Dennis's Articles & Media
My Ride Home
This is a recap of my bike’s return to its birthplace on The South Central Ride Home in the second half of August, 2003 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson. The plan was to ride to Baton Rouge, LA with two of my new friends from the Rock River Chapter Northern Illinois H.O.G club,…
Read More >Exit Planning team versus Exit Success Team(TM)
For a business owner, giving consideration to the largest financial transaction and one of the most significant personal decisions of his or her life – i.e. the exit from their business – owners need to surround themselves with people who provide insights and assistance. The advisory team is a critical part of an owner’s planning…
Read More >Boots First Business Exit Plans
One of the key drivers in the emerging world of business owner exit planning is the realization that there are many options for an owner to exit their business. Typically the problem isn’t having an option; it is knowing which of these options is best for you and which will produce the optimal result for…
Read More >Coke Zero Tastes Like Coke? Give Me a Break!
One would note that most of my blog entries are heartfelt white papers on deep business issues from my 47 years’ experience as a Big Four CPA, management accountant, CFO of a NYSE-traded group of manufacturing companies and, for the past 19 years, a part-time CFO. Reading other blogs, I realize that blogs can also…
Read More >Key Metrics in Planning a Business Sale or Exit
Every business runs on metrics. It is an old saying, “You cannot manage what you cannot measure.” Therefore, this article is focused on some exit metrics that you should be measuring and monitoring as you make plans for yourself and your business. Exit Metric #1 – Who Will Be the Future Owner? Who might the…
Read More >Accounts Receivable Collections for Professional Firms
It is well known that engineers, accountants and other professionals are not well-trained for their careers as they head out of classrooms and into the world. They have simply proven, perhaps, that they have an aptitude to learn their profession in the real world. On the job, they learn a great deal about their trade…
Read More >Top 10 Reasons to Plan Your Exit in 2020
After completing my professional strategic plan, I have decided to pursue becoming a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor®(1) and a Certified Business Transition Expert™(2). The writing is on the wall, with 22 million private business owners in the U.S. today including 12 million owned by “baby boomers,” 70% of which will try to exit their…
Read More >Strategic Planning – Part III of III – THINK! THINK! THINK!
In Strategic Planning – Part I of III – The Art of War & Enlightenment, I began a discussion of why your company’s Strategic Plan might be collecting dust on the CEO’s shelf. Recapping what I have learned in my 37 years of business experience and philosophy & cultural studies, Part I discussed the vast difference…
Read More >Strategic Planning – Part II, Finders, Minders & Grinders:
In Strategic Planning – Part I of III – The Art of War & Enlightenment, I began a discussion of why your company’s Strategic Plan might be collecting dust on the CEO’s shelf. Recapping what I have learned in my 37 years of business experience and philosophy & cultural studies, Part I discussed the vast difference…
Read More >Working Capital Improvement
By Dennis Niven Working Capital – The Precursor to Cash – Working capital management is arguably the most important management activity in emerging and mid-sized companies because of the significant financial impact that it has on the company’s well-being. While most CEOs and business owners have heard and accept that “Cash is King,” working capital, the precursor…
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