It was never my intention to mix finance and religion. But I got drafted – 26 years ago when the pillars of my local church discovered that they had a practicing CFO among their parishioners. So it has come to pass that ever since then I have been a member of a kaleidoscope of good […]
It was 7:15 a.m. It was the second Wednesday of the month. I was in my car, heading to Portsmouth, RI and Vanguard Sailboat Company. Every month, for more than a dozen years until new ownership took over in April, 2007, I made the 75-minute trek to 300 Highpoint Avenue. And every month, without fail, […]
Budgeting for an economic downturn is a new experience for many small company managers. What last year might have been the worst-case scenario could be this year’s starting point. In the current economic environment, budgeting by most smaller firms for 2009 is about calmly resetting expectations, thoroughly playing out the implications, and confidently ignoring those who claim that the sky is falling.
Until last month, it had happened only twice in my 25 years of serving 233 companies as their senior financial manager. And last month it happened twice. Totally spontaneously, two of my clients were approached directly by legitimate prospective acquirers in their respective industries. Neither of these companies had been groomed for a sale, and […]