There's nothing better for business than a booming economy. Unfortunately, it often encourages faulty thinking and spawns erroneous ideas. When sales are strong and profits meet projections, we're quick to take the credit. When things go sour, external forces get the blame.
A good economy tends to mask distorted thinking and inappropriate ideas. For example, personal computer sales have been drifting downward, even while prices have been dropping. Manufacturers are petrified. Out of near desperation, they jack up power to a sizzling 500 MHz to try to capture customer attention. Just as this happens, free PCs appear. In the midst of all this, one company rediscovers itself. To IBM's credit, it figured out what business it's in: solutions.

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SMALL AGENCIES by Chris Burand Independent agencies, even small ones, definitely have a bright future. Offer better service related to a specific product or offe...

A JOINT VENTURE IN A SMALL TOWN by Ron Rensink The heated debate over bank activity in the insurance business has focused primarily on happenings in major metropolitan areas, where huge blocks of bu...

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...

ADJUSTING EXPECTATATIONS --- AND THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND by Jon Persky Back in the 1960s and 1970s, it wasnt unusual to find people who worked for the same company for their entire...

AGENCY PERPETUATION PLANNING CHECKUP by Paige Proctor This article is for the 70% of all agencies that now have perpetuation plans. Even though most agencies have plans for the futu...

AGENCY VALUATION ISSUES by Roy Phillips More and more banks are entering the insurance industry by buying agencies, leading owners to ponder how to properly determine their agency&...

AGENCY VALUATION, MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: IS IT A NEW DAY? by Robbie Smith The significant loss of surplus from the 9/11 catastrophe, together with an already compelling need for r...

BANK LESSONS FROM JOINT VENTURES AND AGENCY ACQUISITIONS by Robert Smith The trade press has been filled over the course of the past two years with announcements of banks entering the agen...

The speakers on the tape I was listening to said, 'When you complete the process of rearing your children, you want to be...