Banknotes

Every craftsman knows there are multitudes of ways to construct a beautiful piece of furniture – and as many considerations to make in so doing. The same holds true for commercial financing: there are plenty of different means of achieving the same outcome; the challenge often lies in determining the best one for each individual client.

While a disruption in cash flow can happen for many reasons in the best of times, the economic consequences of this coronavirus pandemic have certainly proven that life is not “business as usual” for almost everyone all at the same time.

Key employees are synonymous with results, professionalism, and character, making your company unique to your clients/customers. To you, and your business, they provide the stability and predictability you need to sustain profitability. You, your customers, and your other employees rely on this.

If you have key people (knowledgeable, leaders, skilled and reliable resources) whose contributions are so crucial that, without them, your business risks failure, key-person insurance should be considered to protect your business by giving you the financial wherewithal to regroup in the event of their loss.

Congress’s well-intentioned plan to bolster retirements for working Americans – the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act – will come with its own set of wrinkles and challenges for defined-contribution plan sponsors (e.g., 403[b], 401[k], etc, which I’ll collectively refer to as “401[k] plans,” for the purposes of this article).

I have to be brief and selective, but here are a few topics to consider carefully if you are tasked with administering the plan for your co-workers or employees.

Without question, statistics show that greater diversity within an organization drives better performance and more innovation.

It makes sense. With diversity comes different life experiences and perspectives that provide insight into consumer-purchasing decisions. For instance, more women now make decisions about health care, home purchases, and many other financial decisions that affect the family.

If you’re like most people, you likely had a bit of a chaotic end to the year, balancing ongoing business demands with increased personal obligations around the holidays. For as joyful a time as it most often is, it can be equally stressful. With the din of the holidays beginning to quiet and life resuming a semblance of normalcy, let’s take a look at what the New Year can mean for you and your business.

Regardless of the nature of your business, relationships play a vital role in every facet of its operation. Relationship quality has an especially profound impact on sales and client retention. So let’s take a closer look at why strong relationships and the behaviors that strengthen them are so important to your success.

As any business owner can attest, there are myriad financial considerations that must be taken into account in deciding how to run the business. They can choose (to some extent) how much to pay themselves in terms of a salary, a bonus, and, if there is money left over, a distribution or dividend from the enterprise’s profits. A qualified tax advisor is very helpful in making those year-to-year decisions.

As a business banker, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a variety of companies across a number of industries, and because of that, I tend to look at the annual business cycle in generalities. January and February are the months in which most companies finish their annual reviews from the year prior, and use that information to plan for the year ahead. September and October tend to be when businesses perform that final benchmark check of their annual goals and budget, and begin looking at what needs to get done before year-end. 

I’m always fascinated by lists, especially those that show the differences in this wonderful country of ours. For example, I recently learned from a list that, in Wisconsin, our favorite Halloween candy is Starburst, while in New Jersey, Tootsie Pops are king. As the end of the year approaches, I thought it might be interesting to examine the differences in how well each state sticks to its New Year’s resolutions.