Time is the only resource we cannot recreate, but how can you optimize being “in control of time” rather than being “controlled by it?” People tend to number their days when they are dying. A woman named Wendy who worked …
To be a high-performing firm, one needs to emulate what the best firms are doing and the traits that bring high-performance to fruition. This article focuses on the top five characteristics the best agencies have in common. 1 – Growing …
In order to be a step ahead of the competition it is best to be proactive. One can do this by understanding and exploiting current and future trends. It is easy to predict trends by understanding recurring cycles and applying …
Where is the Affordable Care Act headed? Are we prepared? Who will be covered and who won’t? Are we robbing from Peter to pay Paul? The list of questions is endless. The answers are few and far between. In a …
Delegation is a critical skill for managerial and leadership success. Successful leaders and managers delegate to engage people, leverage the special skills, and get more done. Even the most talented person has a capacity limit when they do everything themselves. …
Oak & Associates receives many calls about valuing small books of business, and is asked if it is worth doing a valuation when the buyer knows what they want and the buyer does not want to spend a lot of …
Every year a firm should develop a new sales and marketing plan. This is an essential element of strategic planning. Many carriers want to meet with the agency owners to set the game plans for the coming year and it …
Growth by merger or acquisition is still a popular and valuable tool, despite the economy being on hard times. One of the main reasons it remains popular among agencies is because it is a way to show growth even with …
A strategic business plan is very important to assuring the success of a business. Yet only 15 percent of small businesses actually have a plan! It may seem like a daunting task to write out the firm’s strategic business plan …
We are all familiar with the old saying, “the only thing certain in life are death and taxes.” With the new tax laws that came into effect for 2013, we know this is really true now! Capital Gains and Flat …
