November 22, 2024
How Not to Run a Business
An old contact asked if I could meet with a friend who received an unsolicited offer for his business. They gave me a sheet of…
November 15, 2024
Marketing – A Subtle Value Driver
I lost track years ago of all the business owners who said something like, “If someone knew anything about marketing this business would grow so…
November 8, 2024
Trust Your Instincts
From my recent reading: Peggy Noonan in the WSJ wrote about recent hurricane disasters and the Johnstown flood of 1889. It seems Johnstown residents were,…
October 25, 2024
It’s Called Due Diligence for a Reason
I almost titled this, “So you want to play with the big boys (and girls)? Don’t.” Headline in the Wall Street Journal, “Fannie, Freddie to…
October 11, 2024
You Can Only Coast Downhill
It’s a nice business. They do about $20 million in sales with 10% net income margin. It’s been around a long time, has loyal employees,…
October 2, 2024
Steady Wins the Race: The Virtues of Reliable Businesses
When it comes to successful, sustainable businesses, slow and steady often wins the race. Sure, the headlines always go to the latest tech darling or…
September 7, 2024
Do You Have a Super Dependency?
The blue screen of death was the description used for the July 19 collapse of Window’s operating system. A bug in cybersecurity software from CrowdStrike…
August 28, 2024
The Importance of Competitive Advantage – Again
Three articles on the Business & Finance section of the July 3, 2024, Wall Street Journal give easy to explain reasons why having a competitive…
August 21, 2024
Nothing is Perfect
July 4 is Independence Day, a celebration of freedom. It gives us the right to (legally) do what we want. An old adage was if…
August 16, 2024
Why Work for a Small Business
There are many reasons why people choose to work for a small business. Those include: Flexibility Culture See what you’ve done (versus being .00001% of…