Phil's Articles & Media

The funny thing about planning- it is often most useful when it is performed before you need it. If you were going to sell your home, wouldn’t you plan out a number of critical elements first?  When is the best time to sell?  What do I need to fix to maximize the value?  Who will I list…

By Philip E. Elworth Every business self insures risk even though they have broad insurance policies in place. All insurance policies have a list of exclusions from coverage. If the exclusions are not covered under a separate insurance policy then you are at risk. In addition, there are many risks in your business that would…

As the baby boomer generation approaches 60 more and more business owners will begin to look at the option of selling their business as a way to finance their retirement plans. One critical aspect of this process is the valuation of the business from a market perspective versus the business owner who has a tendency…

Are you in the “Service Sector”? Unless you sell a physical product, produced consistently and sold to customer as is, I submit you are. As such your service must be marketed differently. If you cannot touch it, taste it or smell it then, you must describe it and validate it differently. Usually, when selling a…

By Philip Elworth According to the Small Business Administration, 25% of businesses that close because of a disaster never reopen; 80% of businesses that do not recover within one month are likely to go out of business. “It will never happen to me” is not an answer. The fact is- it can happen to you…

By Phil Elworth Recently, while reading the book “Traction” by Gino Wickman, I came across the story Gino had retold of Charles Schwab, who ran the Bethlehem Steel Company in the early 1900’s. In the story Charles was speaking with a plant manager about the low level of performance in his plant, and how the…

By Philip Elworth Patrick Lencioni, author, consultant and speaker recently published the book, Getting Naked, which describes his vision of the way a professional service firm should operate.  His approach is basically one of fear avoidance.   His views mirror so many of my own and how as a partner with B2B CFO® I have been trained to provides services,…

By Philip E. Elworth Have you ever awoken at night with the thought that you need to do something, and are sure you do not have it written down somewhere; therefore it is not possible to go back to sleep? This is sadly, an all too common occurrence. So how can you avoid this situation?…

By Philip E. Elworth I have long held to the belief that employees will accomplish the work they perceive they are being compensated for. As an example, if you were to pay commission to you sales people only to bring in sales– that is what they will do. They will do whatever it takes to…

Part One, Commandments 1-5 By Philip Elworth I recently read an interesting book by Donald Keough, who was CEO of Coca Cola Company during the introduction of New Coke. He has some intriguing insights into business failure. What I find most interesting is the number of companies I have seen who are following at least…