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News, Newspapers, and Communities

Segueway — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:41:26 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Segueway to Success – Community News”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Our “Segueway to Success” show, talking about our blog, airs each Wednesday at 15:00 CST. Find today’s show and the archives on our web site: www.seguewaysolutions.com/Articles-and-Events.html

“I was eight years old, runnin’ with a dime in my in my hand;

to the bus stop to pick up the paper for my old man”

From “My Hometown” Bruce Springsteen

Newspapers have a tradition in the United States that goes back before our birth as a nation. The first regular daily newspaper printed in the Colonies was the Boston News-Letter and it commenced on April 24, 1704. Apparently one of the big stories during its early run was the reporting of the death of Blackbeard the Pirate in hand to hand combat. American interests have changed little over the centuries.

Newspapers grew in influence in America over time playing a significant role in the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution and Theodore Roosevelt’s “trust busting” initiatives to name a few household examples. The editorial pages of both large city and local newspapers had much to do with shaping the consciousness of American citizens. Indeed, the New Deal of FDR may have turned out quite differently absent the support of some major editorial boards.

With the rise to power of William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) and his print empire, anchored in the newspaper industry, journalistic sensationalism came into play. Hearst crossed the line between simply reporting or commenting on news and entered into the world of creating and outright fabricating news. As is the case with many iconic figures and extremely powerful people the legend of the man far outstripped his actual greatness and his imprint on the world of journalism, not for the good, has never lifted.

Segueway principals grew up in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s when newspapers enjoyed immense popularity. For kids it began with the Sunday “funnies” and migrated to the daily crossword puzzle. Sunday newspapers were half-day destinations with all their feature sections and, at least for some, the interesting celebrity questions on the inside cover of Parade magazine.

For one Segueway principal, there is the distinct memory of his father calling home a half hour before he would leave work, mom putting a pitcher of martinis in the freezer and having the evening newspaper ready for him on his chair. Conversation with dad was not really permitted until he had read the paper (and had that first martini).

So how lame does all this seem to a generation today that gets it news the same way this post is being typed – from a small high definition screen, a scrolling mouse and a few keystrokes? They would likely laugh at people who said they missed the feel of black ink on their hands after reading the sports section. Couldn’t imagine having to say “excuse me” to the person on the train next to them as they folded out their pages. It is a different time. Fewer and fewer newspapers seen; more and more “notebooks” present. Progress!

Or is it?

Anyone who paid attention to their parents lamenting that the Beatles (or the Rolling Stones) were the end of civilization are mindful if they are careful not to confuse nostalgic feeling for the foreshadowing of the apocalypse. I am certain there is risk in that because, for example, if the Beatles had never come along we likely would not have the E Street Band and that would have been a tragedy for humanity.

Nonetheless, the movement away from traditional newspapers to electronic media for news delivery feels just a bit wrought with peril. People rave about how anyone now can be a journalist and post news and what a wonderful competitive balance that brings into the market. Does it? Just because anyone can write doesn’t mean anyone has anything worth writing. The checks and balances that a complete news organization can bring to the reporting process theoretically leads to integrity of product. The news that came from a printed paper was slow compared to the pace with which it appears today but that slower, deliberate process also provide a mechanism to heighten accuracy and reflection (Dewey Defeats Truman notwithstanding).

Sadly, it seems that the printed newspapers have to a large degree yielded on integrity in order to compete with the new electronic media. The New York Times is a ghost of what it once was as a true newspaper and you will not find anyone to disagree with that who does not also watch MSNBC.

This isn’t offered as a means to suggest that electronic media is bad and everyone needs to keep bundles of papers horded in their attics or in the bottom of their bird’s cages in order to save the Republic. It is to suggest that progress, like magic, comes with a price. In this case as internet content promulgates news information are we learning more or just seeing more? Did the deliberate act of sitting down and folding out the pages of a newspaper, hopefully compiled by trained, committed professionals, have some intrinsic value?

Bob Newhart once joked that if you take an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite number of typewriters they would eventually type all the classics.

They’re working on it.

Join Brent and Tom on Wednesday, May 15, as they continue their discussion from last week’s show with Elliot Silber and Mimika Papavasiliou from What’s Happening! Community Newspapers. This week they’ll be talking about what Elliot and Mimika are seeing and hearing on the ground in the small business communities where they operate and network.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

After commercial banking, Brent formed Segueway Solutions in 2000 in order to assist privately held companies in transition. To date, he has worked in 40 different industries and has served in the capacity of CEO, CFO & EVP Sales for clients. Brent is a sought after consultant, speaker and trainer offering national and foreign expertise to clients.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom Kuchan is a proven leader in global business expansion and effectiveness, risk management, finance and operations with experience in both Fortune 50 and entrepreneurial environments. He has a proven record of defining strategic objectives, translating them into operational tasks, and leading their implementation in diverse geographies and cultures across the globe.

