Shane William Finlay

Securing Private Equity Investment for Mid-Sized Companies

2013-08-23T09:26:00.002-07:00

Do you have a Business Intelligence strategy? This could be the key to attracting private equity to your mid-sized company.

As Deloitte has pointed out <http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Ireland/Local%20Assets/Documents/IE-CF-PEinvestments06.pdf>: growth prospects, operational improvement and hitting targets are among the top attributes when a PE firm is considering an investment. All of these can be addressed with a robust BI strategy. Let’s unpack each of these:

Growth Prospects:

Techrepublic shares <http://www.techrepublic.com/resource-library/whitepapers/the-preferred-business-intelligence-choice-designed-for-growing-companies-sap-white-paper/> that Business Intelligence is an ideal way to establish a corporate growth plan: BI will generate the proof to support the growth strategy. What will really “wow” the PE firm is how your analysis uncovers insights no one else has. But how do you get to these insights? The good news is that a robust insights and analysis are affordable and attainable. Gartner research<http://www-304.ibm.com/businesscenter/cpe/download0/211180/practicalframework.pdf> shows there is “an increasing need to focus on analysis to discover new insights”. Move than ever before in history, companies have access to information faster that will successfully gain confidence with PE firms that expect to be shown insights and opportunities that the company can leverage for growth.

Operational improvements:

“Pump and dump”: It’s not a pretty phrase, but the street’s direction is clear – reduce costs and increase efficiency so we can raise the valuation to meet investor expectations. The exciting part is that High tech and top management consulting firms have diligently collected statistics on every company that invested in analytics and have compiled a benchmarking libraries. Specifically, BI can be mapped to affect a business process, value drivers and key performance indicators. For example, reducing the Cost Of Delay by implementing real time tracking will result in a typical improvement range of 10%-25%*, or by reducing Days Sales Outstanding will show a typical improvement range of 10%-20%*. These are just two of the many quantifiable areas that a BI strategy has been validated to impact. PE firms want to know which specific KPIs and value drivers your company can improve on and what they are worth.

Hitting Targets:

The tenure of a senior manager will be limited if targets are not met. Having up to date, reliable information on the pipeline is key. With the ability to see how much of the pipeline is real versus at risk, energy can be put toward the right actions to meet targets. Moreover, the ability to explore all the operations and sales attributes to ensure everything is on track is a must have for high functioning executives. Taking it further, companies can now leverage their BI to get predictive about their business. The ability to look at the past, present and future will give you the best shot at hitting targets. These three views are now requirements from savvy PE firms looking to invest.

Extensive research has been done on what private equity firms are looking for, and a good BI Strategy will go a long way. The good news is that you can get your BI Strategy assessed for free at www.sap.com/BIStrategy> and determine where you are in the maturity curve. Once you have your position determined you will have a place to start and you will be on your way to attracting new investment in your company. The how to part come’s with solutions like SAP’s Business Objects Edge software designed for midsized companies. With SAP Edge, Midsized companies can get Large enterprise capability so they can ask deep questions about customers, see heat maps and explore trends. Today the solutions and capabilities are within reach of midsized companies to outperform their peers and successful attract PE firms.

Day 6 mercy ship.

2012-09-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

We went to the island today for a day if rest. We hired a fishing boat to get there and when u say fishing boat I mean hand crafted large canoe. On the island we walked to a private beach and some of the locals brought out tables and chairs and cooked us fresh fish from the ocean. It was a nice day full of adventure and colors. The fishing port is very busy and a real rush of smells and shouting. It really keeps you alive and awake. Even with all the activity the locals are so sweet and curios wanting to shake hands and visit. The highlight of the day was coming home in a leaky boat and an engine that failed. There we all were in the middle of the ocean when a torrential downpour started. The kind that soaks one in a second. It was just so raw And real and fantastic to be out there on the edge if it all It's where you find your true self and realize that there really is a better view from the edge. I never imagined myself so calm so close to god and so welcomed in an otherwise Wiley and rough place. I've changed. Africa has changed me. So many fears and cares washed away. While I've only been here a week I feel I've lived a lifetime and while I've only mentioned a few things here in this blog I know now I've got a ton of great stories

Day 5 mercy ships

2012-09-21T11:18:00.001-07:00

Easy start to the day. We set out to tour around and really immerse into the local culture. It was good to get a little further afield. The highlight today was getting trapped in an epic traffic jam so we pulled off the road and had some local snack. Ugali. Or called fufu. After that we did a bit of shopping and then grabbed an ice cold coca cola on a deck and watched the chaos drift by

