Building a Great Culture in Your Business

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. 

Best Practices to Proactively Track Business Performance

“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.

Support the Transformation of Lives in the Phillips Neighborhood

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.

When the Owner has a Distorted View of Reality

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.

Justice is Never Enough

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.”

Best Practices to Recession-Proof Your Business

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).

Cabins and Family Conflict

Did you know that cabins have the potential to cause more family disputes and litigation than family businesses? Platinum’s Bill English, a Minnesota psychologist, offers insights into the impact of sibling rivalry between the family cabin and the family business: “If you own a family business and are making plans on how to pass your business along to your kids, you’re headed in the right direction.

Transition Forum Speaker Featured in Local Magazine

Business owners have been telling their transition stories at Platinum’s Owner Transition Forum for more than 10 years. Now, one of those stories has been featured in Edina Magazine about business owner Berrie Lounsberry, who has twice been a Forum speaker. “Berrie and her daughter Molly are great role models for women in business,” says Platinum’s Steve Coleman, who is one of the Owner Transition […]

Amanda Lee Brings HR and Interim CFO Skills to Platinum

Platinum Group is pleased to announce that Amanda Lee has joined the firm as a consultant. Amanda has nearly 20 years of experience in helping organizations to run more smoothly and financially sound, as well as taking care of their employees. She has been responsible for HR, finance, accounting, data analysis and reporting, IT, and retail operations of the largest multi-site church in the five-state […]