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Innovation Management - smart people don't necessarily produce great ideas
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.One common mistake leaders often make is to rely on smart people to come up with gre

wnership Plan (ESOP). Simply stated the most notable advantages to a business owner are:

He can sell a portion of the business to the employees in a very tax-friendly manner, Keep or retain actual control of the company in the family; and Significantly reduce his income, gift, and/or estate tax liability. The ESOP strategy is often used as an ongoing tax shelter to be used later for succession with much additional tax benefit.

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal fi

Let There Be Light!
Let There Be Light!Lighting for your store can never be too perfect. Never choose lighting to be the expense you skip out on because light is one of the most quintessential properties of your store. It communicates to your customer the value of your products as well as the value you place on your business. Consider the lighting you would find in a museum displaying valuable artifacts or rare works of art. You probably will not find cheap light bulbs accenting the workings of Van Gogh. The value of objects will always reflect in the lighting selected to display them. Understanding different lighting options and requirements will put you well on your w

The business section of the March 20th issue of the Arizona Republic had a front page article titled "Families Passing Business Torch". My practice often involves working with families on the subject and I found the article very timely, particularly since studies tell us that during the next several years 30 to 40 percent of both family, as well as non-family owned businesses will "attempt" to transfer ownership. I say "attempt" because 2 in 3 family businesses fail after transition to the second generation. As business owners approach retirement age, they are dealing with several complex questions and conflicting goals.

The business owner wants to monetize his equity in his corporation, and in many cases there is a desire to maintain family ownership of the business. If the business is sold to outsiders to achieve personal financial security, the children are left without the legacy of the family business. Alternatively, if the owner decides to transfer the business to family members, then the owner will likely be without the same personal financial security and may have to deal with a significant gift or estate tax liability.

In many cases, business owners adhere to what I call the "avoidance of the unknown syndrome", which translates into: if I don't think of the problem it doesn't exist. Statistics tell us that these situations often wind up resulting in a forced sale of the business by the owner's estate in order to settle the estate taxes. One very notable example is the Robbie family's compelled sale of their ownership interest in the Miami Dolphins and Joe Robbie stadium. The cover page of the March 26th issue of the Wall Street Journal mentions that treasury officials continue to be opposed to a reduction or elimination of the estate tax contending it would be too costly and a sop to the rich.

There are many different options to accommodate the objectives of business owners relative to succession planning, but some of them are necessarily more painful than others and/or more tax expensive than others. One strategy that has been around for about fifty years and is currently employed by about 12,000 U.S. corporations is the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Simply stated the most notable advantages to a business owner are:

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal fin

Create a Style Guide for Your Nonprofit - Avoid Audience Confusion
There's never enough time when you're getting communications out the door. But when two different spellings of the same word (both correct) are used in a membership drive campaign, or the way your nonprofit is described varies from letter to letter within the campaign, or your logo appears in different colors and different sizes in different places, your audiences will be confused. The answer? Style standards clearly defined and published in a style guide.The ProblemDue to the ubiquitous nature of advertising and promotion, we're all bombarded by communications. In the face of this morass, you're making it difficult for your audien

nt age, they are dealing with several complex questions and conflicting goals.

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal fi

Sales Success Tip-Stop What's Not Working
In my day to day training of sales professionals, many who are mediocre at best and failing at worst continue to resist some simple testing and measuring tools for determining what they are doing that is working and what they are doing that is not working. The most common excuse I hear is that they don’t have time. However, when the most successful sales professionals in the world subscribe to testing and measuring, I have a lot of difficulty accepting this lame excuse. Making the same mistakes over and over takes infinitely more time than determining what is working and what is not working and adjusting your activities accordingly.I ran across this l

l with a significant gift or estate tax liability.

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal fi

Using Social Networking To Get Testimonials And Build Your Business
You don’t have to be a tech geek to know that Web 2.0 has completely changed the way things work online. If you wise up to these trends, you can easily use them to your advantage. Now, before you start to think that you're going to have to spend all day "friending" people on MySpace and other social networking sites, hold on a minute! This can be done in a time-efficient manner that makes a significant contribution to your business in a way that doesn't overwhelm your schedule.Social networking can in some cases make or break your online business. Taking an example from American politics, the 2006 U.S. Senate campaign of George Allen, the favored cand

issue of the Wall Street Journal mentions that treasury officials continue to be opposed to a reduction or elimination of the estate tax contending it would be too costly and a sop to the rich.

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal fi

Strong Arm Sales Stop Success Cold
It happens more often than you’d ever guess – in fact, it might be happening at the booth right next to yours. Recent surveys of trade show attendees show that the most dissatisfied attendees are those who purchase something that they really didn’t want. Needless to say, these attendees don’t have a high opinion of those companies that ‘strong-armed’ them, and report that they’ll be unlikely to do business with them again.How can this happen? What possible way is there to force attendees into purchasing something unwillingly?Not all the ‘people pleasers’ at a trade show are booth staff. Some are walking the aisle, as attendees. When these types run

wnership Plan (ESOP). Simply stated the most notable advantages to a business owner are:

This represents the best of all worlds since the business owner is able to (1) to achieve personal financial security by liquidating a portion of his single largest asset and (2) to keep the family business in the family. When properly structured, the ESOP can enable the business owner to obtain greatly enhanced liquidity and diversification -- with far more real value. Approximately fifty years ago, Louis Kelso was successful in convincing Senator Russell Long, the then chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to propose legislation that would provide very dramatic tax and cash advantages to business owner ESOP sponsors.

Congress enacted the legislation and today, fifty years later, those benefits remain available to business owners of closely held companies. Under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 1042, a shareholder who sells stock to an ESOP is able to forego the payment of any capital gains taxes due -- if the sale meets the specified conditions. Essentially the business owner has a year to reinvest the cash from the sale of his stock to his ESOP into some alternate type of security.

This provides a superb means of income during the retirement years and if held until his death the business owner's family will never have to pay capital gains tax on the ESOP stock sale. An aggressive gifting program to family members can produce significant income and estate tax savings for the closely held business owner. If the business owner has a philanthropic inclination, by using a strategy called "CRUT" (charitable remainder unitrust) a significant amount of annual income can be guaranteed for Mr. Business Owner during his and his spouse's lifetime in addition to a large upfront tax deduction. And in fact, structured properly the family wealth can be magnified, as well as providing a significant sum of money to the charity.

Currently, the U.S. gift and estate tax rates are significantly higher than capital gains and even ordinary income tax rates. Combining an ESOP with estate planning techniques can result in business owners successfully keeping the business within the family or where this is not the intent, provide a very unique mechanism to transfer ownership to non-family members. In both cases, because of the dramatic tax and cash advantages it makes good

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A law career provides prestige and unlimited earning potential. But being an attorney encompasses much more than that. This article guides you step by step through the process of law education and practice.

If you could reduce the number of serious mistakes in your life with a solution that costs nothing, would you do it? Many hospitals are reducing deaths and injuries from mistakes. Their solution is not more technical training for surgeons, or fancy new equipment. The remedy is much simpler - teaching people to talk to each other in a clear, concise way, using the S-B-A-R technique described in this article.

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