Post Acquisition Integration – A Review By Department
We just don’t spend enough time planning how we will integrate our acquisitions. The mindset is quite simple. The mindset for integration (excluding the complete stand alone acquisition which frankly I wonder why bother) is to consider the fact you are about to...
Why Acquisitions Fail
In my experience there are numerous reasons why acquisitions fail. The most common reasons may surprise you. All of these examples have happened to me and therefore my Playbooks have improved over time! Here are a few thoughts: First the research: Cass Business...How Far Can Sales Drop Before You Bleed?
A little classic today you can do at home! Every business has a different set of economics but every business has one common element, they all have a break-even point. First establish your Gross Margin %. That would be your sales less your variable costs = Gross...
Scaling CD Baby – Observations
Derek Sivers founded CD Baby in 1998 grew it to $48m by 2008 selling out to Disc Makers for $22m in that year. By 2005 CD Baby’s main business was doing digital delivery of music to all the digital music retailers: iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody, MSN, Yahoo!...
Why Salesforce Won’t Increase Sales
Great technology can transform the productivity of any process. Just look at what spreadsheets did for financial modeling. But you need to know how to capitalize on the technology. Spreadsheets need a process. You need to be clear on your input fields, you need to be...
Building the Perfect 2015 Budget!
A classic post from last year tweeked. For many management teams the months of October and November and represents the Budget sign off time. However they are so often badly done. Frankly they are recklessly compiled representing the classic “hope over...
10 Actions to Consider if You Can’t Attract Talent
Change the content of your web site and the platform (if necessary) to tell a simpler story. Ensure you define the market you are trying to monopolize. Bring out your values in that messaging. Candidates love a cause, a purpose. Really talented curious people want to...
Scaling Issues – Inc 500 Case Studies
Last month Kimberly Weisul at Inc Magazine published a smart article on Managing Fast Growth. Using real examples from the Inc 500 she illustrated some great scaling issues and solutions. The issues raised are so important I’ve summarized them below: Case study...
We Are Often Persuaded By Irrelevant Evidence
It is very tempting to take evidence from candidates in support of their desire to fill the vacancy. It is very tempting to believe that the impressive evidence on display clearly demonstrates their skill at doing the job. Be careful. Mitt Romney sites his...Operational Excellence For Exits
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