business protection

Fire First; Ask Questions Later

Eliot Wagonheim
November 01, 2011 12:00

Hiring is often an impulse buy. It is the candy in the check-out aisle or Chipotle on the way home. Sure, the need may have been there for a while, and (to depart from the analogy) well documented and analyzed. Even the process may have been extremely well thought-out. But at the end of the day,...

Most Small Business Owners Have No Succession Plan

Ken Laino
July 06, 2011 19:35

In several prior posts on March 19, 2010, February 23, 2010, November 6, 2009 and July 2, 2009, I emphasized that a business succession plan is critical for most closely held businesses. Yet according to an article last week by Marcia Pledger in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, fewer than 30...

What To Do Before Adding Or Removing a Principal

Eliot Wagonheim
June 28, 2011 15:00

The addition or removal of a principal in any business, especially one with fewer than 500 employees, is one of the most important events in a company’s development. How well it is accomplished, both from a moral and a financial perspective, often dictates whether the business will...

5 Ways to Prevent Fraud and Embezzlment

Eliot Wagonheim
June 21, 2011 14:14

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: the company bookkeeper, who has been a loyal employee for eight years, has suddenly disappeared – along with $250,000 of the company’s money. Unless the company has the resources and know-how of the FBI, there is little that the...

Volatile Economic Conditions

June 07, 2010 19:11

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 324 points last Friday, its second worst slide of the year.  The drop pushed the stock market back into a "correction" -- meaning a decline of at least 10% from its recent high. While I remain optimistic about the economic future of our...