People

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, our Strombeck family partnered with other local businesses to provide immediate relief effort for the Bahamas. We banded together to deliver emergency supplies and critical aid directly to survivors on the island via helicopter. Even ahead of the formal mobilization of agencies on the ground. To learn how you can donate to the ongoing relief effort in the Bahamas and help the island rebuild visit: bahamas. Read more…

While every entrepreneur needs a top line focus (nothing happens ‘til someone sells something) we need to be reminded about attention to profits. Samuel Johnson once said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” Here’s a reminder to pause in the top-line thinking and get some practical bottom-line focus – because even if you may have Walmart revenues, but have Nordstrom operating expenses, you’re going to go broke: Inc: 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Profit Margins

You’ve heard it from the B-schools, fellow entrepreneurs, you Vistage or other CEO peer group – you need Key Performance Indicators to move your business forward (or keep it from sliding back.) But KPI’s are not generic – yours aren’t the same as everyone else’s, even your closest competition. Success will bring you to a point where you have to grow past your trusty “gut” and quantify critical functions so you can translate “gut” into actionable and transferrable skills to your team. BernardMarr.com: A Sample KPI Template

“In the digital world, there are many ways to acquire customers: paid social, paid search, email acquisition, organic social, organic search (earning traffic through content), public relations, influencer marketing, and earned media.” Author Adam Bornstein reminds of ways to get the most bang for your buck – even some free means of engaging and acquiring new customers. Entrepreneur: How Much Should You Spend on Social Media Marketing?

The best salespeople often have that intangible, that ‘woo’, that ability to connect with a customer. But beyond ‘gut’ there are processes – “cadences” that help develop a rhythm to the process of sales. And for many high value products and services, sales is a process, not an event. How’s your ‘cadence’? Salesloft: 5 Elements of a Winning Sales Cadence

Middle management is tough. Entry level employees focus on applying skills to get tasks done. Upper management has proven they have the skills. So they get to talk strategy, markets. Use ‘soft skills.’ But life in the middle is responsible for the tasks of others, to coach, assist and not succumb to the ‘I’ll just do it myself’ temptation. It’s a balancing act of people and task. So in 2002, Google tried to prove that middle managers didn’t matter. Inc.: Google Tried to Prove Managers Don't Matter

Middle management is tough. Entry level employees focus on applying skills to get tasks done. Upper management has proven they have the skills. So they get to talk strategy, markets. Use ‘soft skills.’ But life in the middle is responsible for the tasks of others, to coach, assist and not succumb to the ‘I’ll just do it myself’ temptation. It’s a balancing act of people and task. So in 2002, Google tried to prove that middle managers didn’t matter. McKinsey: Digital strategy - The four fights you have to win

“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” -Warren Buffet Growth through acquisitions is a common occurrence for business owners. But judging whether the company to be acquired will meet Mr. Buffet’s definition of wonderful can be difficult. When circumstances are somewhat uncertain, some of the risk of the future performance of the acquired company can be shifted to the seller. Read more…

“With the new automated process from Strombeck Consulting, I was able to get more data every week, and the numbers were 100% reliable. I saved significantly on labor costs and my team was able to use that time to focus on other tasks.” Mike MacKubin, retired CFO of DiPasqua Enrerprises, Inc., operator of 120 Subway stores in Central Florida (http://www.subwaydipasqua.com) Like many growing businesses, DiPasqua Enterprises had accumulated a series of inputs for its reporting and payroll that included programs and spreadsheets that provided data for manual inputs into the company’s primary accounting software. Read more…

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” -Albert Einstein Would Einstein understand Bitcoin? Bitcoin is one of a series of newly created virtual currencies. If it can achieve adequate acceptance, it can provide the same utility as your current electronic banking, but with a very important difference. No bank or government is involved, and transactions are entirely anonymous. For a more detailed description visit http://www.bitcoin.org. Read more…

