Stan Maupin

Last weekend I wore a pair of “U-Va. orange” Crocs to a football game. I got laughed at, but I learned a valuable business lesson, writes Stan Maupin.

The successful business leader is often the one who can “triangulate” bits of information and turn them into useful information.

There has been a warehouse full of books written about what makes businesses successful, and you can find a lunch meeting every week with a speaker from the latest fast-growing company. But listen to them carefully. Usually, their story will be filled with examples of how they avoided pitfalls or built something better based on a mistake or failure, writes Stan Maupin in this week’s Guest Opinion.

We all know people who see the glass as half-empty and others who see it as half-full. Business owners and financial officers looking for funding seem to fall into the first category, while bankers and other lenders have the latter view. But they agree on one thing: No one is happy.

Collecting accounts receivable is a challenge even when the economy is booming. Today, it has become a matter of survival for some businesses. The bankruptcies continue in Richmond, and will probably not slow for some time. In this week’s guest column, Stan Maupin explains the risks of extending terms.