Day four Mercy Ship. Priceless

2012-09-20T11:01:00.001-07:00

A very early 4am start to travel to the most remote eye assessment place. A bit of a rocky start but things went very well. There were only about 1000 there to get assessed. The team is flat out amazing and I witnessed a level of patience and peace the passes all understanding. Yet again. The high today was seeing a man in the line and very clearly hearing the call to talk to him. He very humbly whispered to me that he had no eye problems but had a very bad hernia and gave me a quick peak. I knew I had to find a way to get him help but not draw attention or the masses around would surge to get help for ailments that were not eye related. I put my hands on his shoulders and whispered back to him. Brother today we are going to check your eyes. He understood what I meant and waited hours in Line out of pure faith I would get him past the yes or no treatment check point before the gate. When he got to that point the assessor flashes his light into his eyes and I leaned in to say please let this one pass for me. He was admitted. thank you for this grace this moment this amazing place. Thank you for the opportunity to help to heal to love a stranger now a friend. Thank you for the wind that guided us past the guards and gates and checks. Thank you for undeniable courage to fit just one more and to the trust on a frail wire of soo many needs. Against this high was the darkest sorrow of a youth maybe 14 years abandoned in the line only to be rejected because we just can't fix blindness and there I took his hand to lead him away looking frantically for his caregiver to pop out and then realizing there was no one. As I weeped I lead him to a bench where he sat knowing I too would leave him. Nothing but a prayer in a language he couldn't understand that I said in earnest Clutching his hands slowly backed away in the rain and chaos.

Day three Mercy Ships

2012-09-18T06:03:00.001-07:00

A very early start today but everyone here gets up early with the call to prayer. It's a great wake up call and prompt to spend some time in silent reflection. We got on the road and went straight to the site for an eye screening. That's when the good people show up to get their eyes checked. It was a real surprise to see the need with some 4000 people there to get assessed. The high point for me was when I got part of the line singing to relive the anxiety and frustration of a long wait. I had to fight back the tears of joy at just how fast they jumped in to Sing and it all just started with me humming Amen amen amen. The low point for me was watching a very well put together women quietly leave the back of the line after hours of waiting in the rain and heat. So proud and wonderful yet so quietly and deeply disappointed clutching her elbows she walked away as if to say no one found me. I paused and wondered how many times she's tried and given up and wished I could do more but knowing I can't. So I just started humming amen amen amen

Day two mercy ship

2012-09-17T13:05:00.001-07:00

We worked in the eye clinic today and checked in 100 or so people. The security and translates were phenomenal. The highlight of the day was being mid stride inside a crowded clinic with no windows and all sorts of cool equipment when a staff comes in to tell us all the power will go out in a few minutes leaving us all in pitch black. I stood there waiting for the moment and then it happened and it was as if the pause button was pressed on an elaborate ball room dance. We all just froze and waited ironically we were all blind together. Once they filled up the generator it all came back to life again as if to exhale and then pick up the serenade to the next step. This melted my heart because off all those wonderful people so patient but still they would have to wait longer to see clear or at all than just I had to for those few minutes. Thank you Africa for showing me that graceful patience and wonderful dance.

Day one the Mercy Ship

2012-09-16T11:24:00.001-07:00

I put my camera away to start as this place just cant be described with a picture. We attended church this morning in a ward and sat on a hospital bed to sing and hear a good word. This place is a riot of chaos and an assault to calm senses yet after moments in the street u feel like you'll never get enough of this place. The love in every power failure or closed road tackles fear head on and grabs your hand as if to say hang on it will b ok and hand me another brick and also pray I will know where to put this one in my hand

Mercy Ships Service - Sept 14-26th

2012-07-27T11:56:00.003-07:00

FBC Deacon and Choir member Shane Finlay has been accepted to serve Sept 14th - Sept 26th in Guinea Africa as a non medical volunteer with the Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships are the world's leading non-governmental ship-based medical organization. Their goal is to transform the lives of the world's forgotten poor. One by one. The hospital ships and land-based teams provide primary medical care, relief aid and community support to the most impoverished people on earth, free of charge.

Shane will be serving either on one singular project or spllit with different crew members in departments on needed projects. We may have a better idea of what type of service is needed closer to departure.

you can learn more about mercy ships at www.mercyships.org

Push

2012-04-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite words going since it’s really meaningful in so many situations. Those who push have passion more than anything else. Pushing is the tough round to take but it's generally sweeter in the end - as long as malice is not at the heart of it. In today’s competitive landscape organizations need to push for value. As Warren Buffet says – Price is what you pay but value is what you get. Any company pushing for value has to seriously consider world class technology like that that found with SAP. Value Engineering at SAP is an important part of customer interaction. The push for value is worth it – just look at all the case studies and customer references SAP has. Next time you are evaluating technology solutions ask yourself – what is this really worth to me? – then let SAP help. It’s easier to push for value when you have a strong partner like SAP.