Straight & Level Technologies is an aviation and aeronautics technology company in Orlando, Florida whose flagship product, WingBug, is making waves across the small aircraft sector. The WingBug is a personal, portable, self-encompassed, pitot static precision measuring device, which is mounted to the wing of an aircraft and gathers true ADAHRS (Air Data Attitude Heading Reference System) flight information. This information is then transmitted for display to the pilot on an iPad, presenting him/her with an airspeed indicator, an attitude indicator, an altimeter, a turn and bank indicator, a compass, a vertical speed indicator, as well as an angle of attack and sideslip indicator. Read more…

If you’re familiar with Strombeck, you’ll know we go far beyond typical CPA work to actually help business owners eliminate barriers to their growth and financial success. And surely you’ve experienced the bold, yet big-picture approach that our seasoned advisors embody. But perhaps you didn’t know that we’ve helped several industry-leading companies achieve award-winning success. Or that we’ve recently announced some big news that could positively affect you and your business. Read more…

“Strombeck was the one of the best moves I ever made in 36 years.” Tony and Cheryl DiSalvatore own and operate a fast-growing sign business in Orlando called Creative Signs, Inc., along with their four (out of five) adult children. Although wary of an external consultant, Tony sat down with Rick Strombeck in 2012 to hear what he had to say. “Rick’s attitude was confident, bold and enlightening,” Tony explains. “He was so direct, it concerned me and attracted me at the same time. Read more…

“I completely trust Strombeck’s highly competent team, which makes it easy to work with them.” The DiPasqua family founded DiPasqua Enterprises, Inc. as Subway’s first Orlando-area franchisee in 1977, and is now into its fourth generation of family-run sub sandwich restaurants. It’s also one of the largest franchisee groups in the nation. Prior to hiring Strombeck, DiPasqua CFO Mike MacKubin and his team would collect data from all 120 stores to be assembled into one database, in order for them to generate weekly reports. Read more…

“Strombeck is constantly looking at measurements of success and opportunities for change.” Founded by Bryan Earnest in 1994, Earnest Products provides high-quality sheet metal fabrication and other related services. They operate out of their 240,000 sq. ft. facility in Central Florida, where they fabricate custom metal parts for a multitude of industries. Having been through a number of accounting firms and firing their CFO, Bryan was introduced to Rick Strombeck. “What struck me about Rick right away was his confidence and boldness,” says Bryan. Read more…

Terra Mango is an immersive and complex, location-based strategy game that pushes the boundaries of what's been done before. The game brings every building in the real world into the virtual world. This means the entire, real world, and every building in it, is the game’s battlefield. About Terra Mango Will you defend your race from the intrusion of your enemies as a Human? Will you exact revenge on your creators as the IO? Read more…

“Strombeck saved us thousands in labor costs and greatly improved our customer service.” Universal Roof & Contracting is a thriving family-owned business specializing in residential exteriors, roof repair/replacement and premium windows in Orlando, Florida. Jared Mellick, president of Universal Roof & Contracting, Universal Contracting commercial division and Renewal By Andersen windows division, has been a Strombeck client since 2014. Since that time, the Strombeck team has streamlined a number of Universal Roof’s processes, which has not only saved the company thousands of dollars, but also has greatly improved their customer service. Read more…

The Boomer cycle is winding down and Boomer business owners are more and more preparing for the time when they will, by necessity or intention, take leave of the thing they built. Whether transitioning to the next generation, or to another owner, the best intentions are well thought through and planned. As Stephen Covey put it, “Begin with the end in mind.” What are YOU thinking about endings? We can help. Read more…

Heading into summer, we look at the whole “Leaders are readers/ readers are leaders” theme. Tom Peters reinvented the business book with “In Search of Excellence” over 35 years ago. A voracious reader himself and writer of 29 books, he recently found himself talking with a “top 10 list of [Warren] Buffett–like” person. Their take? Today’s CEO’s don’t read enough. See what you think, plus get names of some books that Peters thinks are worth the time investment. Strategy+Business Magazine: Tom Peters Wants You to Read

