This item appeared in the local newspaper about a wonderful not-for-profit organization on whose board I'm privileged to serve. I want to share it with those of you who appreciate the value that volunteer organizations in this country provide to those in need.

The Exceptional Children's Foundation (ECF) is tapping into the time, talent and energy of local up-and-coming young professionals through the creation of a Young Leaders Board. The first fundraiser, held recently at the Crescent Hotel in Beverly Hills, attracted 112 young adults and raised more than $10,000 for ECF, a nonprofit serving 2,300 children and adults with developmental disabilities in Los Angeles County.

Lauren Abell, an eighth-grade English teacher at the Brentwood School, created and serves as chairperson of the Young Leaders Board. Abell's family has been actively involved with ECF for three generations. Abell realized that the only opportunities available to young adults to participate in charitable fund-raising is either through large organizations where the charity only wants a check or through organizations connected to their parents. In checking with other local philanthropic entities, she found that very few offered involvement opportunities for adults aged 25 to 35.

Abell approached Dr. Scott Bowling, ECF's president and CEO, who supported her proposal and submitted it to the ECF board of directors for approval. With the help of friends, relatives and business associates, an initial meeting was held where 15 people learned about ECF for the first time and all enthusiastically agreed to get involved. What resulted was beyond everyone's expectations. Abell noted that people attended for not only the opportunity to be involved as leaders for their generation to become involved in philanthropy, but also for the social and networking opportunities.

"ECF has always been a part of my life," said Abell. "Through the Young Leaders Board, I hope to work with my peers to provide other young professionals with the opportunity to become personally, actively involved with an organization that helps so many children and adults maximize their life achievements."


The Young Leaders Board is already considering its future event plans and providing involvement opportunities for its board members. Abell noted that she is already receiving unsolicited requests from people to join ECF's Young Leaders Board.

"The Young Leaders Board is precisely the kind of forward thinking that has and will continue to set ECF apart from other nonprofit organizations," said Dr. Bowling. "With Lauren's vision and leadership, I am buoyed by the possibilities of what this group could accomplish."

Anyone interested in learning more about the Young Leaders Board can contact the Young Leaders Board at ECFYLB@gmail.com.

ECF is one of California's largest nonprofit organizations serving children and adults with developmental, learning and emotional disabilities. It is the only organization of its kind in California that provides a full range of programs for disabled individuals, from birth through the senior years. Serving Los Angeles County for more than 60 years, ECF's highly regarded programs include Early Start, day activity programs, fine arts training, vocational training, supported employment, residential services and the Kayne Eras Center, which provides educational and therapeutic services and K-12 education. For more information, visit http://www.ecf.net/ or call 310-204-3300.

The not-for-profit dilemma: forecasting revenues

I forgot to mention earlier that I presented my first webinar a few weeks ago, a content-rich 50 minutes for over 700 of our not-for-profit readers who are involved with forecasting the revenues of a service agency. I covered a host of dos and don'ts, opportunities to take advantage of and pitfalls to avoid, with some Q&A at the end. Also answered a bunch of questions from registered listeners after the program was over.

You can still register and hear the program, see the slides that I used, and even download the presentation, by going to the American Marketing Association page where it's stored. The link is: http://www.marketingpower.com/webcast448.php

If you're responsible for revenue forecasting or budgeting for a nonprofit agency, or if you assist someone who has that responsibility, or if you're on the board of directors for a charity or a foundation, or even if you just want to be, you've got to hear this program. Afterwards, if you have questions, send me an email and I'll respond personally.

Old Chinese proverb: "Don't let the tail wag the dog"

I got a call from one of my clients today, a company that recently hired on a trial basis a new accountant. While not fully qualified as a staff accountant, the young recruit is bright, reasonably experienced and very motivated to do the job well and give the client what they want. At the same time, he is an aggressive negotiator for himself: more money, better title, sooner rather than later, etc., to the point of sending his boss copies of employment ads that supposedly support his position. Since he is the sole full-time accounting person for the moment, his on-site boss gets nervous that he might leave if he doesn't get his wishes met.

If you've been in the market for good accounting people lately, you already know that they're scarce, and if you got 20 resumes in response to your ad, it is likely that 15 of them are patently underqualified but won't say so and 3 of them are marginal in one or more of your key areas but won't admit it because they're trying to be upwardly mobile. Of the remaining two, one or both of them will find other jobs before you discover how good they are.

"So, what to do?" asked my client.

Many young employees in an effort to take maximum advantage of this seller's market will press like children to get all they can, often not because they believe they deserve it but because they might get it anyway. Remember: "If you don't ask, you don't get." The problem of course is that you, the employer, end up paying more than you should to get less than you should, not a great deal for your bottom line. This is what I told my client:

If he wants to work for you, he will understand sound logic and value-for-value. If he is using your job to accelerate his pay rate for the next job, you need to find it out now. So offer him a modest increase consistent with his stronger-than-expected early performance, and set with him performance goals to be met in the next 90 to 180 days which, if met, will result in a nice additional raise (although not at the level he was lobbying for). Deny his rich title request, but give him the best title you can that is consistent with his job description. Explain why each of these actions is consistent with company policy and his current qualifications, and remind him of the potential that exists for him within the company as it grows.

