Gene Marks
Growth and Opportunities
Topic Categories:
- Through his keynotes and breakout sessions, Gene helps business owners, executives and managers understand the political, economic and technological trends that will affect their companies and—most importantly—the actions they can take to continue to grow and profit.
- Join nationally recognized journalist, certified public accountant and business owner Gene Marks for a fast-paced, entertaining and data-filled presentation where he will share with you the thoughts, lessons and actions his audience of more than half a million business owners, managers and leaders.
- Gene’s presentations help business owners and managers of all industries to look ahead, with specific actions for growing and profiting based on the strategies of other business owners in their industry.
*Fee ranges are presented as a guideline only. Speaker fees are subject to change without notice. For an exact quote, please contact your Speaker Exchange Agency representative.
A past columnist for both The New York Times and The Washington Post, Gene now writes regularly for The Hill, The Washington Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer The Guardian, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Gene has written 5 books on business management, specifically geared towards small and medium sized companies. His latest best selling books are In God We Trust, Everyone Else Pays Cash and The 2020 Small Business Book Of Lists — Volumes 1 and 2.
Nationally, Gene appears regularly on MSNBC and Fox News as well as The John Batchelor Show and SiriusXM’s Wharton Business Channel where he talks about the financial, economic and technology issues that affect business leaders today.
Through his keynotes and breakout sessions, Gene helps business owners, executives and managers understand the political, economic and technological trends that will affect their companies and—most importantly—the actions they can take to continue to grow and profit.
Gene owns and operates the Marks Group PC, a highly successful ten-person firm that provides technology and consulting services to small and medium sized businesses.
Prior to starting the Marks Group PC Gene, a Certified Public Accountant, spent nine years in the entrepreneurial services arm of the international consulting firm KPMG in Philadelphia where he was a Senior Manager.
You’ve read about ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Bard/Duet and other AI tools that will changing the way we work, both in the short and longer term. As a business leader you want to leverage this technology to increase both productivity and profits. So, what should you know now? Where should you be investing?
During this fast-moving, informative and entertaining presentation, Forbes Technology columnist and consultant Gene Marks will share his thoughts on the biggest technology and AI trends that will affect your business in the near and long term and help you make the right investment decisions.
Gene will cover the following topics:
- An overview of artificial intelligence, what it means and how it works
- A discussion of how ChatGPT and related systems can be used right now in your business
- The latest updates from Microsoft, Google, Apple and other big tech companies that will drive AI adoption in your business
- Advice for tightening up your company’s data to fully leverage automation tools and an update on the latest security tools and processes for protecting your data
- Examples of how your customer relationship management, financial and HR platforms will be utilizing AI in the near and long term
- Specific AI and other technologies for your industry to review and consider
- The latest reporting and financial automation tools to increase productivity internally
The Midterms are over. Inflation remains stubbornly high. Labor is still in short supply. What’s next for your business? What are other businesses doing to navigate their ways towards growth and profitability in 2023 and beyond? How will the new congress impact your business and what steps should you be taking now to prepare yourself?
During this fast paced, entertaining and extremely valuable discussion, Gene will go over real life, feet-on-the-ground strategies and tactics that smart leaders are using to navigate their way through the new political environment and the current economic slowdown and position their companies for future growth.
During this presentation, Gene will cover some of these topics:
✓ An update on congressional initiatives that will impact your industry;
✓ Strategies smart companies are using this year to navigate inflation and supply chain issues;
✓ Tactics that forward-thinking leaders are using to not only retain their best employees during a downturn but to attract new talent that will be soon available;
✓ A look at a few little known metrics that give the best indication of our economic future (and a few great economists Gene follows);
✓ Cash flow moves managers are making now to ensure they have adequate reserves for the downturn;
✓ The latest technologies that are attracting investments from small and mid-sized companies and which are helping to keep overhead low and profits growing;
✓ How smart businesses are saving money even as healthcare costs rise.
Whether you are looking to buy a business or sell your business, there are a number of steps you’ll need to take. Join CPA and journalist Gene Marks as he walks you through each step and hits on the biggest issues facing buyers and sellers in today’s current market.
During this presentation Gene will cover the following topics:
✓ A current M&A market review to understand popular locations, industries and hot buttons;
✓ A look at the most popular ways to value a business from asset valuation to income multipliers;
✓ Pros/cons of stock vs asset deals;
✓ Tax implications of M&A transactions for both buyer and seller;
✓ Who should be on your buying or selling team; ✓ A deep dive into all the documentation needed for a transaction;
✓ a review of buy/sell agreements that every business should have;
The average age of the U.S. small business owner is about 53 years old, which means that many will be looking to transition from business owner to retirement in the years to come.
But what’s the best strategy for you? What are the considerations for passing your business down to family members? What options do you have for selling your company? How should you best prepare your company — and your finances — to best take advantage of today’s tax and business laws?
Join certified public accountant Gene Marks for a fast paced, entertaining and informative discussion where you will better understand your best succession actions you should be taking that benefit yourself, your family and others connected to your business.
✓ How the 2017 tax reform will impact your business structuring and life insurance planning.
✓ The latest estate planning developments from the recent year that affect business owners like yourself.
✓ The key issues in transitioning a business to family members or key employees while providing for financial security.
✓ The most important retirement and estate tax considerations you should be taking into account to ensure that your income will be maximized for the years to come.
Currently a $1.5 trillion market, the cybercrime economy continues to grow. Is your business prepared with the security it needs to protect against a cyber-attack? In 2023, the workforce is more virtual than ever, making cybersecurity a priority for every business in the years to come.