Congress passed some bi-partisan tax relief recently – things of which you may be able to take advantage: Casualty losses deductible for more than $500 are more readily deductible, and can be taken against your 2016 or 2017 income – i.e. use it against the highest rate Up to $2,400 tax credit (even better than a special deduction) of wages paid to workers unable to come to work when the business was closed (“rendered inoperable”) due to the hurricane 50% limit on individual contributions and corporate 10% limit of taxable income suspended 10% penalty on retirement plan withdrawals is waived Up to $100,000 can be borrowed from retirement plans And more. Read more…

Boundaries define things – from nation states to subdivisions to individuals. In an interview, author Dr Henry Cloud talks about examples of leaders who don’t set boundaries and some of the issues they have, seven types of boundaries leaders can create, what happens when co-workers overstep boundaries and more. Get a taste at Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/05/10/dr-henry-cloud-how-to-manage-boundaries-in-the-workplace/#112b3568681d How To Manage Boundaries In The Workplace and check out his book: Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge

OK, maybe your goal is a bit less than a $1,000,000,000 in sales. But principles that drive growth-oriented entrepreneurs work in most any context. Catastrophes as opportunities? Know your #’s? Six ideas that can help raise your top and bottom lines 6 Ways to Build a Billion-Dollar Sales Machine

Last month we mentioned how we are helping clients leverage technology to maximize productivity and profits. A fun fact of our programming team is that they are allotted time to invest in creative projects. The result is an affiliate company called Breadboard, which is about to launch a new mobile app. Terra Mango is a Location Based Strategy (LBS) game where players can build virtual towers where real buildings exist, battle with troops, in real space, in real time. https://terramango.com/kickstarter

Time for some mid-year evaluation – things that you probably should have done as a New Year’s resolution, but hadn’t gotten to yet. Well, it’s not too late to avoid counting another failed resolution. Is your estate plan up to date? Nothing like some horror stories of people who could have easily afforded the right help, but didn’t. So if you need some motivation to avoid the procrastination: AICPA: Famous People Who Failed Estate Planning

Are you leveraging technology to maximize productivity? (see HBR article above) One of the fastest growth areas of helping you “manage, grow and enjoy your business” is in the area of business process automation. From automating a sales process with integrations to Sales Force, to improved inventory management, to better information dashboards – a little bit of coding to connect your systems can go a long way to driving revenues and productivity. Read more…

The best sales people like a goal—and to be well rewarded if they hit it. But how does that goal get set? Does the process, and the goal, lead to average results, or amazing results? Inc.:How the Best Sales Teams Set Goals for a New Year

It was management guru Peter Drucker who pointed out, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” Business can get focused on squeezing out every last dollar, because it feels like that’s something that’s controllable. “If my people would only work harder, faster, we’d be making more money around here.” Drucker’s point is doing the wrong thing efficiently is inefficient. A recent HBR article gives added advice – instead of doing the same with less, look to do more with the same. HBR: Great Companies Obsess Over Productivity, Not Efficiency

Last issue we talked about leaders as readers – and what other leaders are reading. This month, Inc. Magazine reminds us not to fall for the click-bait of “X ways to be a successful leader.” Everybody’s got a list these days. And it’s always numbered – “3/5/7/10 ….” They remind us success is personal, with contexts and conditions that aren’t generic. You bite “success’ click-bait at your own peril. HBR:Stop Reading Lists of Things Successful People Do

To grow requires the efforts of others to extend beyond your own capacities and capabilities. And once you engage others, you’ve got to communicate and coordinate. Even in an age of digital technology, people need to meet. Here’s some suggestions: Entrepreneur: Fail-Safe Strategies For More Effective Meetings: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286643. And here’s some classic John Cleese to drive home the point: Cleese: Meetings Bloody Meetings

The internet has had no greater impact on commerce than price transparency. Amazon has become a go-to place not only for purchases but for comparison shopping. Price transparency has done much to drive down prices in the previous decade – increasing the pressure for those who choose to compete in the pricing-strategy quadrant. But it may not be the raw number that we need to worry about. This author says the perception of the price is as important as the numerical value. HBR: How Customers Perceive a Price Is as Important as the Price Itself

