As a structuring consultant I’m typically brought into a public company or large private company that is in the middle of a crisis management situation and I become a fixer. My firm will analyze the problem, look at it from multiple objective angles apply various template processes and find a solution to counter the issue at hand. Sounds easy but guess again.
Here is what most corporations that find themselves the center of a hostile takeover or slander situation fail to identify early on, eliminate the problem early. Many times it starts with the firing of an employee or an overly competitive bid for a large contract both have the same stimulants and indicators so the C level executive in charge needs to keep their ear to the tracks to be able to identify the dilemma before it becomes an ‘out of control’ publicity nightmare or takeover situation.
It is crucial to identify these individuals and align oneself accordingly to cripple the trigger before it can explode. Most of the problems that your company will face are in your office right now in the embodiment of an overzealous sales manager who believes he has the intellectual superiority to run your company better than you can, if he’s right, promote him but test him first, if he’s wrong offer him a severance and paint a clear picture as to his non compete and scare the life out of him the day he is terminated by having security walk him through the legal actions that will take place if he/she makes any attempt to use your processes or secrets to the public or competition or defames your firms name in anyway. Next bring in your corporate attorney to do the same, then you come in as the nice guy and gently ask him to take this severance and find a job that will meet all his needs both professional and emotional.
Other tell tale signs of potential issues an employee that seems to have something counterproductive to say about everything, the manager with a bad case of the ‘grass is greener’ syndrome, executives that are too entrepreneurial, you get the idea.
Next, you need a protocol in place to take a proactive approach to counter negative PR. You should have a media specialist on call, updated on your corporate strategies and proprietary processes with a plan ready to go to counter blog defamation and other virtual crimes that can dismantle your company or economic status/market place position.
90% of the problems your company will ever have will come from those who are inside right now. Evaluate your executives that have access to trade secrets or issues that could damage your reputation. Plant a seed early. Find someone and make an example of them and make it public and you’ll find that most potential and damaging issues can be shut down before they start by implementing the above as a start.
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Why Take Your Company Public? There are several reasons why a company would decide to go public; here are some of the advantages. Liquidity is a popular reason for going public via OTCBB or IPO, many global lenders and private equity groups will lend against stock collateral. Private companies lose time jumping through hoops with various FICO driven line of credit and lending programs with outrageous interest rates while a public company can strategically offer stock for sale or collateral.
Run a solid company with growth and a sea of content stock holders and you’ve got your own cash register to grow your company.
Another popular reason for going public is to offer stock options to key employees which creates and retains loyalty while reducing cost of compensation. There is no better way to have employees go the extra mile day in and day out than rewarding them with a piece of the company. Stock options are also a way to attract those prized executives that are in demand.
Having a public company allows massive buying power from the perspective of growth through acquisition. Find a company that is the perfect strategic alliance and buy them with company stock. This method of expansion has served the interests of top tier companies since Standard Oil. What about those companies owned by an individual or a close knit group of entrepreneurs who are getting up there in age and need to start thinking about an exit strategy?
Public companies demand higher sale prices and sell faster because of the flexibility of the structure. We could go on and on about the advantages of going public.
Start-up companies wishing to investigate this concept of fundraising you may want to consider the OTCBB, this is a solid and regulated formation to trade your stock publicly with stock holder confidence as opposed to a lesser trusted option called Pink Sheets. For corporations with some age and capital and IPO may be the best way to go, though this process is expensive and can take more than a year, it’s worth it for the right companies.
Go Public With Your Company, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!