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A House Divided

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A House Divided

A House Divided

“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” – Mark 3:25

Back Story – A House Divided

Many years ago, I was managing a relatively large company.  We had a lot of departments.  We had a lot of managers.

In my immediate case, we were coming out of a turnaround situation and forging ahead, but we were experiencing some turbulence.  We had seemingly committed and focused managers.  The trouble was, for various reasons, sometimes they seemed to be ...

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8
AUG
0

Categories: Blog, Business Growth, Business Startups, Leadership, Management, Management Action Items

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The Reverse Mortgage

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The Reverse Mortgage

The Reverse Mortgage

So, why is a business blog talking about a reverse mortgage?

When things are tough personally, it can affect your business.  And, vice versa.

So, if things are getting financially tough with you or your parents, we want to inform you about the possible benefits of an often-overlooked financial product: A reverse mortgage.

Today, there are some great reverse mortgage products.  When used properly, these products have a lot of benefits for homeowners and their families.

Before we show an example on ...

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8
AUG
0

Categories: Blog, Business Development, Business Growth, Problem solving

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One Call Close

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One Call Close

One Call Close

Have you heard that phrase before?  Anyone who has spent time in or around professional sales might identify with that phrase.

It’s the sales person’s equivalent of a proverbial “hole in one” in golf.  It’s as rare as hitting a golf ball off of a tee that goes straight into the hole – as it is for a salesperson to close a deal with a prospect in the first meeting.

Sales is Not a Full Contact Sport

In some sales courses, ...

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Categories: Blog, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process, Business Process Consulting, Innovate

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Completeness

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Completeness

Completeness

It is an audit objective.

As a former auditor for what’s now PricewaterhouseCoopers, we dealt with audit objectives.  These audit objectives were also learned in my Accounting/Auditing classes in business college at California State University, Fullerton.

The audit objectives were also reinforced in the CPA review course.  That is, a CPA examination test preparation course I took from Newt Becker my senior year.

Let’s see if I remember … ECVARP was the acronym Newt used.  Existence, Completeness, Valuation, Accuracy/Validity, Rights/Obligations, Presentation/Disclosure.  But this ...

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4
MAR
0

Categories: Blog, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process, Innovate, Leadership, Management, Management Action Items

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Be Thorough

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Be Thorough

Be Thorough

It’s not a word you hear much anymore.  At a quick glance, it looks like the preposition “through.”

And given our society’s propensity for a “point and click” existence, “thorough” is being relegated to the sidelines of business.

But if you want to be successful in life and business, be encouraged to embrace it.

Merriam-Webster defines it as follows:

  • marked by full detail
  • careful about detail
  • complete in all respects
  • having full mastery (as of an art)

Being Thorough – A Practical Lesson

I was exposed to the ...

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4
MAR
0

Categories: Blog, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process, Innovate, Leadership, Management, Management Action Items

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Dream-Diagram-Develop

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Dream-Diagram-Develop

Dream-Diagram-Develop

The term design-build has been circling around in the construction industry for quite some time.

It refers to a company that will both design and build your dream home.

For purposes of this article, I will use the idea of design-build in a parallel way to refer to your business or organization.  Whether you are building a home or a business, it all starts with a dream.

Dream

Have you ever looked through a high-end luxury home magazine?  The pictures are beautiful.  Everything is ...

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4
MAR
0

Categories: Blog, Business Consulting, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process, Innovate, Leadership, Management

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Follow-Up

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Follow-Up

Follow-Up

This article is the next and last article in the series WDF – A Three Part Series.  The First article is Write It Down.  The next article is Do Or Delegate.

Back To The Audit

Throughout this series, I have been sharing from my experiences as a professional auditor for the Big 8 firm, Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

If you recall, the last article had me doing ...

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Categories: Blog, Business Consulting, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process, Leadership, Management, Replicate

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WDF – A Three Part Series

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WDF – A Three Part Series

WDF – A Three Part Series

As I reflect back on my personal experience in five different decades, my hope is to impart wisdom from a blazed trail.

If a “blazed trail” is not a familiar term, here’s some history: The term “Blazed trail” reflects back to the days of mountain men, trail guides, etc.  These pioneers, when traversing large expanses of unfamiliar wilderness territory, would take their hatchet and “blaze” (e.g., mark) trees.  This way, future passers-by could travel with confidence ...

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21
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Categories: Blog, Business Consulting, Business Cycle, Business Development, Business Growth, Business Process

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Do Or Delegate

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Do Or Delegate

Do Or Delegate

This article is next in the series that started with WDF – A Three Part Series and Write It Down.

Let’s jump right in.

When I wrote this title, I was reminded of Yoda’s (Steven Spielberg) famous saying: “Do or do not, there is no try.”

Back To The Audit

You may recall from the prior article that I had a rather tough go of things as a brand new auditor ...

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Categories: Blog, Business Development, Business Growth, Leadership, Management, Problem solving

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Write It Down

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Write It Down

Write It Down

If you have landed on this article, welcome!  The introductory article is titled WDF – A Three Part Series.

In this article, we discuss W.  W helps us remember to Write It Down.

Setting The Stage

I remember my first day of real professional work at the Big 8 accounting firm, Coopers & Lybrand – now PricewaterhouseCoopers (The Big 8 was a term used in the 1980s to reference the world’s 8 largest accounting ...

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Categories: Blog, Business Growth, Business Process, Leadership, Management, Management Action Items

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