One of the things the new year offers is a time to reflect and to plan. The Central Florida Vistage group, a roundtable of CEO’s and business owners, discusses their “MERPS” – Mental, Emotional, Relational, Physical and Spiritual goals. One means to growth that transcends all categories is reading (or listening to) good books. Here’s what some global CEO’s are reading: McKinsey: What CEO’s Are Reading

For years Strombeck has been an active part of many client’s hiring of key financial staff. QuickBooks and Excel abilities, personality and intelligence profiles and background checks were part of our standard process. Recently we’ve joined forces with myStaffingPro to better post to top job boards, process candidates and deliver people solutions. If you’re filling a need in your financial staffing, talk to us today! Read more…

Classic management can tend toward engagement as ‘consequence management’ and carrots-and-sticks incentives. It can rely on almost Pavlovian conditioning. Some of that, to be sure, is needed – people want to tie outcomes to inputs, success to effort, rewards to sweat. But there’s also a human relational element that stories convey, which attach reward/success/outcome to “meaning.” And that more than ever is important to a new generation (see article on sales recruiting below, too. Forbes: 4 Stories Great Leaders Tell To Engage Their People

Winging it, vs the paralysis of analysis. To some there’s never enough data, to others experience/intuition is their guide. A “McKinsey Classic” from 2009 talks with two authors of an article in American Psychology in which they debate when and how to rely on intuition, engage dissent, utilize checklists – and a great nugget on doing a “pre-mortem” on new ventures/strategies. McKinsey: Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut?

In the 50’s and 60’s, the sales person was memorialized by Willy Lowman, in Death of a Salesman. Willy’s a sad tale of a ‘’grind it out” road warrior, getting long in the tooth. Go forward 50 years and the show Mad Men makes that generation’s advertising and sales look sexy, dramatic, exciting. But it’s still a look backward. Today’s generation looks to different values and priorities – things that can make a ‘sales’ job seem uninviting. Fortune: Young Workers Don’t Want Sales Jobs. How to Convince Them Otherwise

Vision, passion, drive, fear, stress – it all comes in to play in the daily lives of business owners. And most won’t realize their vision without bringing along others to help them. The demands of the business can send you into two worlds – blurting out frustrations, or stuffing them in hopes they’ll repair themselves. Neither of those options is usually optimal. Here’s a few suggestions to address that staff behavior that’s driving you crazy. Entrepreneur: Delivering Negative Feedback to Employees Without Being a Jerk

Get the right people on the bus – that was Jim Collins advice in Good to Great. We all want that. But why do we misfire when we hire? Jack Welch takes a big picture look to remind us what the forest should look like while we’re wandering in the trees of recruiting. Jack Welch: 5 Ways to Check Your Hiring Blind Spots

Science, substance, story, speed, simplicity. We are leveraging data, adapting products, relating with relevance, faster and leaner than ever. A new golden age for marketing? For YOUR marketing? See how you’re current efforts align with the broader trends. McKinsey: The Dawn of Marketing’s New Golden Age

What better way as a business owner to teach your kids about the business, build a sense of responsibility – and save taxes to boot? (Not to mention keep them busy over the summer) By hiring them in the business (they must do real, age appropriate work), you can shift some income to them at a tax rate of 0%. Hmmm, honey, maybe we should have a couple more, eh? Forbes: Tax Benefits For Hiring Your Own Child

So we wrote before on how the Department of Labor had drafted some new regulations on clasifying employees for purposes of overtime. Last month they made final regulations to take effect December 1, 2016. Bottom line: if you’ve got anyone paid less than $46,475 as a “Salaried” (overtime-exempt) employee, you’d better take a look at the new regulations. Entrepreneur Magazine: Here’s How the New Overtime Rules Will Affect Entrepreneurs

Ever wake up to the smell of coffee brewing or bacon sizzling? If so then you understand the powerful potential of “sensory marketing.” From the weight of a razor in your hand, to the curves of a Coke bottle, to the background music at your favorite restaurant, we’re bombarded with selling the senses. Can it work for you – even by the feel of your business card? Here are some principles. HBR: When Sensory Marketing Works and When it Backfires