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tipping the Marketing Guerilla

Segueway — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:12:22 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Tipping the Marketing Guerilla”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Our “Segueway to Success” show, talking about our blog, airs each Wednesday at 15:00 CST. Find this week’s show and the archives on our web site: www.seguewaysolutions.com/Articles-and-Events.html

A number of years ago, we were engaged by a company in the sports nutrition industry to serve as their interim president. The company had a milk-based, sports energy & recovery protein shake that had been sold into universities for a number of years and they were looking to take the product into various retail and institutional classes of trade.

The company had a small staff and upon arriving we were introduced to the newly hired head of marketing and business development for the company, Phil Joffray. Phil, around 40 at the time, had an impressive catalog of achievements in the world of brand building having been a key player in the rise to prominence of such brands as Centrum Vitamins, Jose Cuervo tequila and Sam Adams beer. We felt as though we had just been given the opportunity to go to graduate school in marketing and brand development while being paid to attend.

The company was operating on a shoe string budget and every marketing and business development strategy had to take into account the financial constraints; there were to be no TV ad campaigns. After six months at the company, we had a board meeting and Phil came in to present where he stood in terms of penetrating the 11 different classes of trade that had been identified.

To start his presentation, Phil put on a pair of loafers, lit a cigar and pulled out a small mirror. He then started to do a simple dance and blew a puff of smoke into the mirror. The mimed metaphor was an attention grabber. He informed the board that what he was about to report, which was extraordinary, had been accomplished with smoke, mirrors and a little soft shoe routine.

Phil’s efforts had placed the company in a position to capture opportunities in virtually every class of trade. What was even more impressive is that none of those opportunities had been “bought.” They had been developed through creativity and what is now referred to as guerilla marketing tactics.

One aspect of what had been done involved getting the product placed on grocery store shelves to test its appeal with the public. Grocery store shelf space is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the entire world of business; it comes at a premium and the better the spot, the higher the premium. The company got a small, independent Chicago-area grocery chain to let them have shelf space, demo their product in-store, and see if they could prove it would turn. The experiment went well.

One of the reasons it went well is that the company used local people to visit the health clubs near the stores. Using the principles so well illustrated by author Malcolm Gladwell in his book “The Tipping Point” (simply one of the greatest marketing and general insight books ever written), representatives sought out at each health club the members in those clubs considered to be “mavens” (looked to by others as experts regarding health and training supplements) and those considered to be “salespeople” (people who need to persuade everyone to use something they are using if they like it). Once those people were identified, they were given free samples of the product and information about its nutritional and utility advantages over other products. Then we waited to see what would happen.

Sales in the stores near those health clubs increased. The guerilla tactic worked. The right people in the right environment were influencing the decisions of others and a buzz started. The increased sales turns at the local store provided valuable evidence to the company that its product really could sell in that class of trade.

In today’s challenging economic climate spending on marketing dollars has become more and more tenuous. Companies are concerned about budgets and are very uncertain as to how to maximize the bang for their buck. While every industry is different, one unifying theme and question is “I want to maximize the awareness and exposure of my product or service to the right potential buyers. How do I do that without spending a fortune?”

Join us on Segueway to Success this coming Wednesday when our guest will be Larry Rosenthal, founder and owner of Unique Carpet, Upholstery & Rug Cleaning. Larry is a fixture in the North Shore business world of Chicago and has established an amazing brand presence. He has done so by both spending big ad dollars and now by using the kind of guerilla tactics that can create Gladwell’s Tipping Point. He will share his experience and ideas that will be valuable to any business person in any industry who wants to think about how to increase market awareness without spending a fortune.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Coaching & Professional Development

Segueway — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:44:07 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Professional Development – Segueway to Success”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Could there possibly be a less understood, more oft misrepresented, hologram-like element of business than that of various training, coaching and mentoring programs that can all be brought into the general tent of “professional development?”

This is an area that has fascinated Segueway principals since their early careers. Any professional, with an interest in bettering themselves, and with a remotely open mind, finds the idea of having some sort of coach or mentor appealing. Everyone with half a brain knows the other half needs filling if they want to reach their full potential. The rub comes when you say to someone, “If you want help, go get help.” That’s because when they realize that to get it they might just have to pay for it, suspicion and skepticism replace their desire for self-actualization.

