Rob Severson
SURVIVAL GUIDE MY BOOK
Why did I write the book? I want my family to be happy and to survive in the world. Prosperity is a bonus; if they prosper I hope they are generous with others. My premise is that relationships and freedom are the spice of life and that they come from pursuing happiness by having inner [...]
CAN I AFFORD IT?
I was watching Suze Orman, a personal finance guru, on TV at Lifetime Fitness the other day. She had a segment called “Can I afford it” where people send in questions about whether they should make a certain purchase accompanied by their financial position, income debt etc. There was no closed caption so I [...]
SURVIVAL AND HAPPINESS
SURVIVAL AND HAPPINESS What I want for my heirs is to survive and be happy in this world. I think that is what every parent wants, or should want for their family. To many it is common sense, get a job, save, manage your finances and trust in God. But many if not most of [...]
ANGEL INVESTORS
StoneL was a young startup company that needed to raise some equity capital in order to move forward. They had developed a valve monitoring device and were ready to take it to market, but where would they go for equity and how would they get it? One problem was that few people knew what a [...]
PASSION
November 2nd, 2007 How passion replaces being “lonely at the top”. A common problem for many owners and managers is that they believe they have no one to talk with about their business. Small business owners often have this problem more that others in that they have few people that are as educated, trained and [...]
My friend Don Harley’s story
I wrote this a year or so ago about a friend of mine who has inspired me to keep on keeping on. I just learned today that he passed away. He will be missed by many. including me RETIREMENT It was about 10 years ago that I met Don Harley through another client. Don produced [...]
Bankers, do you really have a takeout lender?
One of the unintended consequences of overly aggressive bank lending is that many non-bank lenders were taken out of the market because of risk adjusted pricing. Businesses also got spoiled with easy credit and now need to present sharper proposals to anyone to get financing and often need to be more creative in doing so. [...]
Are loan standards about to change?
Are loans “graded” on a curve? Most lenders would say that they have rigorous standards for evaluting commercial credit requests. In most cases that is true. But some of the aggressive lending shops may grade on a curve. IE if they have 10 credit requests in the house they may pick the top 3 to [...]
Taxpayer's League
Law of untended outcomes strikes again! I think we are all aware that the Taxpayers League of Minnesota is one of the most despised organizations in this State, especially by progressive tax advocates. I find this interesting in that I know the story of how it came in to existence. About 20 years ago I [...]
FOUR THINGS NOT TO TELL YOUR BUSINESS LENDER!
Here are a few communication mistakes I have heard from financing seekers over the years. Do any of these sound familiar? What you say to your lender and what he/she hears!: When a lender hears: “My bank doesn’t understand my business”, he hears “My business is in deep trouble, I am in denial, and my [...]
