Shelve The Plans And Focus On Measurements, Says Corporate Advisor

March 26, 2009 - PRLog -- LOS ANGELES, CA – What makes a new business successful?     Fred Croft, Managing Partner of Los Angeles-based advisory firm PVM Partners LLC and project manager for private equity firms, advises a focus on measurements over business plans.    Speaking at the University of California at Los Angeles, he described his own experience leading new companies as well as using case studies from businesses in distribution, retail and services to show that tracking execution and decision quality is more important to business survival than the classic planning document.    

“Business plans are useful in raising money,” notes Croft, who was one of the co-founders of fractal compression pioneer Altamira Group as well as an HMO acquired by Aetna,” but entrepreneurs don’t get paid until they’ve built a company that works.”   He notes that this tracking relies on information, not data.    “Every company has tons of detail in a million spreadsheets and databases, but 99% of it’s useless.   Unless you focus the company on the elements that are actionable, the information is buried under terabytes of useless transaction detail.   Foucsed information lets a company react faster to problems and opportunities.”    The success of companies ranging from Google to Vertex Pharmaeuticals, WalMart and Netflix shows the utility of the approach in defending corporate value even in the current downturn.          

As America works through the wreckage of the banking meltdown, building new businesses is critical to American employment and rebuilding the shattered economy.     “There’s no more access to cheap money for small business,” notes Croft.   “You need to know the results of your decisions or you’ll be out of business.”     For new business owners, this will be something to keep in mind in the months ahead.  



Contact:      fwcroft@pvmpartnersllc.com
         818.248.6277

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PVM Partners LLC is a Los Angeles-based project management and advisory firm helping companies, private equity firms and venture capital groups build business value