Recently one of the Segueway principals had an opportunity to watch a “Life-Coach” give a presentation at a luncheon event. The speaker was charismatic, had lots of energy in his voice, injected occasional profanity so that nobody could drift off to sleep and, in general, seemed quite excited about whatever it was he was going to teach us all to do better. Amidst his theatrical presentation, however, when you listened carefully you realized that he wasn’t actually saying anything.

His talk was littered with clichés about self-empowerment, attaining your highest potential, the seven steps of something of which there only seemed to be six, etc. At the end of his talk, he made a pitch as to how all of the fascinating things he had touched upon could be developed for participants separately if they wanted to hire him as their coach. In fact, for people attending that day he would give a discount of some amount for buying his CD, which of course would lead to buying a group session, which of course would lead to individual coaching.

Good grief.

Here’s the problem, this sort of late night infomercial pitch-person has become the businessperson who tries to coach/development/mentor/train others. The parody replaces the serious professional when a business owner or manager contemplates professional development services. This often discourages them from proceeding and that is unfortunate.

We have written in this space before about the false presumption of the synonymous between entrepreneur, business manager and leader. The three, or some combination, are far too often used interchangeably. The truth is that they are all very different. What is also true is that is that just because a person has any one or two of the above traits doesn’t mean that they can grasp the other without help. Further, why should we assume we can continuously improve the skills we have or unlock additional talents by continuously relying only upon ourselves?

Our observation over many years is that many business owner-operators view the use of professional development assistance as either a sign of weakness, which by their nature they are loathe to expose, or they see it as “touchy-feely nonsense” better left to Dr. Phil. As a result, they bull ahead, relying only on whatever tools they have in their own toolbox.

It’s unfortunate.

When done right, by professionals who have the right combination of life experience, business success stories, business failure stories, and the wisdom to sort, analyze and articulate all of it, professional development coaching can be incredibly beneficial. In fact, it can be the difference between mediocrity and greatness. Perhaps it is as simple as stopping to realize that Tiger Woods still has a swing coach.

It does have to be done right, however. In today’s market there are lots of people out there calling themselves a “fill-in-the-blank” Coach. They do this because it sounds better than “unemployed” when someone asks what they do at a networking event. If you are going to find someone to help you with your professional development, which we strongly encourage exploring for most business people, be sure to ask them the kinds of questions that will let you know if they have substance or only style behind their rhetoric. Let Ron Popeil do the late-night infomercials.

This week on Segueway to Success our guest will be Linda McCabe, founder and CEO of Optimal Level, located in the Chicago suburbs. Optimal Level is a center for professional development, which applies coaching, mentoring, and training for professionals to set goals, discuss challenges, and produce results. Optimal Level members meet to share experiences, exchange ideas, contribute to others and realize their inner dreams. They use a peer advisory board meeting platform to propel members to improved performance and the achievement of their personal and professional goals. Their individual coaching and consulting programs provide an extra boost toward building confidence, honing business skills, and designing creative solutions.

Linda made it big in the manufacturing world prior to forming this company. She knows the difference between instilling confidence and a confidence man – someone we are certain we saw at that luncheon a couple of months ago.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Factoring as a Segueway to Success

Segueway — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:12:51 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Factoring as a Segueway to Success”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

Segueway Solutions

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

The recession, which began in 2007, has changed the landscape of business financing. Over the past few months, Segueway to Success has featured numerous guests from various sectors of the world of business finance. This week we tackle the growing, and often-misunderstood world of factoring.

There is evidence that over 4,000 years ago the Mesopotamians began the practice of factoring. The Roman Empire also had it as a common practice. In the United States, factoring finds its origin in England during the 14^th through 17^th centuries and the burgeoning period of world exploration and trade. Factoring is indeed as old and as practiced as is another famous human profession with a more colorful but no less tarnished image.

Factoring is actually very basic and simply involves the purchasing of an invoice from a business customer, on a discounted basis, to provide the business with immediate liquidity and to speed up its cash cycle. The factor provides a vital service to the business sector, so why does factoring enjoy a less than favorable reputation?

In part, it is a function of not understanding what factors do, how they work, and when a company is an appropriate candidate for their use. Another reason is that since they are used for business financing they are incorrectly compared to commercial banks who provide traditional account receivable financing at a lower interest rate. As banks are adverse to significant credit risk they are not typically competing for the same client as the factor who advances funds to businesses with a riskier credit profile – at least until this recession started they were not direct competitors but that has changed a bit. Finally, the idea of selling your assets for a high price to someone else to own has been glorified as the transaction between mobster and shop owner in American history, film and folklore. People tend to reflexively think of factors as gangsters.

