Author Archives: Whittaker

On December 16, 2014, Congress passed the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014”, which retroactively extends several tax breaks that had expired at the end of 2013. The President is expected to sign the bill that will extend the credits through the end of 2014. Here is a summary of the changes which are most

With Thanksgiving this week, I thought that it would be appropriate to share different ways that you can show your team that you are appreciative of them.  I did some research on the internet and found articles, posts and pictures all about team and employee appreciation.  Research shows that feeling appreciated is one of the

We are coming to the end of 2014, and the 2015 strategic planning season is in full swing. It is the time of year to reflect on how we have progressed towards the 2014 goals and to determine the strategic vision for 2015.  In my experience, there seems to be a disconnect between the goals

While working on the content for our firm’s upcoming presentation on benchmarking and key performance indicators, I’ve been focusing on measuring what matters to businesses and how they can measure for the best results.  It occurs to me that many business owners and business managers may not know what really matters.  Many business owners know

Recently I heard someone say “the things that you hold on to hold on to you.”  The conversation was referring to physical items, and I can certainly identify with that. I have a box of vinyl records in the garage that I won’t part with because of the sentimental value.  My wife, on the other

Many Southern California residents are Lakers fans, and we know that this year they are not faring so well in the NBA standings.  Currently they are 20th out of 30 teams in points per game, even falling far behind the Clippers who are currently ranked 6th.  This is clearly disappointing for Lakers fans everywhere. Let’s

I recently watched the movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.  The movie is based on the novel that was written about the 2002 Oakland A’s.  They had just lost in the 2001 postseason to the Yankees, and at the end of the season they lost their three top players.  The A’s General Manager,

I just returned from a conference in Sedona, Arizona, one of the most beautiful places I have been.  While I was there, I worked on my “why.”  Why do I go to work every day? For me this was not a new exercise, but a refresher.  I have been through this exercise countless times in

I am sitting in a conference session focusing on small business trends.  While the topic of the conference is based on revenue and hiring growth, I can’t help but to sit here and marvel at the way the other attendees are using technology.  Let me put some frame of reference around this.  We are in