following “Roberts Rules of Order” in conducting its business. It’s the opinion of this author that every Board including the “Family Advisory” Board needs to have several outside directors elected. These outside board members are not the company accountant, the company attorney or best buddies with the owners. They are proven successful business people that can serve the Board in an uncompromising objective manner. The Board can support management in the development of organizational planning, succession and resource management. The most effective Board will be a group of professionals with a wide variety of skills. Ideally, these board members will have backgrounds that differ from the management team but compliment their skill sets.

The Board Personality

Just like management, a Board of Directors success and how supportive it is to management is directly related to their personality traits and their character. Selecting directors for board membership is critical and the process should not be taken lightly. These directors must perform the role of governance, although their primary role is one of a supporter, a coach and even mentors. They must also assume the role of questioners and monitors of company performance. As supporters they must provide guidance and advice while living up to their governance responsibility which insures the long term health of the organization. This role includes succession planning and holding the CEO and the management team accountable for the success of the organization. That is why the director’s character is so important. A character that embraces the following:

• Honesty

• Integrity

• Enthusiasm

• Open mindedness

• Competence

• Trustworthiness

• Analytical thinking

• Being a team player

• A sense of humor

Strategic Planning

So What Does the Management Team Do?

Improving Corporate Productivity by Motivating Employees: Hierarchy of Needs for Employees
The job of managers and executives is to get things done through the efforts of others. To do this successfully, effective leaders must be able to motivate their employees. Although this may seem obvious, it is often easier said than done.The theory and practice of improving productivity through employee motivation is a challenging subject, touching on several disciplines ranging from human psychology to the organizational environment and structure. This subject is usually not clearly understood and is very often poorly practiced in the workplace, but the fact remains that job performance is clearly a function of ability and motivation.An employee’s ability is dependent on a mix of education, experience, training and intelligence (or “street smarts”). Improving ability is typically a long and slow process, requiring significant investments of time and capital. Motivation, however, can be improved relatively quickly and without significant investments of time and capital.

The Board of Directors, in exercising its business judgment, acts as an advisor and counselor to the President and his executive team. The Board can help define and enforce standards of accountability. Accountability that is often found lacking in a privately held family run organization. A Board can challenge and help the management team execute their responsibilities to the fullest extent in the best interest of the shareholders.

A Sounding Board

The Board Personality

• Honesty

• Integrity

• Enthusiasm

• Open mindedness

• Competence

• Trustworthiness

• Analytical thinking

• Being a team player

• A sense of humor

Strategic Planning

So What Does the Management Team Do?

Protecting Brands From Being #1
We define brand as a representation of consumer perception — the perception and feeling toward a product or service. For example, when we think of Disney, we may think of “magic,” or when we think of Harley-Davidson, we may think of “individuality.” Each of these brands has done an exceptional job in branding themselves as something more than a “table stake” (representing the minimum investment as a cost of entry) of the category. They each represent more than a benign descriptor of the efficacy of the category as a whole, i.e. “fun” in Disney’s case or “feeling the wind in your face” in the case of Harley-Davidson.Even though Disney is one of the top vacation destination in the U.S. and Harley has become the most desired motorcycle brand, they have positioned themselves as an extension of the customers they wish to influence rather than simply relying on differentiation through a restatement of a generic category benefit. In short, through foresight and proper understanding of what

nsight that may circumvent mistakes or validate the direction the CEO is taking the company in. Boards can be structured under a wide range of responsibilities and personalities. They can be very formal with strict procedural requirements or they can be very informal, made up of predominantly family members without the necessity of following “Roberts Rules of Order” in conducting its business. It’s the opinion of this author that every Board including the “Family Advisory” Board needs to have several outside directors elected. These outside board members are not the company accountant, the company attorney or best buddies with the owners. They are proven successful business people that can serve the Board in an uncompromising objective manner. The Board can support management in the development of organizational planning, succession and resource management. The most effective Board will be a group of professionals with a wide variety of skills. Ideally, these board members will have backgrounds that differ from the management team but compliment their skill sets.