The truth, as is often the case, is actually quite different. Factoring is necessary to make the economy run and provide “non-bankable” businesses with a way to fund their cash needs and become bankable again. When a company has faced prior period losses, or is in an industry which experiences a downturn causing banks to exit, like construction, the factor can be the only solution for survival and recovery.

Rates vary but can run from 18 percent to the mid-30 percent range depending upon the industry and the client’s circumstances. Advance rates can be as low as 50% and as high as 80-85%, again, depending upon the same conditions.

At one time, factoring carried a dark stained stigma, like a scarlet letter. In recent years that has changed as so many companies were damaged by the recession and the banking industry responded by retreating like a French soldier, that businesses everywhere are used to seeing their vendor present them with a new factoring relationship. The stigma, while not gone, has faded.

How and when to factor, and the advantages and disadvantages, need to be understood by the erstwhile business factoring prospect. Because of the rigidity of banking today, companies with profit margins that can tolerate a factor’s rate may wish to factor even if they are bankable just to avoid the capriciousness of the bank’s loan committee changing their borrowing terms midstream. Because factoring has traditionally been thought of as “something that sick companies do”, a business may pass on an opportunity that could provide significant benefit and facilitate rapid growth.

Join us on Segueway to Success this week when our guest will be Debra Wilson from Vertex Financial in Dallas, Texas. Debra has been in the factoring industry for over 30 years and has watched it pass through various phases and client perceptions. She will make a foreign topic feel domestic and perhaps enlighten one of our listeners enough to at least consider the unthinkable; factoring their assets as a choice, not as a necessity or last ditch effort.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Commercial RE Appraisals – an Inside Story

Segueway — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:21:42 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Inside Commercial RE Appraisals”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Our “Segueway to Success” show, talking about our blog, airs each Wednesday at 15:00 CST. Find today’s show and the archives on our web site: www.seguewaysolutions.com/Articles-and-Events.html

How commercial real estate appraisers do their job is a mystery to most. Every business owner is impacted by their work, even if they don’t own their own space because somebody does and that somebody probably has a mortgage. There is real science behind how an appraiser arrives at a value and there is also interpretative art. That is why contracts often call for three appraisals to be performed and the average of the three used to set value. The numbers can be very different.

In 1989, in response to the collapse of the savings & loan institutions earlier in the decade, President Bush signed into law the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). The regulation did many things including abolishing the Federal Home Loan Bank, made the FDIC the universal insurer of deposits, and created the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which effectively became the federal government’s workout division for the banking industry.

There was something else that FIRREA did that had a much greater day to day impact on commercial banks and commercial borrowers than did all the other provisions combined. The principals of Segueway were both making their living in commercial banking at the time the law was passed and a couple of years later when its regulations went into effect. Once it did, the new, not-even-half-joking interpretation of the FIRREA acronym became “Finally I’m a Rich Real-Estate Appraiser”.

FIRREA had changed the requirements for banks obtaining real estate appraisals on commercial loans secured by real estate. At one time, banks had it within their discretion to decide when an appraisal might be required. No longer. FIRREA mandated when appraisals had to be obtained and what the content needed to include. Suddenly the commercial real estate appraiser had a very captive market. From a sales perspective, the appraiser no longer had to convince a bank to get an appraisal, they only had to convince the bank to choose them to deliver it.

It really took the industry a few years to adapt to the changes. Loopholes and exceptions in FIRREA led banks to try to circumvent the law when they could. Regulators took a very strict interpretative view. The two worlds collided for about 24 months before everything settled in. And some form of new-normalcy took hold.

And then real estate collapsed in 2007.

While the provisions in Dodd-Frank regarding appraisals deal primarily with consumer loans and the residential market, the collapse in real estate in general has heightened interest and scrutiny of commercial real estate appraisals, as well. While the real estate collapse in 2007 was primarily a result of government policies, the word in the press is that “bankers” caused it with reckless lending practices. Now, more than ever, bankers are looking to commercial real estate appraisers to “lean on” for support in making their decisions. Regulators are also looking at those appraisers as the independent voice who makes or breaks a loan decision or determination as to what to do with an existing loan.

Given how much influence the commercial real estate appraiser’s work has in today’s business marketplace, Segueway hosts thought our listeners would enjoy hearing from someone in the profession who has been around long enough to see all of the changes that have taken place in the industry over the last 25 years.

Join us this Wednesday when our guest will be David A. Kunkel, founder of Kunkel & Associates, a Lisle, Illinois based commercial real estate firm. We will ask Dave how the industry has changed over the past few years and how his work impacts the lending practices of banks and, resultantly, how businesses can borrow, or not borrow, money.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Entrepreneur or Businessperson?