As a business owner, you may view your CEO role as the top of the pyramid, or the foundation supporting all the others. Either way, key decisions tend to rise or fall to you. It’s part of being the Kahuna, the compass-setter, el Capitan. And not just for the business, but how it interacts with your other circles of life like home and community. Here’s some thoughts on avoiding decision burnout: Forbes: Why Essentialism is the Key to Avoiding Decision Fatigue

Social media as a sales tool is revolutionizing the selling process for much of our economy. The ability to build a relationship around a transaction instead of a transaction alone helps ensure recurring engagement, and makes more from your customer acquisition costs. But like any relationship building, it takes time, not the random task of posting something on the web. Measure it to manage it. Inc: Social Sales – Does Your Sales Team Measure Up?

In spite of lots of press and a 60 Minutes feature story in the past year, tax scams, identity theft, IRS impersonations, and more are alive and well in 2016. Don’t be caught! The IRS will never email you or call you to collect taxes. And if you’re identity (Social Security number) is compromised, you’ll need to send the IRS an affidavit and ID’s in order to file your taxes. Here’s the latest direct from the IRS: IRS.gov: Tax Scams Consumer Alert

Who says you can’t learn something while having fun, too? If you haven’t seen Bridge of Spies, then go now to the nearest Redbox and get it – it’s the compelling story of negotiating for the release of two Americans from the Soviets at the height of the cold war. In this brief blog, Michael Wheeler of Harvard Business School turns Hollywood entertainment into a business education video with a straight forward analysis. Wheeler: Best Negotiation Movie of 2015 and What You Should Learn From It.

Yep, it’s that time of the year when the focus turns on the annual ritual of tax return preparation. One of the biggest compliance tools the IRS has is fear of the audit. There are things that will help avoid or, if called upon, survive that dreaded income tax audit: Entrepreneur: The Top 10 Ways to Avoid an IRS or State Audit.

It’s a new year – did you make a resolution or two? If so, statistics say you’ll break it by the end of February, if you haven’t already. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy. It may even be the habit that got us to where we are that is now holding us back. You can muscle the business so far – then it takes a different skill set. Adapt or stagnate. HBR: Trick Yourself into Breaking a Bad Habit.

Client Kudos to Kennan Burch of Brand Catalyst Partners for recently being featured in I-4 Business Magazine’s December 2015. More than kudos, we’ve included below some thoughts from Kennan, a friend, client and 20-year brand building executive with Darden. Check out the article: I4Business: Your Business – More than a Name (http://www.brandcatalystpartners.com/about-bcp/i4-business-magazine-featuring-kennan-burch.html) – and Kennan’s comments below as you think about your 2016 branding efforts. Strombeck News: Marketing – Investment or Expense in 2016? Read more…

Online now dominates marketing. And mobile dominates online. Every year brings new hardware, new applications, new algorithms and new paradigms. With the acceleration of change, the advantage often goes to the early adopter. If your marketing plan for next year hasn’t taken into account some of these trends, better think again: Forbes: The Top 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2016.

Most small businesses have a default retention policy — retain everything. Even more so now, since with the cloud and ever cheaper memory we’re even less worried about space on the server. But in an era where hackers proliferate, a “retain all” practice increases the risk of company secrets or embarrassing materials, and increases risk of exposure in litigation as well. But shorter retention policies have their own downsides. Here are some pros and cons, which you might want to review with your attorney. InfoSec Institute: Top 5 Email Retention Policy Best Practices.

Pricing has the single most significant impact on how much you take to the bottom line. It’s the quantifiable, and therefore comparable, definition of your product’s value. So, “with great power comes great responsibility.” But there’s also a corollary, “with great weight comes great inertia.” As you’re planning for next year’s profitability, here’s a couple resources: A classic McKinsey article: The Power of Pricing (http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/the_power_of_pricing?cid=other-eml-cls-mip-mck-oth-1511) and an Inc Magazine video Inc: How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers.

