February 2019 Newsletter

The 80th session of the Nevada Legislature, which meets every two years, began on February 4th and will be running for 120 consecutive days.

The decisions made by our elected representatives have an immediate and powerful impact on our daily lives, especially for those of us who own and run businesses.

During the current session there are already about 1,000 Bill Draft Requests (BDRs) and it is estimated there will be hundreds of more BDRs proposing to change the laws in some form or another. Each of these BDRs will be reviewed, discussed, re-drafted, re-discussed and potentially approved for our new Governor Steve Sisolak to sign into law. The range of topics and items that will be considered is endless and very likely to impact you.

In an effort to stay involved in the process and look out for my clients, I am serving on the Legislative Committee for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, which will be tracking many of these BDRs on behalf of our local businesses. Since resources are limited, we will primarily focus on four main areas: Taxes and Regulations; Infrastructure and Land Development; Healthcare; and Workforce Readiness. Additionally, I will be heading to Carson City on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 to visit with legislators and help them understand our concerns for you.

Get involved and let us know how we can assist you in protecting your business.

Fundamentals:Leadership

“Management is doing things right;
leadership is doing the right things.”
– Peter Drucker

1. The individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively.
2. The activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this.
3. The act of inspiring subordinates to perform and engage in achieving a goal.

One of our goals at Eagle Corporate Advisors is to help you increase the transferable value of your company. The activities of value enhancement implements changes which create and drive long-term benefits for you.

Strong leadership is one of your organization’s key value drivers. Your company’s value is increased when it has an active board of directors, a cooperative senior management team that effectively communicates within a positive culture, and can stay on course without constant interference from ownership. This includes adequate succession planning for the senior team and career advancement plans for those who will be filling these roles in the future. Who is on your bench? Are they getting the experience needed to keep the company running beyond your days?

Leadership and a positive company culture go hand-in-hand. Company culture starts at the highest organizational levels, but it doesn’t stay there. That’s because employees are paying close attention to how leaders walk the talk. Are plans being implemented all the way down the organization?

In other words, your people are paying attention to what you do, not what you say.
In terms of tangible benefits, strong leadership guides the actions, behaviors and alignment of a positive culture. It does this through accountability and influence in the ability to hire, develop and retain quality individuals. The right people can strengthen morale, engagement, ethics, customer relations, productivity, innovation and many other aspects—all of which can add to your bottom line.

“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader—they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role, always about the goal.”
— Lisa Haisha

Step 2: Advancement

At Eagle Corporate Advisors, we help you chart a course, cross bridges, avoid obstacles and stay on track to keep you and your business on the best path to your success. We call this roadmap “The Six A’s.”

In our last issue, we talked about Assessment, in which we perform an objective comprehensive analysis of all factors which may impact your growth or transition strategy. This includes understanding your business position and personal goals from objective and subjective points of view.

In this month’s newsletter, I want to focus on Advancement, which is the second A. Advancement involves developing the proper action plan and timeline to help make your dreams a reality. Why are you doing what you are doing? Why do you want to change or improve? What will you accomplish? When will you have time to work on your course corrections? When will you reach your destination? How will you do it? How will you find the resources and time to implement each action? Who will be accountable for each step? Will you try to take on more than you can handle and give up too soon?

To truly advance along the path, you need a clear set of written instructions for your journey. Not only does this cover your “who, what, when, how and why,” but your accountability, focus, tracking, use of resources and much more. You may want to re-visit the Planning section of the January 2019 newsletter as a review of some of the steps to be taken.

There are several fundamental areas of your business that will need to be considered while determining what will be advanced first, second, third and so on. Improving and advancing the transferrable value of your business is not a short process. It can be simple, but definitely not easy. Some of the areas to consider are Planning, Leadership, Sales, Marketing, People, Operations, Finance and Legal. Each has many parts and pieces that interconnect with the other primary areas. Obtaining balance among them all is critical before you can successfully and significantly raise the quality of the whole batch.

As you can see, this step is quite complex. You may find you need a company like ours to help you stay the course as you maneuver through the eight fundamental business areas that need to be reviewed and improved:

Planning – A company with a strong vision and mission supported by a fully-developed written business plan, and an understanding of its target market, competition, and barriers to entry, has significant advantage and value over other companies.

Leadership – Your company’s transferrable value is increased when it has an active board of directors, a cooperative senior management team that effectively communicates within a positive culture, and can stay on track without constant interference from ownership.

Sales – High value companies have the ability to deliver on the sales promises made to the marketplace and to do it in a systematic and reliable process-driven manner.

Marketing – This includes a thorough marketing plan, appropriate positioning, use of technology, and public relations, along with predictable accurate implementation of marketing to generate sustainable sales.

People – Your business value depends on its ability to hire, develop and retain quality individuals. The right people can strengthen culture, ethics, customer relations, production, innovation and other aspects of operations.

Operations – Your company needs systems and documented processes in place to deliver on the promises made to the marketplace in an efficient and effective manner, allowing it to scale to the next level or region.

Finance – All of your company’s financial matters must be in order while following best practices. These include clean audits, readable financial statements, operating reports, adequate tax planning, insurance protection, use of current technology, and proper banking and capitalization strategies.

Legal – You have all legal matters in order, documented, including intellectual property. There are no claims for or against your company, you have a process to handle potential liability issues, and you have contracts with key customers, suppliers, advisors and contractors.

In my mentorship, I often talk about the “Five D’s,” which are five major events that can create severe disorder in a business.

These are:

• Disagreement
• Divorce
• Disability
• Death
• Distress

While none are pleasant to think about, it is imperative that owners have a contingency plan to give the business a fighting chance of survival when one or more occur. There are definitely steps, within our control, that we can implement to minimize the potential negative impacts of these frequent events, which I will discuss in greater detail in future newsletters.

For now, I would like to address other forms of disruption, such as current headlines that can be no less devastating. These can include economic downturns, natural disasters, shutdowns, strikes, new competition, changes to relevant laws, technological obsolescence, a shortage or price increase in needed materials, wars, and dozens more.

The recent government shutdown is a good example. While some workers could see it coming, they had no way of knowing exactly when it would take place or how long it would continue. Many were ill-prepared, as 78 percent of full-time workers say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent report from CareerBuilder. Fortunately, government workers received their back pay, unlike the businesses who will never be able to make up the difference when a disruption from the “normal” occurs. And it’s not just about those directly impacted. What if you own a private sector business that depends on Federal government contracts? How do you weather that storm?

The point is this: we live in an unpredictable world that can derail our best efforts without warning. Preparation is key, and while the pain can’t be eliminated completely, it can certainly be decreased. When was the last time you had a serious conversation about ways to make your business less vulnerable to inside and outside forces?

Upcoming Events

02/13/19 | Business Valuation Workshop

Do you know what your business is really worth?

As president of Eagle Corporate Advisors, Chuck Mohler uses his 25-plus years in business to assist professionals who can’t always know and do it all.

So is Chuck an “advisor,” a “coach” or a “mentor”? People often use the terms interchangeably but they have distinct meanings.

An “advisor” is an individual with a background and skillset similar to yours, but has “been there, done that” and is eager to share hard-won lessons.

A “coach,” similar to sports, helps you address specific challenges in the business arena. Coaches guide you through the rough spots and help you improve areas that need enhancement.

A “mentor” is not only capable of training you for business success, they also help you become a better, more well-rounded person.

What role does Chuck serve? He’s well equipped to be all three, but his long-time clients know he strives to be their mentor from day one.