News from Silver Fox Advisors

Advising, Consulting and Mentoring Greater Houston area business since 1986

October 2015

From The Editor...

Time can be your friend or it can be your worst enemy. Let me explain. First is an example of time being your friend. A new college graduate lands that big first job. The employer has a 401 K plan to which the employee can contribute, and the employer will match the employee's contribution up to a certain percentage or amount. The monies invested in this 401 K Plan are earmarked for the employee's retirement some 40 to 45 years away. In this case, the money in the 401 K Plan has decades to accumulate interest and hopefully investment gains. When this individual retires at age 65, give or take a few years, the 401 K has grown in most cases to a substantial amount on which the employee can draw and enjoy a comfortable retirement. This is a great example of time being your friend.

Now let's look at an example where time can be your worst enemy. A business owner has been working on getting a specific new customer, a strategy that if successful could take the business to the next level by doubling its sales. The business owner receives a request for proposal (RFP) from the proposed new customer that could be the opportunity to get the increased sales. The RFP has to be submitted within 60 days. The business owner gets sidetracked with what are determined to be pressing matters that just can't wait, and the owner justifies the diversion by saying 60 days is a long time and there is plenty of time to get the RFP done. These matters consume the business owner's full time for more than a month, and now there are only three weeks before the RFP is due. The business owner picks up the RFP for the first time and sees that this RFP is requesting some pretty specific details which will need to be obtained from a number of different suppliers and vendors that the business owner uses. The end product is a hurried and rushed process which results in a poorly prepared RFP, and that new big opportunity is lost. In this case, time was the business owner's worst enemy.

Maybe you should look at ways you can restructure your business and put time on your side. You also may need assistance from an outside experienced business advisor, consultant, or mentor; so, before it is too late, seek out an experienced business leader or mentor for your Company, contact a Silver Fox Advisor. Remember, having experience on your side always helps.

We encourage you to visit our Website at www.silverfox.org or www.silverfoxadvisors.com to select a Silver Fox Advisor and also to learn more about the Silver Fox Advisors, our Associates and their businesses, as well as our great programs and community outreach endeavors.

Richard T. Hendee, Editor

The Silver Fox Advisor

Corporate Compliance With Affordable Care Act When Using Staffing Firms

ACA Avoidance or ACA Compliance? Which path does your company choose?

By John Sweney, CEO, Brookswood Group and Silver Fox Advisor

By now, nearly everyone has heard about the Affordable Care Act or ACA. Being in the staffing industry and interacting with hiring managers and human resources professionals on a daily basis, it is a frequent topic of discussion. We are often asked, "How do we sort this out?" We have invested quite a bit of time and effort to understand the ACA, and here is what we have learned from our advisors, industry associations, seminars and other experts.

One thing is for certain: The degree of uncertainty and confusion is extraordinary and unlikely to get much better.

We have also noticed two diverging trains of thought: Some companies are hard at work trying to figure out how they can get around the ACA; others are trying hard to understand how they can comply with the ACA. Brookwoods Group is in the latter camp.