Fri Jun 15/ 2007 – 6:41 pm MST
We all spend an inordinate amount of time, dreaming up ways to get more customers, close more sales, make more money… OK, I do, anyway. This creation of competitive advantage is vital. Of course, protecting that competitive advantage is the other side of the game. Even football has both offense and defense. I hear that […]
Sun Jun 10/ 2007 – 4:22 pm MST
Which of us have actually written a line of code in any language? Perl?, PHP?, Javascript?, C, ummm, Fortran? Has anyone wrestled with Linux or Unix? What about an SQL conforming database – Oracle, or Sybase – even MS Access? Who here has ever entered a command at a shell prompt? Dos “dir”, or Unix […]
Tue Jun 5/ 2007 – 9:12 am MST
We have established that IT obsolescence is a problem. Unfortunately, to may of us that conjures up pictures of a 1979 Cadillac - a beautiful thing that still works, but it costs $20 to go shopping, and replacement parts are hard to find. This problem is a lot worse than that!
Compounding the obsolescence […]
Fri Jun 1/ 2007 – 2:02 pm MST
IT is of course, information technology, referring to computers and related assets. Independent business is confronted with a spectrum of risks, well beyond bruising of the fingertip pads, and carpal tunnel syndrome. As distasteful as IT may be to many of us, it nevertheless needs to be reviewed. So screw up your courage, swallow your […]
Thu May 24/ 2007 – 10:49 am MST
Risks of cashflow are partly an illusion. Agreed – the definition of insolvency is the inability to meet obligations when they are due, and so cashflow … BUT
What is Cash
What is cash? Fundamentally, cash or money is a measuring tool. Apples and shoes are difficult things to compare. When I want to replace my shoes, […]
Mon May 7/ 2007 – 12:28 am MST
Independent businesses are complex. Since all decisions are made by one person, or a very small circle, there are few of the organizational separations familiar to large firms. A large firm can identify certain operations – collections of assets, people, products, and opportunities – as belonging to a business unit. It is then possible to […]
Fri May 4/ 2007 – 10:19 pm MST
I confess, last post I slid a little quickly over “You quantify the risks”. ‘Fraid I had to, because it is a significant subject in itself. Entrepreneurs rely on their instinct and experience to appraise risk - but this is qualitative, and sometimes a number estimate can be very helpful.
The financial markets cheat a bit […]
Wed May 2/ 2007 – 1:27 pm MST
Specific risk, as we saw before, is the risks of a specific investment. Our review of how this is handled in capital markets, where the focus of analysis is the specific risk of a particular equity for instance is worth revisiting.
The specific risk of an equity is driven by the observed volatility of the stock […]
Sun Apr 8/ 2007 – 10:18 am MST
Step back from your focus on the business you are developing, for a moment. It is pretty important to keep your business risk and investment in a perspective of who you are, and where you are headed. A lot of that may be wrapped up in your business, but there are other investments you have […]
Wed Feb 28/ 2007 – 6:29 pm MST
An investor is considering making an investment. They have considered the systemic risks involved – the question of which stock market is most stable, has the best reporting, has strong investor protections, and is based in an economy or country with good legal infrastructure, and best-in-class currency and monetary policy management. They understand the […]
