Last week, Sysco announced it would buy rival US Foods for nearly $3.5 billion. Sysco is already a huge player in the food industry with customers ranging from the US military to schools to five-star restaurants. This deal brings together the two largest food distributors in the US, increasing Sysco’s share of the food distribution …
Category: Strategy and Company Growth
How Businesses Can Prepare for the Future During the Shutdown
As the U.S. government shutdown continues into its second week, business leaders are becoming more concerned with its effect on the economy. The Wall Street Journal reports limited signs of economic damage, but that a prolonged shutdown may cause more widespread damage. According to economists, a long shutdown risks “restraining key parts of the economy …
Building a Lasting Legacy
I had the opportunity to speak on building a lasting legacy in the September issue of Washington DC SmartCEO Magazine. The article focuses on how business owners and entrepreneurs can build a lasting legacy for their company. As I said during my interview, Capstone is not just about me, it’s so much bigger than that. …
How to Get a “Fat Cat” to Buy Your Small Business
How do you get a large company to buy your small business? In this video interview with Matthew Lesko, I’ve shared some of my tips & tricks. In many ways, selling a company is like selling a house. My number one recommendation is to make your company easy to buy. How can you do that? …
What Apple’s Slower Growth Means for You
Apple’s growth has slowed significantly. USA Today reports that its gross margin dropped for the fifth straight quarter to 36.8% of sales and that iPad sales are down by 16%. Apple CEO Tim Cook has recognized Apple is in a mature, slow-growth market. If a company that grew steadily through the recession and whose stock …
How to Grow Your Company During a Recession
American individuals and corporations are playing it safe, according to The Wall Street Journal, contributing to a slower employment rebound: “[After the recession] of the early 1990s, it took 32 months for payrolls to rebound fully. After the even milder recession of 2001, it took four years. Today, nearly four years after the end of …
Deals in Cloud: IBM, Salesforce & SAP
The future looks cloudy. IBM, Salesforce and SAP all announced big deals in cloud this week. IBM announced it would buy Softlayer, a cloud computing company, in a deal estimated to be worth $2 billion. IBM plans to use Softlayer to bolster its cloud services in a growing market. Salesforce announced it intends to buy …
Why Expand Internationally?
* Guest post by Paul Marin, Research Analyst at Capstone Did you know twenty of the fastest growing economies are in Africa or Asia? William Blair reports in the first quarter of 2013, the Americas invested $7.0 billion in Asia-Pacific in cross-border transactions, a 4.6% increase from 2012. This means many of the opportunities for growth …
Apple Borrows Cash
Yesterday, Apple sold $17 billion in debt offering to investors, the largest corporate-bond deal in history. Apple’s first debt-offering in over 20 years is part of its plan to return $100 billion to shareholders by the end of 2015. This plan is a response to pressure put on Apple to use their excess cash hoard …
Committing to Research: Primary vs. Secondary Research
Research is essential to the success of any business plan, including acquisition. The demand-driven, “markets first” acquisition process that I advocate requires thorough research. Only thorough research uncovers the most appropriate markets, helps you identify the best prospects, and sets you apart from other potential buyers. There are two levels of research to consider: primary …
