The bar chart below shows U.S. Granted Patents: Total Patents Originating in all U.S. and Foreign Regions. Patent origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor. Total patents issued is the sum of utility, plant, design, and reissue patents granted. The Siburg Company specializes in buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, and…
Read more
As of March 2021, both the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PPI (Producer Price Index) have shown increases. The CPIs are based on prices for food, clothing, shelter, and fuels; transportation fares; service fees, such as water and sewer service, and sales taxes. The producer price index (PPI) measures the price that industrial producers get…
Read more
There are businesses that do well and prosper during difficult economic time (recession, pandemic, legislative changes, inflation) while other businesses struggle or go out of business. Businesses that experienced an economic upside during the pandemic were real estate, home furnishings, home improvement and technology companies. People moved to the suburbs, set up home offices,…
Read more
As of January 1, 2020, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. There are numerous states that have set their minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum wage. See the map below for your state’s minimum wage. An employer of tipped employees is only required to pay that employee $2.13 per hour in direct…
Read more
The “Feckless Business” is a business that is managed irresponsibly and lacks initiative. Or another way of putting it, a business that has no budget or strategic plan and just exists day to day with ownership and management dealing with problems of their own making. It is easy being a “Feckless Business” with no…
Read more
Tax season may have you questioning if the Federal tax burden increasing or decreasing. The chart shows aggregate U.S. Federal tax receipts as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Apart from the large increase during World War II, otherwise there is no real trend. The US uses a progressive income tax rate: As a…
Read more
Management styles can either be defensive or explanatory of their position(s) or action(s). A defensive management style is authoritative, where management has no desire or time to listen to other people’s input on ideas related to a topic or strategic direction. Often defensive management styles are the result of leadership having no real idea…
Read more
At the onset of the pandemic, many consumers cancelled personal and business travel plans. Teleconferencing replaced business travel and social gatherings. Between February and May 2020, train and airplane travel declined 96 percent and 91 percent, respectively, while travel by car declined 27 percent. The increase in traveling by car since April 2020 reflects the…
Read more
“Willful Blindness” in a business is the conscious act of avoiding the truth, which gives credence to the knowledge of an issue in question, but never resolving the issue. Willful blindness can be at any level of management or on any type of business issue that needs to be addressed and resolved. A business’s willful…
Read more
“Business Drift” is a perpetual problem with any business, big or small, in any industry. In the food and distillery industry it is called “Flavor Drift”. In business, “Drift” is the act of slowly drifting away from the core business. This can either be intentional or unintentional. Businesses that avoid “Drift” are emphatic about…
Read more
Recent Comments