Read more about the article Business Finance workshop at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium

Business Finance workshop at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium

For at least 18 years, the Wine Industry Symposium Group, an organization of California wine industry professionals, has held the Wine Industry Financial Symposium to “develop a communications bridge to the financial community.”

This year, I will be conducting a 90 minute workshop to help companies in the wine industry revitalize their free cash flow. Here’s the exact title of the workshop scheduled for Monday, September 20, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. You can find the program and registration details here.

PRACTICAL STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CASH FLOW

Cash Flow has never been more critical as we face a clouded andunpredictable business landscape. Learn about the power of Strategic Finance and how you can extract cash from your operations and pour the juice into your bank account.

For the wine industry, this event is the kickoff for our Financial Adrenaline series, (more…)

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Read more about the article Strategic Finance? 7 Deadly Sins infect merger boom!

Strategic Finance? 7 Deadly Sins infect merger boom!

How many times have we heard about a failed marriage, scuttled by pride … greed … jealousy … envy … or other misdeeds flowing from the interminably deep well of human shortcomings? Too many, I’m sure, but those denizens of the 7 Deadly Sins brigade also besiege the world of mergers and acquisitions.

I haven’t written about this enough, I realize, as I read the M&A Losers in $10 Trillion Deal Binge …. providing yet one more example of the failed mergers that incite shareholder rebellions. We know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so that doesn’t count for much. We expect CEOs and their directors to exercise their fiduciary responsibility to US by making sound decisions that are not scuttled by some array of the 7 Deadly Sins. (more…)

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Read more about the article Do we need a Federal Escrow Fund?

Do we need a Federal Escrow Fund?

I’m sure this will be a popular post … but set aside your emotions for a moment about the BP disaster… and consider the insistence by the federal government that an independent agency take over the claims resulting from the oil spill,  purportedly overriding BP’s authority, and that of the other 12 entities on board the oil platform, in those matters. The suggested prototype is the independent examiner appointed to handle claims resulting from the events of 9/11 … but recognize that those events were NOT directly caused by a legal entity with rights and responsibilities and shareholders, or that was subject to a myriad of legitimate national and international governing bodies.

Who should decide how much to pay whom for oil spill claims?

What I wonder is whether BP … in most cases, any corporation … shouldn’t have some rights and control over the claims paid from funds ultimately belonging to their shareholders? Take special note that in BPs case, a powerful example of the global economy in which we live, 18 million British citizens own stock in BP, many of them retirees.

Emotions are running high and many people would prefer to see BP hanging from the nearest rafter. At the same time, shouldn’t a company be allowed to settle claims in a fair and reasonable manner? There are plenty of ways in which individuals and organizations can seek redress if they disagree on the results, either through appeal or in claims or civil courts if a reasonable settlement cannot be made.

What paperwork? (more…)

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Read more about the article Business Finance | Does EBITDA Bury Its Own Dead?

Business Finance | Does EBITDA Bury Its Own Dead?

Does EBITDA really tell you what you need to know?

“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life … unless I buy something.”–         Jackie Mason

 

Does this sound like you?

Someone recently told me that they’re bored by finance. “Don’t distract me with strategic finance stuff, just let me run my business the way I know how.”

“No problem,” I said, “if you’ll just answer one question. What if the way you’re running it is causing increasing strain on your financial resources, cash flow is dwindling and you’re destroying market value every year. Do you care about any of that?”

“Of course, I do, but when sales start picking up again, all of that will go away and my EBITDA will return to normal levels.”

“Really?” I said. “How do you know that?”

“That’s the way it’s always worked.”

“Have you had any problems with your banking relationship?” (more…)

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Vol. 62: Strategic Finance Fundamentals: It’s time!

“If I am through learning, I am through.”– John Wooden

Some of you will remember – back in the day – the E. F. Hutton commercials that intoned, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” (Some of you are probably wondering – who is E.F. Hutton in the first place?) These days, the Sage of Omaha has taken their place and has the ear of many. When I finished re-reading Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter to Shareholders, it resonated with similar messages in a number of recent articles.

What is growth?

From a Wall Street Journal article on March 25 discussing Conoco/Phillips’ future plans: “We asked ourselves, ‘What is growth?’” an executive said. “Growth could be viewed as just growing absolute volumes, but we felt that in this challenging environment what’s really important is to grow the value of the company.”

Or this one, from an article in the April 5 edition of Business Week about the Sears/K-Mart merger: “Simplistic analyses … ignore the fact that negative or below-market returns on invested capital are as harmful to creditors as to shareholders.”

Finally, in Warren Buffett’s shareholder letter, (more…)

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