Areas of Expertise:

1. Accounting Forensics.  There are only so many ways that financial information can be manipulated. Most of the time, forensics requires activity based accounting techniques to pinpoint areas of concern.

2. Acquisitions.  Depending upon which side of an acquisition you are sitting, it is imperative that every weakness that the target company has needs to be identified. Both strengths and weaknesses need to be extrapolated out into the future. During the course of analyzing a company for an acquisition, the acquirer will want to discover everything that could impact future success. ​ From a divestiture standpoint, the company will want to find potential flaws before due diligence and financial analysis.

3. Asset Management & Protection.   Legal asset protection is imperative. Many companies are structured incorrectly for both asset protection and asset management. Most of the time the focus is on the bottom-line, not on keeping assets secure. If assets are at risk, the next step is the development of an asset protection plan. 

4. Banking and Investment Banking. According to Biz2Credit, the approval rate for small business loans at big banks was 18.8 percent. In contrast at some investment banks and venture capital firms, approval rates are less than 1 percent of deals presented. The bottom-line is that across the board, the market for the "No decision crowd" is far bigger than the "Yes decision crowd." If financial firms could turn the "No crowd" into a profit center just how big could that be. There is a real opportunity to provide advisory services to clients who need help.

5. Bankruptcy and Liquidations. Though the automatic stay allows a lot of operational freedoms, it does not fix the underlying root cause. With a business that is in trouble, a Bankruptcy Assessment and Plan can dramatically help all decision makers determine what is feasible and what is not. It doesn't make sense to turnaround some bankruptcies, while others it does. That point is that under BAPCPA for a reorganization plan to be confirmed, the Bankruptcy Court must make an independent finding that the reorganization is feasible and that it “is not likely to be followed by liquidation or the need for further financial reorganization of the debtor or any successors of the debtor under the plan” (Bankruptcy Code Section 1129(a)(11)).

6. Business & Professional Associations. There are around 23,000 associations in the United States that generate approximately $38 billion in revenue. Of that amount, the 50 largest associations accounted for 25 percent of total revenue. Opportunities for further growth include strategic partnerships, targeting growth sectors, global memberships, improving efficiencies, and expanding products and services. Ideally, associations should provide advice and services to members. ​ The goal should be to make each member more profitable. The association should be more customer oriented to enhance stature and industry growth. Extended services that the association should provide to their membership include industry training, marketing and sales training, along with programs to support the membership.

7. Life Transition Planning. The purpose of the Life Transition Plan is to put into place the steps that are required to make the future reality an acceptable reality. What that means is a plan that works and one that outlines the steps for overcoming problems. For individuals that own their own company, two plans need to be developed: 1) Corporate Transition Plan and 2) A Life Transition Plan. For business owners, the rationale is that each plan is dependent upon the other. Changes in one will impact the other. Life transition planning involves five areas for both the organization and the individuals involved.

8. Franchise Groups. The total size of combined franchises is much bigger than most people realize. There are over 770,000 franchise establishments in the United States with growth expected to be 1.7% in 2024. The key with franchise groups is that they want successful franchisees. That means that they need to put into place the controls to make that happen. Franchise management needs to put into place metric performance tools, comparison tools to monitor and measure monthly performance against the best performers in their group and against industry benchmarks to determine whether individual franchisees need help.

9. Financial Sustainability means that the longevity of the enterprise is secure well into the future. This is beyond Lean, Six Sigma, Change Acceleration Process, TOC, TQM, or Continuous Quality Improvement. The rationale? Because it really doesn't matter, the method or style, the bottom-line is that the domino effect of not identifying the real problems, constraints, and not implementing change initiatives in the right way, results in failure. Staying power comes from management leadership.

10. Industry Specific Metrics. If someone presents themselves as being an expert in an industry, it is only logical that they be able to compare company metrics to accurate industry benchmarks. In addition, they need to be able to compare the company to the metrics established by Balance Sheets and P&Ls for that industry. SVI has built a database for this purpose.  However, that is only the base entry point. The next step is that an industry expert can support the position of the client company to the best in the industry. Further it is necessary to show the company in comparison to industry averages. The key is industry metrics coupled with actual industry statistics and recognizing the qualities that make for industry leadership.

11.  ​Intellectual Properties. Strategic Intellectual Property Plans are a must for any company that has valuable intellectual properties. Intellectual Properties are much more than copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade secrets, and trade dress. Intellectual Properties are not just about ownership, they are about action, growth, and value that can be put to use. This portion of the vision for the company should be included in the Corporate Vision Map. The Vision Map plots the course. The old saying, “Without a vision, the people perish”, can be likened to without a vision an enterprise perishes. ​Because patents offer a time frame of opportunity, they also provide an advantageous sales and marketing structure. As a result, they create a distinct marketing advantage.

12. Mergers & Acquisitions. Most people don't seem to realize that in a merger or acquisition, every detail needs to be checked. For instance, just because the financials are audited does not mean that everything is completely accurate. Statistical probabilities, known forensics methods for discovery of erroneous financial reporting, and industry comparisons based on industry percentage probabilities pinpoint areas for focus in the due diligence process. It really doesn't make any difference what is shown, if it can't be duplicated or bested after the transaction.  The current reality and the past may not be indicative of the future.

13. Operations. Every business faces constraints in achieving the next level of success. In reality each constraint is like an octopus with tentacles attached to key parts of the business. The problem is how to dissect the business into enough minute, but qualitative ways to find all of the tentacles of the constraint. Many organizations measure the wrong metrics or analytics and are thereby constantly fixing the wrong things. Having met with multiple high level executives at well known companies, it never ceases to amaze us that multiple “change initiatives” are going on with measurement systems that portray savings in a particular department or area, but result in no impact to the bottom-line, cash flow, or return on investment.

14. Sales & Marketing. In 70 percent of companies, the constraint is in the market or is revenue based. Capturing markets and expanding sales really happen when extraordinary thinking produces extraordinary customer service, customer quality and value. Marketing’s job is to create extraordinary opportunities and it is sale’s job to close the sales. It is easy to do when the value proposition is beyond what competitor’s can offer or do. Many times, however, the problem with really blasting off sales is a capacity issue coupled with the constraint. That is why capacity is so important when looking at sales & marketing strategies and mapping.

15. Shareholder Value. Shareholders, by definition, are looking for certain results from their investments. If they are not seeing those results, they may decide to move their capital somewhere else. As a result, management is under more and more pressure to perform. Creating shareholder value, in this highly competitive global marketplace, is becoming ever more challenging and important. The starting point in fixing a problem is determining whether one exists. From a shareholder’s viewpoint, they are looking for wealth maximization from each investment. The question is whether management is performing and whether the future reality is going to be better than the current reality.

16. Turnarounds and Workouts. Turnarounds and workouts go hand in hand. Even in most corporate bankruptcies, debt needs to be restructured. The key is to pull the drowning company out of the water and put it on dry land. Most problem areas have multiple contributory factors that cause the constraint. It is important to be able to identify those areas.

17. Vision Sustainability. Vision Sustainability means that the longevity of the enterprise is secure well into the future. The key is planning and thinking through all the steps well into the future. Today's decisions impact the future one way or the other.  ​Using common parts could result in disaster in future new product designs. Rigid service procedures could also spell disaster. The point is not to put into effect a series of dominoes resulting in the perfect storm for failure. Think through each process and its impact, both negative and positive, going into the future. Lack of management buy-in can kill a transformation before it even begins. Then there is management loosing sight of the vision, the goal to achieve the vision, or not enforcing the change process. What is really necessary is a committed, vision dedicated management team.