The Building Business Value newsletter has one purpose - to assist midmarket business leaders in their never-ending quest to build better companies. Whether you are the CEO of your own company, a senior manager of a business unit, or a leader in a company that serves those in the mid market, you will find something in each newsletter to help you serve your stakeholders. Each month we will cover a variety of topics, all focused on leading in the mid market.
We are very conscious that you spend much of your day buried in e-mail, so it is with your permission that we send this newsletter your way.
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| Focusing on Revenue Instead of Value
Do you know what makes your company valuable? | Midmarket CEOs often get asked "How big is your company?" In American business, size matters. Beyond the preoccupation with numbers and size is a much more important question that is rarely asked: "What impact does your company have in the marketplace?" Is the company a bit player, a role player, or the "leading man" in its market? Typically, business leaders describe their companies in terms of revenue, head count, or plants and equipment. Revenue is an easy answer because that's a scorecard everyone can understand. But when they use this measure, companies shy away from the "value discussion" because value is a much more esoteric concept.
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This Holiday Season, Give a Gift with Real Value
Send your clients a copy of 'Building Business Value' ~ Add a custom label with your company logo and personalized message. ************************************************************** Retail $22.00 21 - 40 books > 30% discount = $16.00 / book 41 - 200 books > 50% discount = $12.00 / book 200 + books > 60% discount = $9.00 / book **************************************************************
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| Good Reads .....
My Latest Favorites | |
Spiraling Up
by Lee W. Frederiksen, Aaron E. Taylor
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| What are the Strengths of Your Company?
Honestly assess the strengths of your organization. | |
When a company decides to take on the challenge of working their way through the 'value building process', one of the exercises we take the leadership teams through is an analysis of what drives value in their business. There are about 90 areas of value segmented into 14 different dimensions such as "Markets", "Product or Service Leadership", "Pricing" and "Financial Performance".
Business leaders often ask if a company has to excel in all fourteen dimensions to build a premium value.
Absolutely not.
You've got to meet industry standards in each category and you have to excel in the dimensions where your company has special expertise. Marcus Buckingham, who developed a "strengths management" approach to building efficiency, offers the analogy of responding to a report card your child brought home with three As, one B, one C, and one D.
Which subject gets your immediate attention?
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Growth Strategy in a Box
Developing an Actionable and Collaborative Strategy in a Week
 "Growth Strategy in a Box" is a short but intense planning process designed to establish a clear direction and create alignment among the company's leadership. The lack of a clear, concise, and actionable direction often leaves company leadership rudderless. Our four step process will create three transformational, strategic initiatives based on your current situation, the market conditions, and your long range objectives. When executed, each initiative will move your company in the right direction.
For more information, please visit
http://www.corsum.com/strategic-planning/
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As a business operator, I have been in a position to lead a company during troubled times. Concerns over the direction of the company, sleepless nights worrying about debt and cash flow, high anxiety over closing a deal or a transaction - the challenges seem endless. But I've also experienced the highs of leadership - the real joy of meeting client needs, the fulfillment of shaping a team, and the satisfaction of watching a vision become a reality. As tough as it can be, there is really nothing quite like being a leader in the midmarket.
It is my sincere desire that this newsletter will support leaders in the midmarket as they navigate their way to building stronger, more valuable companies. I welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
Marty
Martin O'Neill
Corsum Consulting, LLC
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| | Marty O'Neill | Marty O'Neill founded Corsum Consulting, which focuses on one goal: helping companies build business value. He is a frequent speaker and consultant on leadership, corporate culture and building business value and is the author of Building Business Value (Third Bridge Press) and the co-author of Act Like an Owner (Wiley). As a business operator, Marty started and sold a company, positioned another for an LBO, and helped a third sell for a significant premium. Marty lives on the Magothy River in Maryland with his wife and three children.
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"If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him."
~ Seneca
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Building Business Value: How to Command a Premium Price for Your Midsized Company
by Martin O'Neill (Third Bridge Press)
Hardcover 
List Price: $22.95
Our Price: $15.96 Buy Now
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Act Like an Owner Owner: Building an Ownership Culture
by Martin O'Neill (Wiley)
Hardcover
List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $24.53 Buy Now
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I first came across Lee Frederiksen's work during a 2008 presentation he gave on High Growth Professional Services firms. Since I have spent a large portion of my professional life in the pro services field, I was eager to hear what he and his team had to say. The nature of the content drew me to Lee's work, but the content itself, based on endless interviews and conversations with industry executives, kept me reading. The layout of the book and presentation of the material kept me engaged. Leaders in the services market segment should read Spiraling Up. They will find it an easy read and given Lee's marketing background, readers can easily pick out 'takeaways' they can quickly put into practice.