Downtown Dawne: Make-up Mania and the Meaning of Life

2012-04-10T06:39:00.001-07:00

Downtown Dawne: Make-up Mania and the Meaning of Life

All Eyes on you - value

2012-03-27T14:07:00.002-07:00

What if you could never hide? Would you live differently? Many of us work in environments where we are never out of eye shot – well except for the bathroom – we hope…. The “open” concept drives accountability and really forces the individual to maintain a level of value that is acceptable. Perceived value can be a tricky thing and so it is worth saying that not everything we do will be immediately perceived as valuable and sometimes we have to take the hard road of not being recognized for our efforts. Giving without the expectation of receiving is a real art and balance act – especially at work where performance is driven by recognition – for the most part. Some good advice I received recently is to live all aspects of life as if all eyes are on you. It really changes the dynamics of the value you bring. As we drive value through an organization it is important to respect and acknowledge that it is more than just numbers and metrics that really drive value. You don’t really need everyone’s eyes on you to be seen and to drive value.

More of the good stuff

2012-03-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Value Management is becoming increasingly important for all levels of software investments for any size company. The question is why? Companies like SAP are leading the way when it comes to offering excellence in software sales with value management. Instead of just addressing software requirements SAP goes further and help companies draw the connections to key performance indicators based on SAP's wide industry experience and best practices knowledge. While a company may have the item in the budget there are still overarching priorities that may derail the budget spend. For example, a company may have a priority to address employee satisfaction. Picture a board room setting with a group of executives that are trying to determine what is the best way to address the most pressing focus points - such as employee satisfaction. On the table are several items including a training program a software solution and other proposals. Now, imagine the group looking at all these potential spends but the only one that clearly demonstrates the link between employee satisfaction is the software solution. This is the game they play called "spot the bad investment". I don't know about you but I'd rather be the vendor that includes a business plan than the one that does not. Further to this, value management is the continued check-in between a company and it's vendor to ensure the investment has reached the calculated results. This is really how a vendor can help a company run better.

Dawn

2011-11-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Information is growing at an unprecedented rate. Even more alarming is the speed which we can share and make information transparent. There are so many sweeping changes occurring globally and we are increasingly connected. With all this stirring in my mind I watched the dawn of the day and saw how it hits the mountain tops first. It all became crystal clear in that moment. The big mountains are those of us who wield high wealth and power. As we’ve seen they are no longer able to hide from the light that has been cast on them thanks to our hyper connected world. Suddenly I realized that eventually the dawn will inch down the slopes to us all. Where are you in that picture? One thing is for sure, at this rate everyone will have a light cast on them and there will be nowhere to hide. The shadows will diminish and all will be revealed. Are you ready for that? Short of a total electronic and economic collapse sending us back to ice age status - this light will continue coming. Have you got your susty house in order?

Said And Done.....SAD?

2011-11-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

All too often when it come to sustainability when all is said and done a lot more is said than done. It is great news that so many organizations have “jumped on the band wagon” to publish annual sustainability reports. It is a step in the right direction for sure but the real opportunities come the ability to report daily or even up to the minute. Why? Well, imagine that you could only get a bank statement once a year. That gives you only one chance a year to make amendments and plan. Clearly we’d all rather have up to the minute access to our financial information so why should environmental information be any different? The concept of triple bottom line is not new – People, Planet, Profit. We’ve figured out how to wield the power of prophet but the real advantage for any organization is leveraging the hidden power of people and planet. For those organizations out there that report annually on sustainability - why now lay hands on some hidden power? Can you say that you have done as much as you said or will you remain sad....?

Occupy the earth

2011-10-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

With all the fan fair about "Occupy" I thougth it ironic today that we officially reached 7 billion people so we can a least say we've "occupied" this planet very well.... I wonder if the planet had a voice what it'd say? While the "Occupy" movement seems a bit scattered about it's message it seems to boil down to a general complaining about what is lacking. Two things come to mind. One, there's lot's of proof that wealthy people have less babies. Two, what would happen if a group decided to gather to praise instead of complain. Just saying. Today, I am here to "occupy" my desk and see about making this world a better place instead of complaining about it and - funny enough - that's made me wealthy and I don't have kids. Hmmmm...