Segueway — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:13:30 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Entrepreneur or Businessperson – Segueway to Success”

Previous Archived Shows – On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Our “Segueway to Success” show, talking about our blog, airs each Wednesday at 15:00 CST. Find today’s show and the archives on our web site: www.seguewaysolutions.com/Articles-and-Events.html

Being a businessperson and being an entrepreneur are NOT synonymous.

The principals of Segueway have been working with business owner/operators for the past 13 plus years. In that time they have encountered some brilliant entrepreneurs and some very capable businesspeople. Sometimes those people are one in the same. Often times, however, they are not.

People who do not give the difference between the two groups much thought often use the terms interchangeably. Not only is this inaccurate it is also dangerous if we take for granted that a business associate who might be a very good businessperson or entrepreneur will be just as good at one as at the other. And the distinction becomes even more important if we begin to mistake an entrepreneur for a manager, even though most entrepreneurs end up managing what they built from their risk-taking exploits.

First consider the entrepreneurs, those people, like Steven Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, inspired by passion, vision, energy and intellect to see green space in the marketplace and to set a course to get there, stay there and, usually, expand from there. If Keynes’ “Animal Spirits” truly exist anywhere in the world of business they reside squarely in the hearts and minds of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is a melding of talent and skill and can best be thought of as a behavior.

In a 1989 study, some unifying characteristics were discovered within the world of entrepreneurs. These characteristics help to form a profile of the entrepreneur. While some people may evidence more or less of any particular attribute, there is general agreement over the characteristics cited:

Need of independence
Need for achievement
Propensity for risk taking
Intuition
Tolerance of ambiguity
Internal locus of control
Unsatisfied or restrained person

Being a Businessperson, on the other hand, is a vocation. On its most basic level it is a term defined by its own words; a business person is a person who makes his or her living working in business. You can have different types of business people – business owners, business executives, business workers, etc. What all those terms have in common is that they are describing someone’s vocation. They are absent any unifying attributes or philosophy. When we consider someone to be a good businessperson we generally think ourselves to be describing someone who has good sense of balance and decision making skills. We think of terms like “tough,” “sound judgment,” “salesman,” “knows-numbers,” etc.

And then to the particular type of businessperson who is the manager. Some of the attributes for the successful manager as developed by writer Gerard McLaughlin are:

Exhibits a real knowledge of the company, an empathy for its mission, and a genuine commitment to its goals and values
Possesses outstanding planning, organizational and project management skills
Has a disciplined and methodical approach to handling multiple projects simultaneously
Is committed to building a strong team and creating a culture that recognizes and rewards teamwork success
Adapts readily to changing roles, methods, and situations; is flexible, open-minded, and responsive to new ideas
Possesses excellent time-management skills

These are exhaustive topics replete with literature to study but the message we would like to convey is that being an entrepreneur, being a businessperson, being a manager all require very different skills and talents that may reside in one person but do not necessarily reside in one person. The entrepreneur with the vision to start a new business venture may not be the person who can manage it to success or through troubled waters. That is one of the main reasons that over 50% of all new businesses fail within the first five years.

One such entrepreneuer who has successfully made the transition to accomplished business manager is Jill Gordon, co-founder of the Chicago-based retailer “Kidsnips.” Founded over 15 years ago, the privately owned children’s hair salon and toy store started in green space, grew and thrived as other competitors entered the market and then navigated the economic collapse of the last decade. Jill and her co-founder Kim Stolze have managed expansion, addressed considerations of franchising, retained and trained both a workforce and a client base and continue to explore new horizons.

Join us Wednesday when we are joined by entrepreneur and manager Jill Gordon who will share her experience through the Kidsnips story.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Banks, Businesses, and the Business of Banking

Segueway — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:36:46 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at – “Segueway to Success – Banks and Businesses”

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Our “Segueway to Success” show, talking about our blog, airs each Wednesday at 15:00 CST. Find today’s show and the archives on our web site: www.seguewaysolutions.com/Articles-and-Events.html

Over the past 12 years our company has worked with clients in over 30 different industries to help them successfully transition from one stage of operation to another. While each industry has its own unique attributes, business is business and most of the situations we encounter share common threads regardless of industry or size. Perhaps the most common is the constant friction and communication gap found between the business owner and their commercial banker.

We I started in the commercial banking industry over 20 years ago. While much has changed in that time, nothing has really changed at all when it comes to business and banks talking past each other and with both being frustrated by the other’s inability to “get it” when it comes to understanding and resolving a particular business matter.