Inc. Magazine last month had a great article entitled “How to Build a Company That Will Be Around in 2015” (http://www.inc.com/magazine/201510/bo-burlingham/built-to-last-and-last.html) — on entrepreneurs are exchanging “steroid-like” growth with outside investments for the more deliberate organic growth that endures. A good read for sure, but what caught our attention is a sidebar on the financial reality of selling a company vs continuing to run it — something we regularly discuss with clients. Inc: The Case for Not Selling.

Now be careful what you wish for. But if you have indeed set your sights on — or better yet, been pursued by — a Fortune 500 type company, you need perspective. A few tips would help by those who have. Here’s some from Entrepreneur Magazine. Entrepreneur: The Secret of Selling to Big Companies. Entrepreneur: The Secret of Selling to Big Companies.

A fundamental human truth is we make emotional/gut decisions which we then rationalize with supporting facts. It’s a common human malady — the heart wants what it wants. A recent Harvard Business Review article looks at the different ways we deceive ourselves, with some ideas on how to compensate. But remember, the first step to recovery is always acknowledging we have a problem. Then read on: HBR: Outsmart Your Own Biases.

“Treat your family like guests, and your guests like family” goes the maxim. Good business looks to build attachment to customers — to build that social connection that breeds trust and helps retention. Are you cultivating the same internally — treating staff like you do customers? An article in the Harvard Business Review looks at acknowledging and cultivating those people (and activities) inside your company who help hold it together. Retention is not just for customers. HBR: Do You Know Who Holds Your Office Together?

October 1 presented a shift in some of the liability toward credit card fraud. If you are unable to accept the new chip card technologies (can only process physical cards via swipe,) you’re at risk of liability if there’s fraud on that card through your business. If your merchant service provider hasn’t discussed this with you, or given you the right hardware, call them today! Its more than a liability, though. Inc: What “Chip Cards” Mean for Your Business.

It’s been noted that much of the decrease in the unemployment rate has been the result of more part-time work. The “gig” economy (where people, like bands, have off and on “gigs”) manifested in new phenomena like Uber and Lyft is under scrutiny. A recent case in California re: an Uber driver, and a new (July 2015) U.S. Department of Labor memorandum have begun to clarify the line between independence and employment. IRS 20 Point Checklist for Independent Contractors.

A fundamental observation of humanity is that we make decisions emotionally, and subsequently justify them rationally. That is certainly acknowledged in the world of retail marketing. Why talk about your product’s superior benefits when you can put a puppy in the ad? Who cares about what Coke tastes like now that you can find your name on a Coke can? But B2B is expected to be the cognitive choice. It’s a hyper-rational C-level exec crunching numbers and doing the cost/benefit analysis. Forbes: Why Can’t We Market B2B Services Like a Video Game?

Do we American’s work hard to get ahead, then bask in the benefits and leisure of business ownership? Seems the theory doesn’t work out in practice. “Indeed, in 2006, the top twenty per cent of earners were twice as likely to work more than fifty hours a week than the bottom twenty per cent, a reversal of historic conditions.” Do we American’s just prefer work to leisure? The observations and solutions (if indeed it is a ‘problem’) are as individual as the people involved. The New Yorker: You Really Don’t Need to Work So Much.

Are you a healthy leader? Are your leaders healthy? Gary Hamel, professor at Harvard Business School notes: “Last year, just before Christmas, the Pope addressed the leaders of the Roman Curia — the Cardinals and other officials who are charged with running the church’s byzantine network of administrative bodies. The Pope’s message to his colleagues was blunt. Leaders are susceptible to an array of debilitating maladies, including arrogance, intolerance, myopia, and pettiness. HBR: The 15 Diseases of Leadership, According to Pope Francis.

If you’ve got salaried-exempt employees (i.e. you’re not paying overtime) who makes less than $50,000/year, you’d better get acquainted with the overtime rules proposed by the Department of Labor last month. Here’ a quick summary: Inc Magazine: How the Changes to Overtime Rules will Affect Your Business (http://www.inc.com/jeremy-quittner/department-of-labor-details-on-overtime-changes.html) as well as the DOL’s FAQ page: Dept of Labor: Overtime FAQ’s (http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/faq.htm).. These are just “proposed” at this time, and they are welcoming public comments at www.regulations.gov.

