Dean Branson was one of the first clients of The Alexander Group when our firm started in 2007. Dean was a partner at his independent insurance agency, Midwest Agency. At the time, Dean didn't necessarily realize he needed a business coach, but he did know he needed help because he had a big problem. An Agency in Crisis Seventeen years ago, Dean focused on sales, while his business partner handled most of the administrative duties of the agency. However, his partner had a sudden and severe heart issue requiring surgery followed by a lengthy recovery period, leaving Dean with the responsibility of running the business side of the agency, too. Thrust into his new role as business manager, he was shocked to discover the business was in serious financial trouble. Accounting and tax issues were so serious that the future of the entire agency was in doubt. As Dean looks back, he is grateful that he connected with Cornell Meyer, founder of The Alexander Group. First, they applied some forensic accounting to examine whether any fraud occurred. After working with a CPA, Dean and Cornell concluded that Dean's partner had mismanaged the finances. Cornell worked with Dean over the next few years to unwind the partnership and get each party what they needed. Ultimately, they ended the partnership with little disruption to employees and customers. In 2011, the partnership officially concluded, and Dean was ready to take Midwest Agency to new heights. The Next Chapter, Improving Financials Next, Cornell and Dean focused on improving financials. It was one thing for Dean to unwind the business from financial troubles and another to build it bigger, better, and more robust. After a dire banking crisis, that year marked a challenging period for small businesses. Many banks were hesitant to give small businesses loans, especially small businesses in the professional services sector, like insurance. Nevertheless, with TAG and Cornell's help, Dean and his team worked to restructure debt, hire new people, improve sales and marketing, and streamline HR. Considering An Exit Throughout the next ten years, Dean began to think more deeply about what an exit plan could look like and how to shape the company's future. Initially, the plan was that his daughter Bailey would take over the company. While both felt good about that succession plan, they were still open to other opportunities. In 2021, Dean researched industry mergers and acquisitions and put word out that he was open to offers leading to a potential deal with a private equity (PE) firm out of Chicago. The process of vetting the offer helped Dean learn his priorities while exposing some improvements his business could make. He and Cornell uncovered an internal opportunity to renegotiate legacy contracts and ultimately realize an additional $100M in agency profit. Dean declined the offer from the PE firm when he concluded it was too low and the risk too high for his employees, who would have been left vulnerable to layoffs. However, the process of vetting the PE offer with Cornell made a stronger and better Midwest Agency.

Have you been having trouble sending out bulk emails and email blasts recently? Are you suddenly having deliverability issues with clients and vendors you've been emailing for years? If so, you're not alone — Google and Yahoo rolled out new DMARC requirements in February, creating headaches. We have heard that many of our small business owner clients and their IT departments are having such headaches.  To investigate this issue, we have leaned on IT expert and long-time TAG peer board member Fred Moore of Moore Computing. Fred has walked us through changes to DMARC and offers advice on how small business owners can get their emails back into the inbox. While DMARC changes have thrown many into a temporary tailspin, the changes represent a move to safer and more secure email communication for all parties. Let's discuss what small business owners need to know about DMARC, how they can ensure their emails reach customers' inboxes, and how to keep their business digitally secure. What is DMARC? Cybersecurity measures are similar to cars: most of us drive one daily, but most are unable to lift the hood and understand exactly how it runs. Most of us rely on cybersecurity measures to keep our businesses safe online, but we may need help understanding the technical elements that keep us safe. That said, all small business owners should have a general background in cybersecurity, and DMARC is a great place to start. DMARC stands for "Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance." The idea behind DMARC is to limit the volume of scams and phishing on the internet. DMARC works with SPF and DKIM. SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a list of services and servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain, and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a digital seal that verifies the content of your email hasn't been altered or tampered with. DKIM is also able to withstand email forwarding, whereas SPF can not. Senders and Recipients At its core, DMARC validates the authentication of the sender of an email message. When there are deliverability issues with a message, it usually falls back on the sender. Small business owners know the importance of getting marketing campaign emails and other communications into their customers/clients' inboxes; to accomplish this, it is crucial to follow all protocols to ensure you have the best chances to reach customers' inboxes at an optimal place (i.e., not the spam folder), and avoid spam complaints. How does your email make its way to recipients? It follows a basic flow: ● The email is composed and sent ● The sending mail server will add DKIM ● The email is sent to the recipient's server ● Validation tests begin, checking DKIM, SPF, and DMARC policies ● The email either passes, is quarantined, or is blocked/deleted ● If the email passes, it goes through the recipient's user filters and inbox rules