Join nationally recognized journalist, best-selling author, and business owner Gene Marks CPA for a fast paced, entertaining and data filled presentation where he will share with you advice, lessons and actions to position your company for security in the years to come. During this lively presentation Gene will cover the following topics:
✓ A look at how cybersecurity has changed during the pandemic and why cyber-attacks are increasingly on the rise.
✓ The biggest and latest threats in 2023 that business owners are facing in this new hybrid, virtual world such as ransomware, phishing/ SMiShing, Internet of Things, and reputation implications.
✓ How business owners can protect themselves, their business, and employees through training, security software, password management, multifactor authentication, backups, VPN, managed services providers, and operating system upgrades.
✓ The importance of employee training: The biggest cause of data breaches and malware attacks is employee error. And the biggest reason why so many employees are making errors is because they’re not satisfactorily trained.
✓ The new and latest software technologies that your business can begin implementing and investing in today to ensure security for your entire business for the future.
✓ Workspace collaboration tools to migrate and manage all your business data in one secure place and more.
The Midterms are over. Inflation remains stubbornly high. Labor is still in short supply. What’s next for your business? What are other businesses doing to navigate their ways towards growth and profitability in 2023 and beyond? How will the new congress impact your business and what steps should you be taking now to prepare yourself?
During this fast paced, entertaining and extremely valuable discussion, Gene will go over real life, feet-on-the-ground strategies and tactics that smart leaders are using to navigate their way through the new political environment and the current economic slowdown and position their companies for future growth. During this presentation, Gene will cover some of these topics:
✓ An update on congressional initiatives that will impact your industry;
✓ Strategies smart companies are using this year to navigate inflation and supply chain issues;
✓ Tactics that forward-thinking leaders are using to not only retain their best employees during a downturn but to attract new talent that will be soon available;
✓ A look at a few little-known metrics that give the best indication of our economic future (and a few great economists Gene follows);
✓ Cash flow moves managers are making now to ensure they have adequate reserves for the downturn;
✓ The latest technologies that are attracting investments from small and mid-sized companies and which are helping to keep overhead low and profits growing;
✓ How smart businesses are saving money even as healthcare costs rise.
Mobile tech, office collaboration techs, customer relationship management, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, cyber-security…these are only a few of the major technology trends that are having a significant impact on how we do business, generate leads, sell and service our customers, both now and in the future.
Join Forbes and Inc. Magazine technology columnist Gene Marks for a review of the hottest technologies that smart business leaders are investing in today…and preparing their businesses for tomorrow. Gene will discuss how the most successful businesses in your industry are using these technologies to:
✓ increase their sales
✓ control their finances
✓ expand their online presence
✓ find/manage/compensate their people
✓ service their customers
Gene will also take a forward look at up-and-coming technologies — cyber-security, AI, robotics, augmented reality — that will affect your industry, and your target audience, over the next decade.
Whether you’re a financial person or not, this presentation is critical for your business. Why? Because taxes represent the biggest expense you have in your organization and personally. Minimizing your tax expense will free up capital to invest, hire and save. Knowing the tax breaks and incentives that you can use will help you defer the costs of bringing on great people and growing your business. Both the 2017 Tax Reform bill and recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act include significant provisions that have a material impact on your business — and personal life too. But that’s just the beginning! You don’t need to be a financial expert to understand all the ins and outs of tax legislation. You just need to know the issues and questions to ask your accountant. That’s the objective of this presentation.
Join author, columnist and CPA Gene Marks for a fast paced, entertaining but very detailed discussion of how tax reform will affect you, your company and your employees.
During this lively presentation Gene will cover the following topics:
✓ The organizational structure that’s right for your business
✓ COVID stimulus tax breaks that are still applicable today
✓ New energy efficiency and vehicle tax credits to leverage in your business and personally
✓ Moves to lower taxes on your compensation
✓ Property and equipment investments that qualify for tax breaks
✓ Special employee related credits to help reduce the costs of compensation and benefit plans, including healthcare
✓ An update on tax rates, rules and strategies for your company’s retirement plans
✓ Tax considerations when exiting your business
✓ Key questions you should be asking your accountant
Managing cash flow continues to be one of the biggest issues small business owners face. Almost two thirds of small business owners are regularly stressed or have anxiety about cash flow concerns. In this economic downturn never has intelligent cash flow management been more important.
Join CPA and journalist Gene Marks who will discuss some of the latest trends, technologies, best practices and strategies that smart business managers are implementing to manage their cash flow and build reserves to see them through to future growth.
✓ Technologies and strategies to help you intelligently revisit and segment pricing, product lines and margins.
✓ The latest tactics for managing receivable payables and the most relevant financial metrics needed to navigate your business through a downturn. Also some thoughts on reducing your taxes before year end.
✓ The newest and innovative cloud based technologies that are helping companies of all sizes increase productivity and profits.
✓ Financing options and opportunities available from governments, nonprofits, private organizations and other lenders.
Thinking of getting a customer relationship management (CRM) application for your company? Already have one and want to know how to use it better?
Please join Forbes CRM columnist, author and CRM expert Gene Marks CPA to discuss all you need to know about CRM applications in 2023.
During this presentation, Gene will cover the following topics:
✓ A comparison of the top CRM applications for small and medium sized companies along with pricing, pros and cons
✓ Where to find them and how to evaluate these applications.
✓ How can you determine the ROI of a CRM investment
✓ Thoughts on how to maximize these applications for their best use in your company.
✓ The most popular add-ons to make a CRM system effective
✓ The future of CRM: trends to consider for 2023 and beyond
✓ Other tips and best practices to consider before buying.
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