ACQUISITIONS: IS BIGGER REALLY BETTER? by Chris Burand Although, in general, growth is essential for agencies to retain markets and profitability, unrestrained growth via ac...

AVOID THESE COMMON ACCOUNTING MISTAKES by Chris Burand Some agents make a conscious decision to pay more in taxes in order to bu...

The major goal of any agency or brokerage can be expressed in just one word: survival.
The mounting failures involving seemingly strong, well-established businesses that have been around for 15 to 75 years are of great concern.
The time has come for agencies and brokerages to take immediate action in order to survive a protracted economic downturn that may extend for several more years in some sectors of business or regions of North America.

f you were managing a start-up band, would you depend solely on Lady Luck? Would you rely on Fortune dumping a great songwriter/arranger in your lap, great musicians who can actually get along, and a strong, powerful record company backing you? Would you just wait without searching for talent, obtaining signed contracts, securing studio time, or acquiring any backing? Of course not. Chris Burand wonders why so many agency principals take this approach to getting good producers.

ONLINE INVOICES GET PAID TWICE AS FAST by Steve Anderson Web-based invoices that give recipients the option to pay online result in payments being made twice as fast as those that don...

One of the toughest financial decisions agency owners face is how much to pay themselves. It's especially tricky for agencies with multiple principals, because it's rare that all owners make identical contributions to the organization. Deciding what's equitable compensation for each individual may cause unnecessary conflict.

PERPETUATION: ITS NOT JUST A MONEY THING by Chris Burand When agency owners think of perpetuation planning, they often think only of the financial aspect: Selling their agencies. I...

Electronic document storage is an issue that every agency should address as part of their management process. Steve Anderson offers some ideas to help you stay ahead of the storage curve.

PRODUCER COMPENSATION: REALITY CHECK by Chris Burand Before setting your producer compensation plan, read this article. Past articles in industry publications abou...

TECHNOLOGY AND THE AGENCY: A PRIMER by Ken Buehler Recently I met with an agency that had a state-of-the-art computer system. The system did everything, and then some! ACORD certificates, bind...