A Wren Says

UPS. Home Depot. Coca Cola. What do they have in common? Well, recently each company it was shareholder challenges to their DEI initiatives. (You can read more on that here.) In each case, the proposals represented an extremely small minority of the opinion of the group of shareholders. Ultimately, none of the companies needed to follow through with the proposals, but the news does bring to light some issues we can consider.

I have written before about the importance of paying attention to laws and regulations that might affect your business. In this case, a landmark case on universities’ diversity initiatives has shaped how companies do things. Because of how the Supreme Court opinion was written in that case it led many to fear that it could have a ripple effect in business. Not only do we need to pay attention to the law but we also need to keep abreast of how it is being interpreted. What is being said about it in the media? Are there any trends in how people are writing about it that resonated with your work?

The second issue is that of “going public.” It can feel like a goal to be a publicly traded company, but it comes with its cons. One of those being beholden to your shareholders as they are your new owners. Beyond the resources that come with going public, really consider if shareholder input sits well with how you want to run your business.

Those are the two takeaways I got from the article. What are your thoughts?