The Board Personality

• Honesty

• Integrity

• Enthusiasm

• Open mindedness

• Competence

• Trustworthiness

• Analytical thinking

• Being a team player

• A sense of humor

Strategic Planning

So What Does the Management Team Do?

Marketing Crash Course: How Response Rates Impact Campaign Costs and Profits
When it comes to advertising and marketing your products and services, common sense dictates that the higher the response rate, the better. But just knowing that is not enough. It’s important to understand exactly how each additional response can affect your marketing costs and profits. The better your understanding of the potential value of each additional response, the more effort you’ll invest into increasing your response rate over time.Increasing your response rate can increase your net profit in one of two ways. You can either:1. Maintain (or increase) your marketing investment and frequency and capitalize on your higher response rate to bring in more revenue. If the response rate for an ongoing campaign that reaches 10,000 people can be increased by 20%, let’s say from 1.5% to 1.8%, that increases your actual responses from 150 to 180. That may not sound like much, but depending on what you charge for your products and services, those extra 30 responses could add up to

rsonality

• Honesty

• Integrity

• Enthusiasm

• Open mindedness

• Competence

• Trustworthiness

• Analytical thinking

• Being a team player

• A sense of humor

Strategic Planning

So What Does the Management Team Do?

Curved Conveyor Belts
Conveyor belts, also known as belt conveyors, are endless loops of a material mostly used for transportation of objects from one location to another. Conveyor belts are generally classified into curved and straight conveyor belts.A curved conveyor belt, as the name conveys, is curved in shape. When compared with straight conveyor belts, curved conveyor belts have many advantages. Curved conveyor belts can smoothly run through any kind of curve with a very good track-holding. Most of the curved conveyor belts come with a curve shape of 45, 90, or 180 degrees. The belts in curved conveyors are generally constructed in flexible mode. Thus, curved conveyor belts are widely used for agricultural and industrial purposes, but mainly in heavy industries to carry large machineries and articles.Curved conveyor belts are broadly categorized into vertical and horizontal conveyor belts. Vertical curved conveyor belts are more popular. Mostly, vertical curved conveyor belts are held betwee

So What Does the Management Team Do?

Role of the Director

Directors are expected to demonstrate the kind of character that is beyond reproach. They must always act in the best interests of the business and fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. They must always act honestly, ethically and with integrity. They must always maintain a courteous and respectful attitude. They will act in good faith exercising sound judgment, competence and due diligence. They must maintain the confidentiality of the organization and avoid any conflict of interests. Being a director should never be taken lightly. It requires time, attention and dedication. They are expected to attend all the scheduled meetings and serve on necessary committees that are in the best interest of the organization.

Leadership Development

Differing opinions and even controversy over direct contact and relationships between board members and members of the management team still exists today. However, it is widely recognized that one of the board’s responsibilities is not only succession planning for the CEO but also succession within the ranks of executive management. It would be extremely difficult for any board member to make a contribution in the succession planning process if they had absolutely no contact with the management team at all. This doesn’t mean that any director should encourage or support the circumvention of authority but private meetings dealing with specific committee issues are not out of the ordinary.

The board may invite individual management team members to board meetings asking for a specific presentation on important issues. This can also help the board in evaluating individual management team members. Coaching, mentoring and leadership development can be a significant contribution a director can make to the future success of the company.

A Board of Directors should not perform an adversarial role but a supportive role to the CEO and the management team of the organization. The right board members can be significant part of the success of the organization. The power the board has is dependent upon its charter and it’s by laws. Remember, the board is elected by the shareholders. In a privately held corporation, this means that ownership determines the make up and type of board they want to govern the organization. Successful owners, true leaders understand the value a board of directors can provide.

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Technical analysis of VeriSign's class action lawsuit that eventually lead to a settlement. Based on several categories of misrepresentations the shareholders sued VeriSign for fraud under Section 10b(5).

Flip through the newspaper and yellow pages, surf the Internet, and pay attention to the pictures. It’s probably easy, because our eyes are naturally drawn to the pictures first. Ads and websites without graphics are boring; our eyes pass right over them. That’s why graphics are one of the most important pieces of your marketing layout.

Want to avoid blowing your repeat and referral business and put a bushel of extra cash in your pocket to boot? I thought you might. Listen up.

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