Category Archives: Protecting the business

Everything changes from concept to release.

You can take this headline as a rule, not an exception.  You’ll recognize the truism, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy” first stated by German Field Marshall von Moltke in the 19th century. This variant of the … Continue reading

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Protecting the business | Leave a comment

Ouch! If I had only learned this before losing millions!

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses.  Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. … Continue reading

Posted in Finding your ideal niche, Growth!, Protecting the business | 2 Comments

What’s the difference between your budget and forecast?

Hold it! These are confusing terms. When does a budget become obsolete? Do we rely upon constant changes and call it a forecast? So, let’s spend a few moments defining this sometimes-confusing set of terms. This is a budget: A … Continue reading

Posted in Positioning, Protecting the business, Raising money | Leave a comment

Protect your company secrets!

Let’s create a use case. Most senior and middle level managers will understand when a subordinate comes to them to resign and begin a new business.  But all will immediately question whether the new business will compete in any way … Continue reading

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Are you at risk for tech killing your job?

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. “My job as a (newspaper publisher telephone installer, stockbroker, travel agent, retail store manager) writer, poet, commercial artist – is safe as this economy continues to grow.”  Yup. Thought so. We are … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Protecting the business | 2 Comments

What are the odds of your startup’s success?

Well, the numbers don’t lie, even if there are several sources of these statistics.  Starting a company is HARD – in so many ways.  And risky too. Let’s start with a restaurant -not our thing. But… I read several years … Continue reading

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Things going right? Control your euphoria!

One thing a senior manager can count on is that someday, something will go right, very right.  Well, after all the disappointments, pressure and outright failures, this is NEWS. So, we tend to go overboard a bit.  As a member … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Protecting the business | 1 Comment

About personal use of corporate assets

Here’s the IRS take on the issue: It is no secret that the IRS carefully looks below the surface for personal use of company assets (including cash) in its corporate income tax audits.  This insight addresses more the impact of … Continue reading

Posted in General, Hedging against downturns, Protecting the business, Surrounding yourself with talent | 1 Comment

What can we learn from the non-profit world?

In the non–profit world, the term, “time, talent and treasure” has been used so often it is almost at the edge of being trite.  It’s used in that arena to describe a volunteer’s sacrifice in support of the non–profit enterprise. … Continue reading

Posted in Depending upon others, Protecting the business | 1 Comment

Recurring revenues: Oil or glue?

Some types of businesses generate more and more recurring revenues over time, often growing to a size where recurring revenues pay all of the overhead of the company – an enviable position. The surprising recurring revenue trap There is a … Continue reading

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