Ireland still hasn't fixed its broken banking system – Telegraph Blogs

The larger financial system is still a worry.

Ireland still hasn't fixed its broken banking system – Telegraph Blogs

Business is not easy

Being committed to business is hard

"There is a reason so few companies and people make it: It's not easy. Be honest with yourself. What price are you willing to pay to make the business work and be successful? Would you sacrifice your time, your family, your friends, your golf game, your entire social life? I am not advocating that you should, but you have to ask yourself if you are prepared to," says Robert Herjavec.

This is what my business coach says to me all the time. I agree with Robert - it is the struggle of business that is so hard and to be a good entrepreneur, you must develop that tenacity to keep going. Tenacity is the element of entrepreneurism which although DNA can determine this, you can also be trained to deal with stress and bad times to get back to the more profitable situation.

What business awards should be celebrated?

Awards for business are coveted by many but Tom Deans has a problem with CAFE and the way they celebrate the longevity of a family business. Tom thinks that is giving the worst possible message to family businesses. Even worse, Tom says,

"These awards are like stabs through the heart of family business owners"

Here's more of Tom's view:

It’s time for family business organizations to celebrate something more interesting, positive and inclusive and give awards that put multi-generational wealth creation on an equal footing with multi-generational wealth preservation. And if family business institutions don’t want to go down this road then maybe it’s high time that the M&A industry supported its own set of family business awards.

Here’s my list of new awards for everyone to consider.

1. Liquidity Event of the Year – Inside Sale: Awarded to a business owner who works with his or her children to sell their business inside the family. (I don’t call this multi-generational – I call this a fresh start based on risked capital).
2. Liquidity Event of the Year – Outside Sale: Awarded to a business owner who works with his or her children to sell their business outside the family.
3. Redeployment of Family Capital Award: Granted to the family that reinvents itself by helping the next generation pursue businesses they’re really passionate about.
4. Family Business Philanthropy Award: For the business owner who works with his or her family to use the proceeds of their life’s work to fund extraordinary good works to benefit their community, country and planet.

Read more at Tom Deans Every Family's Business

M&A Activity in Canada

Do Canadians fall apart in the mergers and acquisitions space?  Have they missed getting out into foreign business acquisitions too? Not according to information on performance last year:

Canadian Mergers and Acquisition activity increased for the third successive quarter in Q4 with 302 transactions worth approximately $52 billion.  This represents an increase of 12% in the value of deals announced while the number of announcements increased by 9% over the previous quarter.  The Canadian banks and pension funds announced numerous transactions that contributed significantly towards increased cross-border Mergers and Acquisiton activity and a consistent pace of mega deals (deals valued in excess of $1 billion) in the quarter.

 Some interesting aspects of the Q3 results included the following:

• Four of the five major Canadian banks announced large acquisitions for a total of $14.4 billion; three of the four acquisitions were of foreign businesses.
• Almost all of the major Canadian pension funds announced transactions for a total of 12 transactions worth $8.8 billion.
• Bucking a long-term trend, the value of Canadian-led acquisitions abroad exceeded that of foreign-led takeovers by a ratio of 2.5-to-1
• Activity in the mega-deal segment was unchanged from the previous quarter at 9 transactions; total value of mega deals declined slightly from $28 billion in Q3 to $25 billion in Q4
• The Real Estate, Oil & Gas and Industrial Products sectors were the key drivers of M&A activity in Q4 representing 59% of the overall transaction volume 

For more Mergers and Acquisitions information, please see our website:  http://www.loewenpartners.com/

Entrepreneurial capitalism is the spark behind every important advancement

Did you have a candle lit dinner on Earth Day? I find that gesture just like busy work given for homework, a nice gesture but, hey, let's get doing the real work. I think we should be lighting a candle for every entrepreneur in Canada, not feeling bad that we have power and doing a voluntary black out.
Let's be honest, electricity has been the biggest help to reducing the work load in the home, giving women more time to bring up more educated children. 
I get that Earth Hour is a lovely way to try and raise awareness about being stewards of the Earth, and I am for the idea, but the big dilemma is that electricity is what the whole world aspires to achieve. Doesn't it seem so hypocriticial and contradictory that we turn off what we have for one hour? Being from an African country where power outages were the norm, doing a voluntary power outage seems so...I dont' know...so Paris Hilton.
OK - so what do I suggest instead?
Here is my favourite Greenie talking about the value of electricity, why it is needed and perhaps another way of looking after the Earth without needing to go back to the cave light. He also talks about why 1st world people with our electricity use should not be telling other countries how to be green until we figure it out.

http://www.ted.com/talks/h

ans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html


Hans Rosling says, "Thank you, industrialization," he says. "Thank you, steel mill." "Thank you, chemical processing industry." If you listen closely, you can hear the startled laughter of Hans Rosling's audience. 
Some people think these life-altering inventions -- the washing machine, indoor heating, iPhones, are the result of some kind of magic pixie dust. They happened just because. Little elves. Random events. Fate. Anything but the truth.
Which is: entrepreneurial capitalism is the spark behind every important advancement in human knowledge, and is the single greatest reason why people's lives are getting better.
So, on Earth Day, I did the laundry and gave thanks that I am living in Canada. I also lit a candle for every green entrepreneur and linked up a solar entrepreneur with a Private Equity fund who might keep the cash flowing. That early stage solar company is one of the green sparks, one of the entrepreneurs already making a difference, and I want to do what I can to help those business owners. Wow, it is tough keeping the cash flow going. 
I asked Sarah Thomson, who is running as a Liberal candidate and who is a super entrepreneur and who's Facebook got me on this rant:
Sarah, I hope you will push for entrepreneurs to work on the issues brought up by Earth Day. Nothing wrong with a bit of back to the cave, dinner in the dark, as a nice sentiment, but I think that one hour in darkness on Earth Day gesture has run its course. 
Time to speak up to encourage the entrpreneurs in this country. (Liberals seem to only think corporatism.) Please bring back the focus on small business and not just restaurants and stores, which seemed to be the only type and level of business discussed at the Mayors' debates I heard.
On Earth Day, we should be thanking entrepreneurs and asking for their green sparks. And asking, as Government, how can the government get out of the way?
What do you think?