There is a very simple, fundamental, reason why bankers and business people seemingly look at the same set of circumstances and draw very different conclusions. The reason is found in their differing perspectives and what is most important to them. It’s about results vs. process.

Business people, especially in the privately-held world, are primarily concerned about results. There is a thin line between success and failure and the business owner needs to make certain that they get results in order to survive. They’d like to follow specific processes, they’d like to do things by the book but when it comes time to make decisions they will almost always opt for getting the best result regardless of how it jibes with the policy and procedure manual.

Conversely, bankers want to get results, too. They know they have to make loans and gather deposits to fund them in order for the bank to succeed long-term. On the other hand, in the short term the security of every banker’s job lies in how well they adhere to the “Loan Policy”, the “Asset Liability Policy” or the “Compliance Manual”. In an industry so heavily regulated, coloring outside the lines carries a stiff sentence. Following the process is paramount with good results a hoped-for byproduct.

So, if the business person wants to be successful in dealing with their banker they need to recognize and accept this reality. It hasn’t changed since we started our careers and it won’t change before we finish. So here are five tips and five questions for business people to keep in mind and utilize when dealing with bankers:

Remember:

Entrepreneurs operate under risk-reward theory. Banks operate under risk-loss theory.

Entrepreneurs look forward as extensively as they can before making a critical decision.

Bankers look backward as extensively as they can before making a critical decision.

A key to having a successful banking relationship is to avoid having your name show up on reports (past due, overdraft, public-record, missing documentation, etc).

Bankers provide loans…NOT capital! Don’t use the words interchangeably. If your company flourishes, you get rich. They get Prime plus one percent.

The most powerful person in a commercial bank tends to be the chief credit officer and they tend not to meet customers. If you’re a borrower, gaining access to them can be a coup and a key at the same time.

Ask:

What is your authority and how is authority staged beyond your level?

Who are your bosses and how do I meet them?

Have you ever worked outside of banking and if so what did you do?

What materials do I need to get you initially and periodically to keep my name off the bank’s radar screen?

Once I become a customer, who will I be dealing with on a daily basis? How many people? Where are they located? What are their jobs?

There is, of course, a great deal more that goes into building an optimal business-bank relationship. These suggestions are offered as a starting point. Understanding your banker can be the difference in success or failure when financing your business.

Join us as we talk to one of our favorite bankers, Don Leighton, Senior Vice President Commercial Banking Division Head at Barrington Bank & Trust Company, N.A. about business, banking, and the business of banking.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

Business Success Do’s and Don’ts Part 2 – Segueway to Success

MikeBoehler — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:32:48 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at - Business Do’s and Don’ts Part 2 – Segueway to Success

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Segueway Solutions

At Segueway, the principals have over 50 years of combined business experience across more than 40 industries and covering five continents. That experience has drawn us into many complex situations of all types. We have watched businesses be born, we have watched them grow and live productive lives, and we have watched them die. From our vast array of experiences we have observed many re-occurring signs of success and of failure.

Join us on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 15:00 CST as we continue our discussion, Our Do’s and Don’ts for Business Success:

