Platinum Group, a management consulting firm that advises business owners, private equity funds and family offices, announces that two new Executive Consultants have joined the firm: Greg Backlund brings 35 years of experience to Platinum in the areas of manufacturing operations, process improvement and Lean manufacturing. Jennifer Strom helps business owners develop human resources (HR) strategies in the areas of talent, compliance, payroll technology and employee engagement.
Read the articles from our 2019 newsletters.
A Donation to Banyan Community Many of you and your families give of your time, talents and treasures throughout the year to worthy nonprofit organizations that make a difference in our community. To honor this commitment, Platinum Group is making a donation this holiday to Banyan Community on behalf of its clients, trusted advisors and friends. Platinum’s Tom Hubler is chairman of the board of […]
How Platinum Group helped a nonprofit develop a healthy board of directors
Everyone talks about culture. Everyone believes that a good culture is necessary to success in business. Yet, our understanding of what it takes to build a great culture is amazingly immature because, in part, we don’t know how to define what culture is. Consider these definitions that a quick Google search will give you:
“In other words culture can be defined as an evolving set of collective beliefs, values and attitudes. Culture is a key component in business and has an impact on the strategic direction of business.
“How is my company performing and what, if anything, should I be doing to keep on track?”
That’s a common question owners should ask themselves daily. Just like going on a trip, they know their desired destination — sustainable profitability and working capital sufficiency. Yet without a series of early warning indicators, they begin to lose altitude and can be headed for a crash before they have a chance to make a course correction and save themselves.
As a board member of Banyan Community, Platinum Group’s Tom Hubler is inviting friends, clients and trusted advisors to support the effort to transform lives in the Phillips Neighborhood by attending the Annual Banyan Banquet on October 27. The goal is close to Tom’s heart: developing youth, strengthening families and creating community.
What are the elements of great owners (and great leaders)? According to Platinum Group’s Bill English, great leaders understand that their thoughts and ideas are not infallible and that they have room to grow – and need to grow if their business is going to get to the next level. They grow by letting others challenge the following areas: their job performance, their logic in reaching conclusions, their natural isolation and their tendency to blame others for their company’s problems.
Family members in family businesses suing each other is not uncommon. Just in the last few months, I’ve run across several situations in which family members sue each other for various reasons.
For example, in Newton, PA, Nina Kaplan was successfully sued by her father and is now required to pay $2.13 million because of poor business results and suspicions about embezzlement. Her business was forced to close. A sign on the door read, in part, “My own father suing me. There are no words for this.”
Join us on Wednesday, November 13th at Finnegan’s Brewery in Minneapolis, MN for the 2019 Best Practices Conference. Our topic is “Best Practices for Recession-Proofing Your Business”. If you’d like to attend as our guest, please contact Bill English (Bill.English@thePlatinumGrp.com).