By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant Over the past 30 years as a family business consultant, I have come across many differences that have eroded family relationships. One involved Uncle Joe and his nephew, Bruce, as they were going through a painful succession planning process. In addition to the typical family business issues of ownership, estate and leadership, they were grappling with matters related to family […]
By Dean Bachelor, Founder and Chairman More than a decade ago, our country was showing signs of recovery from one of the deepest and most significant recessions in American history. They called it the “Great Recession.” It was deep and broad, and it affected almost every business in the country. It began as a sub-prime real estate correction and led to one of the largest-ever […]
By Steve Coleman, Partner We are feeling new life as green is budding out. Eagerness to hug our loved ones brings tears of joy after so long being isolated by social distancing. We are coming back together. Even with economic disruption and COVID-19 these past 12 months, we are learning new ways to live more humanely. Enduring the losses and stresses of the pandemic has […]
By Bill English, Partner I was talking with a colleague this morning about common threads in businesses that need to be turned around. One we briefly discussed pertained to risk and agency cost—the ability of a key employee, owner or partner to engage in activities that are personally beneficial but hurt the organization. Such benefits can range from what they buy with company dollars and […]
Business In The News is a compilation of business stories from around Minnesota and neighboring states usually not reported on by Twin Cities media. These stories provide business leads, trends and insights we hope you will find useful. Startup Lures Buyers with Catchy Products Crystaleyes Fishing, a 2013 startup created by two high school teachers working out of a Worthington, Minn., garage, has grown into […]
By Amanda Lee, Executive Consultant Regardless of our profession or industry, location, family, or any other circumstance, we have all been forced to pivot in some pretty spectacular ways recently. Pivots are always a little more exciting and easier to embrace when we choose them ourselves, but regardless of how they come about, there is always power in a pivot. Given my passion for finance […]
By Tom Hubler, Executive Consultant There may be no more debilitating force than betrayal when it occurs in a family business. Poet William Blake (1757-1827) wrote, “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” That’s because every betrayal begins with trust. It is “a violence against confidence,” an inside job. In my experience, it ranks as a top destroyer of otherwise […]
By Ron Leaf, Partner No business owner wants to have to call in a turnaround consultant. The decision to do so is usually forced, either by a secured lender seeking to get its loan repaid, or by a set of circumstances that have led to significant financial distress. So how to you ensure you avoid such a predicament? Being prepared to act before the first […]
By Randy Kroll, Partner A business owner and I were talking recently and I asked him how much time he spends with his company’s monthly financial statements. The answer was not much; he looks at only two numbers, the cash balance and the net income. He’s not alone. There can be a tendency for business owners to do a quick scan and then to jump […]
By Bill English, Partner Three times now, I’ve been asked to be the CEO of a company in which I have inherited the former CEO’s email inbox. In two of those situations, the CEOs were underperforming, and their email inboxes provided insight as to why. They demonstrated a lack of attention management, a concept I prefer over time management or email management. That to which […]