By Robert Goldrich
April 24, 2009 -- Mad River Post, a mainstay editorial house which recently marked its 20-year anniversary, has shuttered day-to-day operations. Assets of the company—which encompassed studios in New York, Detroit and Santa Monica—have been sold by a third party assignee, with net proceeds slated to be distributed to creditors in the order of priority established under California law. Editor Michael Elliot, a founder of Mad River, told SHOOT a confluence of difficult circumstances led to the company's demise.
Balancing art and commerce is the enduring challenge of every creative business.
We have learned that how their leaders find that balance is subject to change. And we know that every time they rebalance, their business is affected.
We help our clients clearly articulate what they're trying to build. A process most discover they are undertaking for the first time.
Then we help them make the changes necessary to build the business they want.
One that does great work.
And one that lasts.
]]>
There are a lot of partnerships around.
And some of them work really well.
But like anything, over time they can lose their way.
They need constant attention and at some point they need to be rebalanced.
Wait too long? And it's a feat beyond even the Great Wallenda.
Act too soon, and you might be throwing away your company's greatest asset.
When entrepreneurs ask us to help with a partnership imbroglio we do three things:
It can be a difficult process for the partners. After all the reflection usually shows a different reality to the one they're used to seeing.
That can be a dauting proposition when you feel like you're balancing on a tightrope. But once we get through the process the truth becomes a safety net.
And the future is always easier.
]]>"Lean and mean", comes up a lot as well.
What they mean is that no one is sitting around with their feet up. Which makes us ask, why not?
Our goal is to jet-propel your management structure.
If your senior management team is doing things that someone else can do, you're wasting their time and your money.
And missing the opportunity to let them spend some of their time sitting around with their feet up.
Which as Google, among others, have shown, is when they're at their most valuable.
]]>Business owners are asking us to help them downsize.
We're glad when they do because there's nothing more destructive in the long run than a business that has been decimated by reactive cut-backs.
My post Lay Off the Lay-Offs talks about this at a macro level. And we've learned that the lessons hold true at the individual company perspective.
One of the first things we ask for when we're hired to help manage a down-sizing is to see the company's full-year projections and actuals to date.
Then we help develop three different income projections. Indifferent. Bad. Disaster.
At each level, we coach the management team through how they're going to make up the shortfall - both in terms of profitability and cash.
Armed with this plan, it's a lot easier for a company owner to make thoughtful, considered decisions about what can be cut while retaining as much of the company's core value as possible.
Emotion is the big enemy in these situations. Helping business owners to build a plan when they're're not filled with anguish always creates a better outcome.
]]>Whether that’s a merger, acquisition, joint-venture, partnership or code-share depends on strategic, financial, legal and emotional factors.
Let’s take the easy one - the legal structure.
We downloaded a chart a couple of days ago that compares and contrasts ‘Sole Proprietorships vs. C Corporations vs. S Corporations vs. LLCs’.
It contains a sixty-five square grid, one of which states: ‘Taxed at corporate rate and possible double taxation: Dividends are taxed at the individual level if distributed to shareholders.’
Having lived through this debate both personally and on behalf of some of our clients we can tell you three things.
Simply, nothing about picking the best legal structure for your business is simple. And the right answer for you depends on what you’re doing.
And who with.
]]>Who (is going to run it). What (makes you think you need to invest in this, now). When (do you want it up and running by). Where (is it going to be in one year. In five.) How (are you going to be better as a business for having built it).
New Divisions can seem like a quick answer to a deep-seated problem. The natural extension of an existing practice. The only option. All of the above.
So then we ignore all that and focus on the implications to the existing business.
Because if the numbers don't add up there, there's no point. Decimal or otherwise.
]]>A big difference.
Most businesses need all three. But end up focusing almost entirely on a fourth one - sales.
Some of our best friends are sales people. Which doesn't make them great at PR. Or Publicity.
So we make sure we teach our clients what it took us a decade to learn.
Usually it takes about ten minutes.
Talk about value for money.
]]>
It's like buying a house, sealing off some of the rooms with the lights on, and then redecorating them on a regular basis.
We believe that everything a business does should be valuable. And that the whole company should benefit.
As business owners we were passionate about removing geography, time, personality and "not invented here" as obstacles to integrating the company's knowledge and talent base.
That let us maximize our value to our customers and learn from every experience. Which maximized the value to us.
To break down these barriers for our clients we have to be certain we understand the practical, financial and emotional issues that built them in the first place.
Then we can develop a new set of tools and blueprints for them. So they can build the business they really want.
]]>