Do The Hardest Thing First And The Rest Will Be Easy

Written by Greg Reid


You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long asrepparttar bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: GregReid@AlwaysGood.com

Do The Hardest Thing First And The Rest Will Be Easy

Have you ever noticed that in life we almost always chooserepparttar 104044 easy road,repparttar 104045 path of least resistance when it comes to challenges in our way?

I remember as a kid working in a warehouse,repparttar 104046 foreman came up to me when I was complaining aboutrepparttar 104047 tough job I had ahead of me atrepparttar 104048 end of my shift, and said…

“You want a secret that will help you not have to deal with that task atrepparttar 104049 end ofrepparttar 104050 day?”

I said “Sure”, hoping he was about ready to give me a new assignment.

“Dorepparttar 104051 hardest thing first, andrepparttar 104052 rest will be easy” he replied.

I must have looked at him with an expression similar to a confused puppy learning a new trick, when he continued with…

“It’s like this… when it’s all said and done, you know you have to finishrepparttar 104053 job right?”

My head nodded in sad agreement.

“ Well, since you have to do it anyway, why not just do it now, right away and get it over with? That way, you get to handle it when you haverepparttar 104054 most energy, as well as put it out of your head so you don’t have to worry about it any longer?

That way forrepparttar 104055 rest ofrepparttar 104056 shift, you can focus on allrepparttar 104057 easier tasks ahead of you and enjoyrepparttar 104058 time you’re here.”

MERGER AND ACQUISITION - AN ENGINE FOR CORPORATE GROWTH

Written by Dave Kauppi


Two companies that are recognized as amongrepparttar best at making successful acquisitions are General Electric and Cisco Systems. These companies have been star performers in growing shareholder value. The core principal that runs through almost every acquisition is integration. Overrepparttar 104043 past 10 years Cisco Systems has acquired 81 companies. Their stock price is up a remarkable 1300%. GE outperformedrepparttar 104044 S&P 500 index overrepparttar 104045 same period by 300%. There are several categories of strategic acquisition that can produce some outstanding results:

1.ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS – this is almost always a factor in strategic acquisitions. Some companies buy another that is inrepparttar 104046 same business in a different geography. They get to integrate market presence, brand awareness, and market momentum.

2.OPERATING LEVERAGE –repparttar 104047 major focus in this type of acquisition is to improve profit margins through higher utilization rates for plant and equipment. A manufacturer of cardboard containers that is operating at 65% of capacity buys a smaller similar manufacturer. The acquired company’s plant is sold, all but two machines are sold,repparttar 104048 G&A staff are let go andrepparttar 104049 new customers are served more cost effectively.

3.CAPITALIZE ON A COMPANY STRENGTH – this is why Cisco and GE have been so successful with their acquisitions. They are so strong in so many areas, thatrepparttar 104050 acquired company getsrepparttar 104051 benefit of many of those strengths. A very powerful business accelerator is to acquire a company that has a complementary product that is used by your installed customer base. Management depth and skill, production efficiency/ capacity, large base of installed accounts, developed sales and distribution channels, and brand recognition are examples of strengths that can power post acquisition performance.

4.COVER A WEAKNESS – This requires a good deal of objectivity fromrepparttar 104052 acquiring company in recognizing and chinks inrepparttar 104053 corporate armor. Let me help you with some suggestions – 1. Customer concentration; 2. Product concentration; 3. Weak product pipeline; 4. Lack of management depth or technical expertise and 5. Great technology and products – poor sales and marketing.

5.BUY A LOW COST SUPPLIER – this integration strategy is typically aimed at improving profit margins rather than growing revenues. If your product is comprised of several manufactured components, one way to improve corporate profitability is to acquire one of those suppliers. You achieve greater control of overall costs, availability of supply, and greater value-add to your end product

6.IMPROVING OR COMPLETING A PRODUCT LINE – this approach has several elements from other acquisition strategies. Successfully adding new products to a line improves profitability and revenue growth. Giving a sales force more “arrows in their quiver” is a powerful growth strategy. You take advantage of your existing sales and distribution channel (strength). You may be able to improve your competitive position by simplifyingrepparttar 104054 buying process - providing your customers one stop shopping.

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