Articles &
Resources
Carol Frank has been a columnist for many pet industry publications over the years including APPA, Pet Business, Pet Age, and Pet Product News. This page contains many of the articles she has written in date order as well as articles from guest contributors.
A Little Extra Time On Your Hands?
The Top Five Things you can do NOW to increase the value of your business. We are fortunate to make our living in an “essential” industry and I truly believe that our businesses will not only survive this crisis, but thrive on the back end because people have experienced the true emotional joy and...
The State of the M&A Markets: What will 2020 bring?
Recently I had the pleasure of speaking about pet industry M&A in front of a 100 or so of my pet industry colleagues at the 2020 Pet Summit in San Diego. While we covered a great deal of ground during my one-hour presentation, one of the main focuses was on whether the robust deal activity and...
How to Successfully Move Production back to the U.S from China
An interview with Starmark Pet Product’s Keith Benson In my daily interactions with pet company CEO’s and owners, I often hear them remark about their desire to make more of their products in the U.S., but then follow that on with the difficulties and challenges of actually doing so. “Made...
Access to Capital: How does a small but growing pet company find capital?
One of the most common questions that I get as an M&A specialist in the pet industry is “How can I find capital to grow my business?” Growing a pet products company takes access to cash as you build your inventory and accounts receivable. Ironically, the faster you are growing, the more...
How the Four D’s (Death, Disability, Divorce, and Disagreement) Can Affect a Business
Did you know that there is a 50% probability that a pet business owner will be impacted by one of the dreaded “D’s” sometime during the time they own their business: Death, Disability, Divorce, Disagreement or Distress? As you can see from this list of “D’s”, these aren’t circumstances most people...
Why Some Businesses Don’t Sell and How to Keep Yours From Being One of Them
Do you plan on selling your pet company someday? If so, what kind of planning are you doing NOW to ensure the best outcome when it is time to sell or find a majority investor? If you are like most business owners, the answer is unfortunately, “none.” The lack of planning and preparation...
Article Categories
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part VII
This is the seventh article of a seven-part series where each installment has taken a look at an innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions. This article talks about the genuine empathy of dogs. The Importance of Empathy By Randy Culver My dog Oliver and I visited my wife, Susie, when she was briefly hospitalized a couple of years ago. “The hospital...
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part VI
This is the sixth of a seven-part series where each installment takes a look at an innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions. This article talks about how dogs communicate with intent and integrity. Creating Alignment By Randy Culver We enjoy our dogs for the “curious-perplexed look” they occasionally give us. You know the look I’m referring to,...
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part V
This is the fifth of a seven-part series where each installment takes a look at an innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions. This article talks about how dogs communicate with intent and integrity. Communicating with Clarity By Randy Culver Oliver catches his first glimpse when the approaching dog is sixty or seventy feet ahead on the trail, and I...
How to Minimize Income Taxes upon the Sale of your Company
by Shina Culberson and Carol Frank This month’s column will feature some sage advice from a business colleague of mine, Shina Culberson. Shina is the CEO of Quist Valuation, a premier valuation firm specializing in valuing companies for tax, sale, and financial reporting requirements. When you started your pet business, you likely had other issues on your mind than choosing the best corporate...
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part IV
This is a seven-part series where each installment takes a look at an innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions.
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part III
This is the third of a seven-part series where each installment takes a look at one innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions. This article talks about how dogs model leadership behaviors. Leading the Pack By Randy Culver The dogs that inhabit our homes are uniquely social creatures. They learn our life-patterns and readily adapt to them, even seem...
An interview with Krista Morgan, CEO of Online Lending Platform P2Bi
P2Bi: An online lending platform for growing companies Recently, I learned about an interesting new resource for pet companies who need access to growth capital. It’s called P2Binvestor (P2Bi), and it provides online access to lines of credit through a hybrid technology and marketplace model. Given my work with rapidly growing pet companies, I am always on the lookout for non-traditional methods...
Trends in Pet Industry M&A: An Insider’s Perspective
by Craig Lawson In advance of our “Ask a Pet Industry M&A Expert” consultation sessions at Global Pet, we thought our readers and GPE attendees would find it helpful to gain additional insight into the current pet industry M&A landscape. As active advisors in the pet mergers and acquisitions arena, we're struck by a couple of dynamics and emerging trends at play. In terms of the...
The Entrepreneurial Dog – Part II
This is the second of a seven-part series where each installment takes a look at one innate ability of dogs and what business people can learn from our four-legged companions. This article talks about how dogs move themselves forward and how that applies to business. The Gait of Your Business By Randy Culver Walking our two dogs after a gentle snow always brings me delight. When the snow falls...
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