The salary issue was settled easily as he accepted the increase offered. The rest of the plan is in motion now, and we'll soon see if we have a long-term employee.

This is an example of the kind of guidance I provide to coaching and consulting clients, so that they can become better managers within finance and throughout the company.

Got a story of one that worked for you? Disagree with my approach? Tell us about it...

PEO shopping? Heads up on this pitfall!

I had lunch today with the PEO area rep to whom I had just referred a new client. For those unfamiliar with the term, PEO is Professional Employer Organization, the current term for the practice of employee leasing in which a provider pools the employees of many typically small client organizations to achieve the critical mass needed to command lower insurance rates, better benefits, robust payroll services, and a variety of other HR advantages that small companies can't get by themselves. It's a great idea for small organizations, both for profit and not-for-profit, if it's done right by a reputable provider.

My lunch companion related a story of another PEO, a competitor of course, who got themselves into a servicing dilemma and messed up a bunch of client relationships because of a back office practice you wouldn't normally think to ask about. It went like this:

The company with the employees enters their payroll data via some online data entry form. Pretty common practice with all payroll companies these days. We assume the data gets moved automatically through the payroll process and checks come out the other end reflecting the exact data we entered. Well, maybe not. Turns out one very large PEO has a quirk in their system in which they actually print out the data that their client company has just keyed into the internet, and then they key it a second time into their payroll software! Ouch! Can you just imagine the opportunity for errors in that process? Printing errors, reading errors, keypunch errors, the works.

PEOs are a great idea. I highly recommend the concept. But we always go through a detailed analysis of a company's needs and how a PEO provider plans to service those needs, and we always have at least 3 PEO companies competing for the business to get the best advantages for our clients. Time intensive? Yes. Worth every minute of it in the long run? You bet.

I welcome your stories about PEOs - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let me know your thoughts so we can all benefit from your experience.

And if you're thinking about the idea but don't know where to start, call me at 888-788-6534.

How to buy your (next) business

Congratulations! You’ve had your first entrepreneurial success. You started a business, built it up, and sold it. Even better, you’ve successfully converted your proceeds (or a healthy part of it at least) into cash.

Now what?

You could retire to the golf links or the tennis courts or whatever you used to do for fun (and now could do again). But you didn’t make that much money, or you’d like to live better than you did in the past, or you’re already bored. In my experience it’s likely some combination of all three.

So you need to do something to build your wealth further. Given your taste for running a business, and your apparent skill at it, the best idea is probably to start or buy another business. What’s that? You don’t ever want to go through the pains of a start-up again? Then it looks like you’ll be in the market to buy one that someone else has started. OK, so what should you look for?

Here are 5 keys to picking that next business, created for a former client who was in exactly that position. They may be of value to you as well:

1. Is it in the “right” area or industry? Is it a business you personally want to be in, that you can get excited about, and that you can envision yourself running for the next 5 years? If you see yourself immediately looking for someone to run it for you, it’s probably the wrong business.


2. Is there real growth potential in it – for the industry as well as the business itself? I don’t mean it will grow as long as everything goes right. Everything doesn’t always go right. Your goal is to add your expertise to a high potential environment to better the averages and thus enhance your return.


3. Is it financially appropriate for your means? Can you afford to buy it with the capital you are prepared to put at risk? Can it provide you an adequate ongoing income, or leave you enough savings to live on until it does?


4. Is it (or will it be) appealing to outside investors, if you need them to finance future growth? Internal financing is more profitable but usually slower. If your chosen business is in a fast-moving industry, e.g. anything technology-driven, internal financing may not be an acceptable way to build shareholder value.


5. Finally and most importantly, is there something missing in this particular business that you possess and can put into the business, besides capital? Something like a specific skill or understanding, knowledge or insight that management doesn’t currently have, and that will add critical value to the existing business. Example: their sales effort is inadequate and you are a top-notch salesperson.

Your challenge is to find a business that meets the above test, before someone else finds it. Your search should be like a job search or a search for venture capital – it’s a full-time job until it’s done. There are too many folks looking for just such opportunities to casually “keep your eyes open,” or to be unfocused in your search.

Happily, there are also many, many companies out there that have been started in the past few years, which have simply stalled. Typically their founders had a good idea, and probably have a good product, but they didn’t have all the tools they needed, and may not yet have recognized the importance of bringing in outside resources, such as the expert financial guidance available at our sister site, http://www.cfoforrent.com/.

If you find them first, and your timing is right, this could be even better than your last one. Wouldn’t that be cool?