Are you ready for the recovery?

This past week, I attended the ACG Indiana & The Alliance Group Joint Luncheon. Panel discussion speakers were John Aplin, Managing Director of CID Capital, Private Equity Group; Chuck Williams Dean of Butler College of Business; and John Platek, Managing Director with PNC Capital Markets. The overall economic outlook of the panel was very positive with the number of deals and lending dramatically improving over the past six months. While all of the speakers comments were good and appreciated, Chuck Williams comments hit home with our business. Chuck mentioned that when meeting with businesses today, his question is “Are you ready for the recovery?” Paraphrasing, I had the following takeaways from Chuck and the panel’s discussions:

Strategic Plan/Vision: Most have been in survival mode over the past couple of years. Now is a great time to pull out the strategic plan and refocus on where your team is headed. The things that have made your business successful during the past couple of years are likely not the same ones which will make it successful in the next few years.

Take care of your employees: It’s been a difficult couple of years for employees who have survived the economic downturn with your business. Moral may be, in some cases, at an all time low. Now is the time to refocus on your employees and their contribution such that you don’t find yourself losing employees who simply need a fresh start.

It’s a great time for a strategic buy: For those who have been considering making strategic acquisitions, now is the time to seriously consider. Buyers are encouraged to be careful of overvalued businesses in this time; however, for the right strategic reasons, now is likely one of the best times to consider moving forward.

Likely one of the reasons these areas stood out to us is that they are completely inline with what our business does to assist others. Getting your team in a room and in alignment with a future direction is a process we greatly enjoy doing for those we serve.

We hope you are equally encourage about 2011 and look forward to your comments.

Have a FANTASTIC day!