By Barry A. Furman, Esquire The risks of the IRS selecting your return for audit are low. The IRS examines just over .6% of individual income tax returns. About .9% of those returns show gross receipts under $200,000. The higher your income, the greater the risk of examination. The IRS has many methods of selecting […]
By Bruce Rubin As a Product Development Consultant taking people and their ideas from the beginning through the sales process, I have come in contact with many people who, at the “end of the day,” reinvented the wheel. One such story I share with potential clients is the one concerning “The Cat Mat.” I met […]
By Chuck Kerrigan As a twin, I should know about twins. Twin spirits can be looked at as single soul that is split, helping each one to strengthen each other, although in two different bodies. Entrepreneurial examples of this are the concepts of creativity and innovation – twin spirits! Creativity and innovation go hand in hand, they are […]
By Angelo J. Valletta An organization is more than a producer of goods or services; it is part of fabric of the communities in which it serves. Over my nearly four decades in leadership roles in the financial, nonprofit, and public sectors, I have learned a lot about inspiring and motivating every organization’s greatest asset, […]
By John Brady Glenbrook North High School might not be a household name outside of the Chicagoland suburbs, but if you’re a movie fan of a certain age, you’ll recall the image of Judd Nelson crossing its athletic fields, fist in the air at the conclusion of “The Breakfast Club” (1985). One of several themes […]
By Gerry Lantz Marketers, if they are good, compose a tightly positioned Brand Story around their products and services—and tell it at every interaction with potential customers. Smart brands tell their story across the spectrum of digital and traditional media. That’s the 50% you own as a marketer. The customer experiences your brand as a product […]
By Gerry Lantz I know we’re all glad that spring may actually be here and it’s a little odd to talk about snowballs right now. However, “a rock in a snowball” is a phrase shared with me in a late night conversation with Bill Hamilton, Creative Director at Ogilvy New York while I worked there. […]
By Peter Mares “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies to personal health as well as to the health of a business. Just as a doctor takes your vitals to assess your overall state of health and to recommend corrective changes in diet and levels of physical activity, an owner should […]
By Glenna Crooks As we contemplate returning to on-site office work, this may be a good time to recall the pre-pandemic experience of a New Zealand company that tested a 20%-shorter workweek. The result? It made employees happier and more focused while producing the same amount of work. To accomplish that, employees brainstormed ideas to […]
By Gerry Lantz Best Buy overcame the onslaught of the e-retail giant Amazon by executing a simple strategy that everyone could understand and act on. There are lessons in that strategy, how it was developed, and then executed that can apply to companies in every sphere. If your strategy isn’t a simple story, then it’s […]
By Frank Tait Mergers and acquisitions have contributed significantly to business growth for many years, having gained popularity in the 1980s. For growth-minded companies, acquisitions can be a quick way to gain market share. As appealing as this may be, the reality is that the majority of acquisitions fail to achieve their integration goals. Recently, […]
By Diane Adams The use of social media and a digital strategy has never been more critical to businesses than it is today during this Covid crisis. Having a digital strategy ensures that we can continue to communicate with our customers, our employees, our suppliers and our stakeholders. While digital strategies may have been a […]