Smart Growth

4th Quarter 2004 
 
 

Welcome to the Smart Growth Report from the Childs Company. I hope you find the information here useful in developing plans to meet your business or personal goals. Please contact me if there is anything we can do to facilitate implementing the ideas contained in this report. I would love to help you.

Best wishes for your success,
Matt Childs


 
Childs Company

Childs Company is a growth partner for emerging companies and entrepreneurs. We work with a limited number of small business owners who are serious about
growing their business.

Click here to learn more about Childs Company

 
Business Partner Profile


Atlanta & Norcross, GA

First Security National Bank (“FSNB”) is a locally owned and operated community bank located in Peachtree Corners. The bank was organized in 1985 by a group of local business leaders who felt that there was a real need for a new community bank in Gwinnett County. Since that time, FSNB has enjoyed tremendous success and now has offices/branches in Peachtree Corners, Buckhead and Suwanee. It plans to open an additional office in Forsyth County next year.

FSNB’s success is a direct reflection of providing the very best, friendly and professional service possible. At FSNB, personal banking is a little more personal. We train and encourage our employees to get to know their customers so they can recognize them by names and faces. Business banking is a little more business like. Business accounts receive the same professional considerations regardless of size or activity. Rates are a little bit more competitive on loans and on savings. All of these little things add up to making a big difference in providing the best banking experience possible.

FSNB has a vested interest in the success of the community it serves. After all, this is the bank’s home. Deposits are invested right back into local communities by way of loans to its customers and local businesses. Large “holding company banks” often siphon off deposits locally and invest in loans in more profitable metropolitan areas. Lending decisions at FSNB are made by bank officers who have been with the bank since its inception. This gives the customer more direct financial assistance and a true banking relationship, unlike large holding company banks where those decisions are made by officers in corporate headquarters, who only read written records and never directly meet the customer.

FSNB is a full-service bank offering all traditional banking services. However, their small business customers benefit from the advantages of banking with a local community bank. FSNB provides friendly, professional services; caring and knowledgeable employees and safe and secure banking products.

Visit FSNB's web site

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Childs Company
Client Spotlight

Atlanta, GA

Spectrum Services develops and markets a wide range of CRM information services and products to increase both owner/customer loyalty and profitability for clients in the automotive, banking, medical, media and political arena.

Spectrum Services’ clients work diligently to maintain and expand existing relationships with their customers because they understand the simple truth that it is more cost-effective to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new one. This is why successful business owners and executives retain Spectrum Services to continually monitor and measure their companies’ business relationships with their customers. Spectrum Services delivers valuable consumer marketing information and analysis that allows our customers to change the way they manage their business and their relationships with their customers.

Visit Spectrum Services'
web site

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About Childs Company

Business Publications
Business Week
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Business to Business

Catalyst
Entrepreneur
Fast Company
Forbes
Fortune Small Business
Fortune
Harvard Business Review
Inc.
Kiplinger's
Money
Smart Money
Strategy+Business
Sales & Marketing Mgmnt
Selling Power

This Quarter:

 

Shattering Myths:
"The Most Successful Companies Exist First and Foremost to Maximize Profits"

 

Contrary to popular business school doctrine, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, authors of "Built to Last", conclude that “maximizing shareholder wealth” or “profit maximization” has not been the dominant driving force in the most successful, visionary companies that they studied.

Of course, successful companies seek profits…but they are equally guided by core values and a sense of purpose beyond just making money. Yet, paradoxically, the visionary companies make more money than many of their entirely profit-driven competitors.

For owners and CEOs, a key step in building a visionary company is to articulate a core ideology. In other words, what are the company’s core values and fundamental reasons for existence beyond just making money? The good news is that there’s not one “right” core ideology. For some companies, customers are central; for others it’s concern for employees. Some companies have product quality as the central component of their core ideology; for others it’s innovation.

Most importantly, Collins’ research found that the authenticity and consistency of the ideology counts more than the content of the ideology in distinguishing visionary companies from ordinary companies.

Read more on visionary companies….

Does your company have what it takes to be visionary? Click here to contact us and find out!

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 Go For The Gold!  

The Smart Way To Sell Your Business
Tips from Entrepreneur Magazine

On your mark -- It’s never too early to start thinking about selling your business. No matter what industry, owners can consider the company itself as the product and prospective acquirers as customers.

Scale and strategy -- What does a salable company look like? “It’s salable if it’s scalable.” A business will fetch the best price only when buyers believe that they can take advantage of significant future growth potential.

Team conditioning -- No matter who is buying your business, they’ll want to buy more than the owner’s personal network and capabilities. Build a strong management team that can carry on when the owner is gone.

Diligence and Disclosue -- Sellers must disclose copious amounts of documentation and usually have to represent and warrant that all disclosures are complete and accurate. Sellers should be prepared for this and it usually makes sense to have advisors quarterback the process.

Assemble a top-notch advisory team -- In addition to lawyers and accountants who have extensive experience in M & A, it is critical to retain an advisory firm who will market the business to the right buyers at the highest possible valuation. Sellers should not be penny-wise and pound foolish when it come to marketing the business. Buyers love to find an opportunity where the seller is not well represented.

Entrepreneur Magazines’ Tips for the Smart Way to Sell Your Business. Click here for more...

Need help determining your exit options? Click here to contact Matt Childs

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 Smart Saving for College  

Few people question the value of a college education but the cost is enough to break the bank for many families. For families with young children, expect college bills of more than $200k each. What’s a family to do and when?

Get started now. The saying, “Save early and often” is excellent advice.

With college tuition costs rising faster than inflation, stocks are the best investment to help your education savings portfolio keep pace long term. Use a smart asset allocation strategy based on your child’s age; i.e. use predominantly stocks when the child is young and gradually shift into bonds and cash as college approaches.

Utilize tax-savvy options, especially 529 plans. 529 plans offer generous tax breaks and have very high contribution limits. While your contributions are not tax deductible, your investment will grow tax deferred and withdrawals for education will not be subject to tax. Many 529 plans offer age-based portfolios which automatically reallocate your assets as discussed above.

Click here for more information

Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation

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GA Economic Indicators  
3rd Qrtr 2004 / 3rd Qrtr 2003
Unemployment 3.9% / 4.8%
Personal Income 5.3% from last year
Single Family
Housing Permits
15.2% from last year
CPI 3.5% from last year

Reviewing the Numbers:

Economic activity in metro Atlanta and throughout the south remained positive during the third quarter except for some disruptions caused by the hurricane season. Residential real estate activity remained at very high levels though there are reports of some deceleration late in the quarter.

Business owners and executives are still cautious but prospects for hiring are improving. Wage pressure continues to be modest with the biggest increases going to the highly skilled and professionals. Price increases are being driven by signification inflation in the energy and building materials sectors.

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© 2004 Childs Company
 
 
 


email: mchilds@childscompany.com
voice: 678.624.0539
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