The Opsdoc Advisory

09/12/2024

Today's metric - 1 in 5 Americans will be a victim of some type of "cyber-crime".
The real cost is not only for individuals. In those companies where I was a senior executive, security was usually one of the areas that reported into me. As a guess, my business costs (including losses) have been in the millions of dollars. And, as true for individuals, businesses of all sizes are on their own.
Governmental action has been at best "lip-service" and in some cases actually aided criminal actors.

02/25/2024

If you or a friend operates a small (for-profit or not-for-profit) organization, the Small Business Administration chartered SCORE program provides no-cost owner mentoring to leaders of these early-stage entities.

The NC piedmont triad chapter, where I volunteer as a mentor, just received recognition as the Chapter of the Year for the Southeast US.

From e-guides to free business plan templates, explore our extensive library full of resources to help better your growing small business.

12/08/2022

12/08/2022

Microsoft has released a new design tool called Designer that is incredibly simple... see my first effort below.

07/07/2022

To my Facebook followers who run small business or even non-profits.... You may need to register and do tax/withholding/solicitation filings in EVERY state where you have ANY touch point.

In addition to global businesses - several years ago I led a ministry that trained 2nd and 3rd world pastors in missions to unreached people groups and funded by individuals and local churches across the nation. I hired a legal intern with the sole role of ensuring compliance in all 50 states. The liability exists for not only sales and employee income taxes, but the solicitation of contributions in those states.

John Bonk, national state and local tax (SALT) practice leader at Marcum LLP, wrote in a piece for Bloomberg that many "don’t recognize that even minimal contact with a state is enough to force compliance with sales tax rules. Further, while companies are generally aware that physical products are subject to sales tax, they may not understand that digital products and services can also be taxable. 'Every company should ask itself: 'Do we have any connection to a state where we do not currently file state tax returns?',' he says, adding: 'If the answer is yes, you should have an informed opinion as to why you are not filing a return there.'"

03/12/2022

The below is a slide from a performance improvement conversation that I recently had with several of my "challenged" small/medium business clients...

During periods of significant market volatility, it is easy to become so focused on day-to-day demands that the basics of staying ahead are overlooked.

Consider for example: Many "smaller than Global 500" firms have only done pricing calculations once per quarter or once per year... This may present a very real risk in today's operating environment.

01/30/2021

For much of the past 25 years; my clients who were working through very large-scale change including merger integrations or even divestitures uniformly came to understand the overriding task was managing people's fears through the "everything else".

Never underestimate the potential impact of unrecognized "fear" among your key "down-in-the-trenches employees". I well remember a very successful 2nd world business executive telling me in mid-90s: "We don't have the technology and tools you have in the states; we succeed by being more excellent". For him that absolutely included his human capital. And that's still a great insight.

Over the past year, every business and every non-profit has been forced to deal with this human element. And for some organizations these impacts have been truly devastating. For middle market or smaller organizations; I have been seeing this moving throughout the entire of their value chain.

As we progress into the uncertainties of 2021; I am recommended that all SMBE organizations standup a robust risk assessment and management team focused on every operational work area including finance and customer servicing.

11/13/2020

Below is page from a presentation that I have been using to facilitate client road mapping sessions. For a copy of the short version of this presentation, please email your request to
[email protected] before 12/01/2020.

05/05/2020

The below is a part of the materials that I am providing to clients who have asked for assistance in preparing to resume operations.
There are other business leaders that I have spoken to who have told me that they "intend to simply turn the lights on and call people back". Good practices suggest that might not be the best course after an extended period.

04/09/2020

There is a significant amount of research and supporting documentation within the business continuity space indicating that for business closures of longer that one week, business resumption may be impossible for most organizations.

I believe that many assumptions will be shifted by the wide-spread impacts of Covid-19 on competitors, suppliers, and customers... But, every impacted business must be aggressively preparing for their resumption now.

04/05/2020

The business crisis is creating legitimate concerns for stakeholders of both publicly traded and privately held companies. And, this may be a perfect time for business leaders to intensify the attention on their employees...

03/24/2020

For business executives new to significant working from home arrangements within their organizations... While most will understand that junior workers may need more supervision - Awareness of the way your more dedicated workers are responding is also important.