Have humility. Too often the business owner who started their company from scratch is not willing or able to admit they have made mistakes or that they need help. Feeling that they were the ones who accomplished everything that made their company successful in the first place, they cannot bring themselves to admit that what lies in front of them requires outside or “new” resources. This can cause them to wait too long before making the necessary adjustments. Remember, you can’t save your face and your ass at the same time.
Don’t insist on trying to save a bad business venture at the expense of a successful one. Often a company can be enjoying great success in one aspect of their business and begin to experience failure in another. The typical response to this is to devote increasing levels of resources to try to prop up or salvage the poorly performing one. This is always at the expense, and usually to the detriment, of the healthy part of the entity. When something isn’t working while other things are you should look at cutting your losses on the bad and expanding the good. This principle is so often violated that it seems it must be counter intuitive.
Don’t over complicate your capital structure. When companies are starting out, there is a tendency to try to take advantage of every stylized capital raising trick in the book. Options, warrants, non-dilution provisions, multiple preferred layers, complex conversion or exit formulas all come into play. Invariably what winds up happening is that if the company is initially successful and then needs subsequent capital raises they find their hands tied by some of the onerous provisions they built into their initial capitalization structure. Keep your capitalization simple and remember that equity is the most expensive, not the least expensive, way to fund your business.
When you decide to “partner” with other businesses you need to force yourself to trust them. This does not mean recklessly divulge your trade secrets. What it means is that too often a company will enter into some sort of “joint venture” arrangement with another company but then begin to act as if they are distrustful of the other party. Not only does this doom your project to failure, it can also cost you your customer along the way.
You are in business to make money, not to be a “collector.” Very often business people, especially during successful times, will use their prosperity to “collect” things that they find interesting, prestigious, ‘maybe-valuable-later’, good deals, etc. This diversion of operating funds out of your work in process and normal cash flow cycle cannot be replaced and one small disruption can then be catastrophic instead of incidental. “Collection” items need to be budgeted from surplus only and not haphazardly acquired.
Never underestimate how much damage a bad manager can do to your operation. A person in a position of authority, who is not performing or worse, performing subversively, can damage morale and client relations so rapidly you might not be able to recover. We once witnessed a new business that opened with tremendous fanfare and accolades end up closing in 9 months due in large part to a bad manager.
If you are going to fire someone eventually, fire them right away. Every excuse you can come up with to delay the firing of someone you know has to go eventually provides them with another day to do exactly the kind of damage that has caused you to conclude they have to be let go in the first place. Then, when you do let them go, the damage is far worse. Avoiding uncomfortable situations is cocktail party etiquette. It has no place in the business world. Let them go.
Understand your break-even points and your contribution margin; everyone is a manufacturer! The number of times we have encountered business owners who do not know their breakeven point are too numerous to mention. How on earth can you operate your business without knowing when you begin to make money? The answer is you can’t; the business is operating you.
When you hire outside professionals, especially lawyers and accountants, remember you did not just sign away your obligation to think for yourself. Be an active participant in your own business problem! Hiring a professional means you acquire expertise in their realm, it doesn’t mean they share your business knowledge, wisdom or perspective. Weigh all advice thoughtfully but make you own decisions.
In sales we are taught that when selling to someone we focus on, and differentiate between a) What we want to sell them b) What they need us to sell them, and c) What they actually want. We try to artfully surf between the three. Remember, in this economy we primarily need to focus on the one that isn’t on that list; What are they willing to pay for? More than ever we need to be attuned to budgets, initiatives and sudden imperatives belonging to the buying customer. This applies whether selling retail or business-to-business.
Bankers are not your business partners. Their commercials are all well produced and usually have a great jingle. All the ads talk about how they understand your business and how they want to be more than just your banker. Be careful and ask yourself one question: Am I my banker’s business partner?
When it comes to discussing their financial position (business or personal), EVERYBODY lies! They might lie up, they might lie down; they might lie big, they might lie little; they might lie compositionally; they might lie out of deceit; they might lie out of neglect, omission or embarrassment but they ALWAYS lie. Don’t ever count on what you are told, in voice or in print, about the financial condition of a business colleague.
Finally, when you hear something or encounter a situation that just doesn’t make business sense when compared to all of the accumulated experience and knowledge you’ve acquired, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. Something isn’t right. Do not ignore the subliminal, haunting indicators of danger and proceed as if they didn’t exist.

We hope you find these tips helpful and take them to heart. Behind each point is at least one, but usually more, story that supports the tip. While every situation is unique and requires your analysis before acting, remember that business principles are timeless and consistent. It is their application that becomes intricate.

Our “Segueway to Success” show airs each Wednesday at 15:00 Central Time on www.blogtalkradio.com

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

www.linkedlocalnetwork.com

Think Tank, Taxes and Holidays – Segueway to Success

Segueway — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:52:05 +0000

Segueway to Success with Matt Jensen, Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC.

Our “Segueway to Success” radio show airs each Wednesday at 15:00 Central Time on www.blogtalkradio.com

Listen at - Think Tank, Taxes and Holidays – Segueway to Success

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Tom Kuchan and Brent Hamachek

Segueway Solutions

Now that the Holidays are behind us, and we begin to reflect, a particularly interesting event took place one evening. At this specific dinner, we found ourselves in a rather diversified group including several artists, a foreign born American, a union member, a health care provider, and two young professionals who work in a think tank in Washington, DC.

Along with the small talk and catching up on personal lives, the discussion eventually turned to the state of the world and specifically the state of the US, its economy, pending financial and tax crisis, and all such things that are traditionally off limits in polite company – yes, we’ve been watching too much Downton Abbey!!

But even in such a diverse group there was consensus around a series of questions – Why isn’t anyone doing something to fix this? Where are the good ideas? And what began as the standard, somewhat cliché filled back and forth jousting of what we’ve all heard time and time again, ended up being a discussion of real substance, thanks to the youngest members of our group.

From them, came a clear assessment and understanding of where we are, what can be done to begin resolving some of our most urgent economic challenges, and how those changes impact individuals and the business community.