If you caught 60 Minutes a few weeks back (a rerun from September 2014), you were troubled to hear how easy it was for criminals to get names and social security numbers to use in tax scams. Some will pose as IRS agents in a phone call scam, some will file an early return for the refund, and other scams may resort to email. Read more at: IRS: Phone Tax Scams 2015

If you actually had a college class in marketing, you probably got exposed to the “4 P’s” of marketing — Product, Price, Place and Promotion. But with today’s buzz on customization and data and speed of transaction, the trend is no longer product-focused but customer focused — the relationship as primary. May sound cliché and not new, but take a read on the nuances: Entrepreneur: Forget the 4 P’s.

Last month the IRS acknowledged that more than 100,000 taxpayer ID’s had been illegally accessed. The thieves apparently looked to take advantage of people filing later by filing returns early with the taxpayer ID’s and having refunds sent to a different address. The means of the theft wasn’t a high tech hacking but a low-tech information gathering. Call us immediately if you have concerns, and learn more details here: Forbes: IRS says identity thieves accessed tax transcripts for more than 100,000 taxpayers

Last month the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) in Orlando announced finalists for its annual Smart Awards, featuring companies that bring to Central Florida outstanding accomplishments in corporate culture, growth, business creativity and economic contribution. Congratulations to our clients who were nominated, Frontline Performance Group and Hostdime.com, Inc., and to client Riptide Software for walking away as the winner in the Technology category. Kudos! ACG Orlando: 2015 Smart Awards

Laszlo Bock (is that a great name or what?), Google’s SVP of “people operations” comes out with his new book this month, “Work Rules! That Will Transform How You Live and Lead”. Google’s got that reputation for weird interview techniques, free food/cafeterias, great pay and benefits, game rooms, creative time and all sorts of reasons why they get 2 million people each year applying to work there. Maybe there’s some “there” there. Google’s 10 things to transform your team and your workplace

Drive, ambition, will to succeed, character — descriptions of both successful athletes and successful entrepreneurs. Some athletes don’t make the post-profession transition well — few walk away with post-game Jordanesque jobs and endorsements. It takes something to move from ball field to business. But Strombeck client Tony McGee was featured in the March 30th Sports Illustrated about his successful transition from an 11 year career in the NFL to become a master of the supply chain, with a few bumps in between. Sports Illustrated: Former Bengals tight end Tony McGee found post-NFL success with logistics

Can a sales manager control “luck” as a selling variable? Control? No. Manage? Yes, according to Joël Le Bon, marketing professor at the University of Houston. He suggests in the Harvard Business Review that sales managers who fail to manage for a factor he calls “provoked” luck will miss a huge element of successful sales leadership. Agree? What percentage of your sales can you attribute to an element of luck? How can you create a “luckier” sales team? HBR: Why the Best Salespeople Get So Lucky

Shortly after publishing. Last Month’s ProfitMatters (February 18 to be precise) the IRS issued Notice 2015-17 providing retroactive relief to the $100-per-day-per-employee penalty we addressed in February’s issue. Mind you, it affects 2014 retroactively, so you should still address the possibility of the penalty in 2015. Check with your Strombeck advisor. Forbes: IRS Spares Small Employers Big Obamacare Penalties For 2014

Solution Selling? Or Spray and Pray? Somewhere in between? Here’s a quick reminder that sometimes more information is slowing down the buying process. Inc Magazine: 2 Essential Rules Most Salespeople Forget.

