• BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IS ALWAYS THE RESULT OF MANAGEMENT DECISIONS about direction, strategy and risk control. As private companies evolve, many owners & managers make these critical decisions in a vacuum – without independent perspective or feedback, focused only on short-term profits & cash flow, dealing with ‘urgencies’ more so than ‘importance’ in the context of longer-term sustainability, scalability or future Value. Often there is minimal, if any, proactive strategic planning or alignment of personal goals with operational infrastructure, and business potential is squandered.  Wiser entrepreneurs fill this vacuum with guidance from broad-based consultants (and often Advisory Boards) expert in economic, financial, and operational arenas. DCG has cost-effectively guided hundreds of closely-held & family businesses toward optimal profitability, Valuation and exit. Q4 is critical planning time; Call us before your reality-check bounces!
  • OVER HALF OF SIZEABLE U.S. PRIVATE COMPANY EXECS BELIEVE THE STOCK MARKET IS STILL OVERVALUED and that outlook for the economy continues to weaken, based on a Duke University survey of 500 finance & corporate executives. Most also placed “attracting and retaining qualified employees among their top business concerns… with 93% saying their companies still have job openings in key positions but that nearly half are having difficulty filling.” [CFO MAGAZINE – Oct 15]
  • MILLENNIAL UPDATE: Young adults are now shaping the lives of their children – the ‘Z-generation’ growing up almost exclusively with technology – in a manner which generates kids’ expectation that all things will be fed to them. “Having been raised to count individuality and self-expression as the highest values, most millennials are now running their families as mini-democracies, seeking consensus from spouses, kids, and extended friend circles on even the smallest decisions… preferring a more responsive and less dictatorial approach to activities… Instead of hyper-directing, there’s a focus on a democratic approach to family management – constantly canvassing the children for their” A BabyCenter survey of 2,700 mothers found over 80% of millennial moms feeling it’s “important to be the perfect mom… So, without a Dr. Spock, they look to Google most often for instruction… bolstered by a zillion competing Facebook friends and internet ‘experts’ – none authoritative and many contradicting one another.” The newest fashion is ‘drone parenting’ – “hovering, following & responding” versus old-fashioned ‘helicopter parenting’ that “achievement-obsessed parents inflicted.” The huge unknown impact is whether children who grow up “expecting to get what they want, when they want, in a consumer culture that already caters to instant gratification via the web (with instant accessibility) will give children an inflated idea of their own place in the world.” [TIME – Oct 26, 15]
  • “DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POSE AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO HUMANITY? Long before Skynet becomes self-aware and Terminators begin hunting humans, smart software is going to infiltrate the workplace in heretofore unexpected places… White collar automation’ is already eroding employment for such professionals as journalists, scientists, pharmacists, and lawyers” – where routine and predictable tasks involving sorting & sifting through paperwork is fast becoming the domain of software automation and predictive algorithms. Beyond the societal impact of jobs outsourced to third-world countries, a great many college-educated, white collar workers are rapidly being displaced by software and few job options. [LEGAL TECH NEWS – Oct 15]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: Over 45% of U.S. households (77 million) who bother to file federal returns pay zero income taxes, according to the latest study by Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.

         Tanning Beds hit skin with doses of UVA radiation that are twelve times stronger than sunlight and increase the risk of developing melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer) by 75%, if started before age 35.

                       There is no beginning or end. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. 

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