We thought that more people need to hear what some of the Millennial Generation has to say about solving our current problems – and that they have an optimistic perspective of our county’s future. Ever wonder what actually happens in a think tank? Who’s behind the real solutions, who’s studied them, what’s being discussed and proposed in our nation’s capital. As soon as “tax policy” is mentioned, we tend to roll our eyes just before they have a chance to glaze over – why does it have to be so complicated, boring, and theoretical? We’re here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be. We’ve found someone who speaks clearly and eloquently and in a way that relates to our daily lives.

Join us on Wednesday January 16, 2013 as we spend some quality time with Matt Jensen, Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC. Matt has been seen on TV, last fall co-authored a paper that was mentioned in the Vice-Presidential debates, and has appeared on several radio stations.

This promises to be an enlightening and fun conversation.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com

www.linkedlocalnetwork.com

Bankruptcy – An Insider’s View with Attorney Ariel Weissberg – Segueway to Success

Segueway — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:30:08 +0000

Segueway to Success

Listen at - Bankruptcy – An Insider’s View with Atty Ariel Weissberg

Previous Archived Shows - On Demand – “Segueway to Success” talk radio podcast

By: Brent Hamachek and Tom Kuchan

Segueway Solutions

Join us on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 15:00 CST as we discuss Bankruptcy – An Insider’s View

The darkness on the edge of town for every business owner is the looming possibility that at some point in time, they might have to declare bankruptcy. For generations the very word itself has carried a stigma. One of the reasons that bankruptcy causes such anxiety, especially when we find ourselves in a tough financial situation where it may become necessary, is because there is a great deal of mystery surrounding the ordeal. Everyone knows that “going BK” is not a desired outcome but few know what it entails and what the real consequences are.

At Segueway we deal with troubled companies on a regular basis. One of the options that usually needs to be explored is that of seeking protection under the bankruptcy statutes. What we find very interesting, however, is that the clients best suited for bankruptcy often resist the process while others who are very poor candidates eagerly wish to pursue it. What that means to us is that business decisions about filing for BK are based more on perceptions and emotions than they are on facts.

According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts,

Total bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2012, totaled 1,311,602, down 14.1 percent from
Total bankruptcy filings for the year ending June 30, 2011 which were 1,527,560
Non-business filings totaled 1,267,167, down 14.2 percent from the 1,477,426 non-business bankruptcy filings the previous year while
Business filings totaled 44,435, down 14.8 percent from the 52,134 business filings in the previous year.
For some perspective, in 1980 combined filings were under 350,000.

The bankruptcy code was modified significantly in 2005 but it impacted individuals more than businesses. Much of what happens in bankruptcy for businesses has to do with the approach taken by the judge and the approach taken by the appointed trustee; it’s complicated.

Join us this Wednesday when our guest, attorney Ariel Weissberg, sheds light on the shadow of business bankruptcy. Ariel began practicing law in 1979 at a small Chicago law firm where, as the only associate, he gained solid foundations in both business litigation and a wide-range of transactional work. Later, he built upon this foundation at a top medium-sized firm, further broadening his apprenticeship by representing Chapter 11 debtors and middle-market banks.

Since 1984, when Weissberg and Associates was founded, Ariel has built a varied and loyal clientele, comprised of small to medium-sized to publicly traded businesses, and individuals, who appreciate his aggressive, yet deliberate hands-on style and his dedication to achieving positive results for his clients. He is a “quick study” especially in financial matters, and he is sought out for complex business planning, especially relating to credit facilities and crisis management.

Ariel has deep roots in the Chicago community. The son of Rabbi Victor H. Weissberg, Ariel graduated from Washington University (B.A. 1976) and received his J.D. from St. Louis University Law School (1979). He returned to Chicago, where, besides practicing law, he involved himself in charitable and community-based activities. Married for over 20 years, Ariel is the father of three children including Ilan S. Weissberg, a former United States Marine. Ariel is an avid student of military history and an outdoorsman. He speaks frequently in the Chicago area concerning real estate, financial distress and litigation.

This show will be a must-listen for any business owner fearful of the unknown, and especially for those facing difficult circumstances where a bankruptcy filing might, or might not, be the answer.

Please join us.

Segueway Solutions – http://www.seguewaysolutions.com/

+1 (847) 778-9474

Brent E. Hamachek spent the first 15 years of his professional life in banking, working in 6 different sectors including audit, credit and 9 years as a commercial banker.

brent@SeguewaySolutions.com

Tom has lived overseas for over twenty years, including Switzerland, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked extensively across Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

tom@SeguewaySolutions.com