Would you rather look for fish where no one else is fishing – or join all the competition in the same pond and fight, chumming the waters and competing by offering larger bait? Harvard Business Review offers a summary of a contemporary business classic that can help think through your products, services, sales and marketing differently. HBR: Blue Ocean Strategy

If your Company is paying for or reimbursing anyone for health insurance outside of a company-sponsored-ACA-compliant plan, you may be subject to penalties are $100 a day per company employee, up to $36,500 per employee per year. Got your attention? The penalties are enforced by the Department of Labor (DOL). If your company is paying for or reimbursing you or anyone for any health insurance outside of the company’s ACA compliant plan, you should stop immediately. Dept of Labor: FAQ’s About ACA Implementation

Got some time over the holidays to do some reading? Geoffrey James, Contributing Editor of Inc. Magazine, lays out his suggestions for the best books of 2014, and why. From finance to operational scalability, creativity and more, there are plenty of topics to expand your mind in 2015. Inc.: 10 Best Business Books of 2014

If you’re a member of Rotary, you likely have a strong sense of your local club identity. And Rotary is steeped in a strong history and tradition, not only in its U.S. roots, but also in its expressions around the globe. So you might be surprised that in a survey a couple years ago, members and staff had difficulty answering the question, “What is Rotary?” Harvard Business Review takes a quick look at what Rotary did about it. HBR: Rotary Strengthened Their Brand by Simplifying It

It’s been an interesting election season, and its resolution begs the question of the future with no partisan control split in the legislative branch. There have been some themes and ideas floated for over a year, but squabbles between House and Senate meant inaction. What now? Hopefully lower rates, another reason to defer income into 2015. Motley Fool: Tax Reform: What to Expect From the New Congress

Maybe you’re not losing customers to competition…maybe they just never got fully embedded with your product or services. “Onboarding” refers to the process through which you give new customers the knowledge and skills needed to become effective users – effective at getting all they wanted (and were promised) from the product. Entrepreneur Magazine describes some common mistakes to avoid: Entrepreneur: Common Customer Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Can you outline your company or product strategy in a presentation? Five points all alliterated so that it’s memorable? Harvard Business School professor and change guru John Kotter suggests you “forgetaboutit.” Instead, if you do one thing that aligns people, cast a clear vision; give them a picture of where strategy will take them. Get more at: HBR: Forget the Strategy PowerPoint

Strombeck is pleased to provide a new tool to business owners – the Sellability Score report. It is based on the book Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow – an Inc. Magazine “Best Book for Business Owners.” The report evaluates 8 drivers of value in a business so you can focus on what will build your business’ value. Take 15 minutes and get a 28 page report. Read more…

It’s said that genius lies in simplicity. The most dynamic of leaders can handle complexity and nuance; they have the ability to find and focus on the core issues. Can the role of a CEO be simplified to three things? Entrepreneur: It Takes 3 to Run a Business

We often make decisions with emotion then justify them with reason. Political advisors on both sides of the aisle understand this – often appealing to emotions to “energize the base”. Effective companies and brands consciously utilize them to drive customer engagement. And it starts with page 1 of your website. Forbes: Why Landing Page Emotion Makes All the Difference

With the year-end looming there are tax decisions to make, but strategic ones as well need to be made to drive your business for the next five years. Waffling is for breakfast, not business. Fast Company: Decisiveness Generates Momentum

Election results are in – and we’re back to the future. Split control of the government – which means no control by any particular side, and slow deliberate change. With this election we can be pretty sure that the tax policies enacted in the last several years that were leading up to 2013 will not change in the near term. Plan accordingly. Based on current law, here are changes effective January 1, 2013 that you need to be thinking about. Read more…

Why Thomas Edison would not have lasted in today’s business environment. Could “he” be one of your employees? Fast Company: Failure Is The Only Option, If Success Is The End Goal

As the quip goes, “Leaders are readers, and readers are leaders.” Here’s a quick list of some things you should be reading if you haven’t already. Inc. Magazine: The Entrepreneur’s Fall Reading List

Is it really time to refinance? — Rates are at record lows and may not stay there. Depending on your current rate, it may make sense to refinance. You can get a good overview of rates at Bankrate.com, then give us a call to see if it makes sense for you. Bankrate.com

Feeling like this economy keeps beating you up on price? Here’s a great quick story about how to support premium pricing and avoid being just a commodity Your Retirement: Dividends Or Capital Gains?

Feeling like this economy keeps beating you up on price? Here’s a great quick story about how to support premium pricing and avoid being just a commodity Fast Company: What a Dead Squirrel Taught Me About Premium Pricing