Get out of Jail free card

2011-06-09T08:32:00.001-07:00

I hear that visiting hours at minimum security prisons are fairly generous. Sarcasm aside, the EPA actually publishes mug shots of environmental fugitives - http://www.epa.gov/fugitives/index.html#carlo The harsh part is that in many cases people who end up on the wanted list or face fines and jail time are not actually the ones doing the actual crime – but they are held responsible for it. There are a lot of reasons for putting a sustainability solution in place for a corporation but it is worth pointing out the most extreme – Executives can wind up in jail for mishandling the environmental aspects of their company. The get out of jail free card than every executive should have to is a environmental management system that monitors and alerts that risks are growing. That system can be a group of people that are paying attention to that - but - we’ve all seen the “movie” and read the news on how that actually pans out when risk turns into a legal issue…… Again, sarcasm aside, the only trusted format is a software solution that has imbedded security so that information cannot be tampered with to cover up mistakes that can land executives in jail. The cost of imprisonment far out weights the cost of a software solution to properly manage environmental aspects of an organization. The charges leading to jail can be much more than just polluting. They can include mistakes on shipment manifests, failure to report contents of a facility to local authorities (under the right to know legislation) and even Travel act violations – the list goes on. Protect yourself and the corporation with a sustainability solution – it’s your get out of jail free card.

Dead Money

2011-06-08T08:48:00.001-07:00

The trickledown effect is coming to a bank near you. Many of the world’s largest banks have signed on to http://www.equator-principles.com/.

“Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs) commit to not providing loans to projects where the borrower will not or is unable to comply with their respective social and environmental policies”

Don’t have a qualitative and quantitative – trusted sustainability report? = no money/credit or maybe just higher interest rates for you – that’s dead money.

72 financial institutions have adopted this is 27 countries. The credit market is going to use this to their advantage. The question is will your company be able to meet them at the table well prepared? Put yourself into a bankers shoes and ask yourself: “if I am going to loan money how what can I use to negotiate the best interest rate – in my favor?” It is not a far jump to see that if a client presents more risk than the interest rate is higher. Now part of the risk being assessed is sustainability. If you have not heard of the term - Triple bottom line – google it now! No self respecting corporation would show up to a bank with financial information in a shoe box so why would your sustainability information be any different? Excel is your shoe box. The good news is that solutions do exist that can get companies to a bank worthy status – without breaking bank (so to speak). www.sap.com provides world class sustainability solutions tailored to meet your needs. Lower interest rates and protecting your credit is just a click away. Here is your early warning notice to avoid dead money. Wouldn’t it be nice to be in the power position with your sustainability report and even ask the bank you’re are dealing with – where’s yours?

Beware your competitor

2011-06-07T15:08:00.001-07:00

As one of a handful of enterprise class sustainability principals talking to companies every day I get to notice trends first. More and more of the calls with enterprises across North America regarding sustainability are about competition. Organizations want to know how they can gain the upper hand by being first to shine on sustainability thereby gaining market share – or – they are scrambling to catch up to their peers. Even without peer pressure more and more are reporting that customers are requesting sustainability reports more and more as part of purchases – especially business to business. If you are one of those out there still thinking this is all conjecture consider the savvy buyer. The flip side of all this is that any savvy buyer is going to use anything at their disposal to justify a purchase and negotiate price. If you find a customer that is not asking so many questions – please share – I think we’d all like to have a go at them to sell them something. If you have not found your way out of the red ocean of competition - see book “The blue Ocean” than the least you can do is embrace everything at your disposal to address the competitive scenario you’re in. Even if you’ve found yourself in the “blue ocean” is it really time to relax your pursuit of excellence? Why not be as sure as you can in any case to address those that would seek to supplant you? The good news is that there are software solutions that can be easily deployed - like those found at www.sapcarbonimpact.com. It’s in your reach.

Major and Minors

2011-06-06T10:15:00.001-07:00

I heard a good talk this weekend about majoring on things that are major and minor on things that a minor. As the sustainability arena gets more and more crowded with solutions, best practices and risk reduction we should keep focus on what is really major. Every corporation has the same fragility that represents the major we need to focus on - which is energy. Nothing in our world works once the power goes out. No one can deny that our energy consumption is growing - but can we sustain the growth? A good analogy is the human body which can last for a good while without food but without water death looms quickly. The “water” for corporations is energy. Even if we can meet the demand without disruptions it is clear that the cost is only going up or will at very least be volatile while – and if – we manage to transition to steady state renewable energies. Any organization not addressing this as part of their operations will become more and more risky to operate. There are still many companies out there that do not even have a sustainability report. This is like going for a jog down an unknown lonely road without water - assuming that there will be some along the way – and that you can afford it. The message is that if you are one of those companies that says: “we’re just not ready to address this because we are focused on growing and making sure we keep the lights on”. The bad news is that circumstances may turn off your lights for you and there is amble warning that life giving energy may cost more than you can marginalize. The good news is that by - at very least – focusing on what is major you can prepare for the worst and improve your profitability at the same time. Collecting the information and putting it into a manageable format to identify risks and opportunities cannot be done on excel alone. Only a sophisticated software solution can address the major items to ensure longevity. The surprising element is that while focusing on the major issues the minor issues get addressed with more excellence as well.

Age of Arrows

2011-06-02T08:45:00.001-07:00

I’ve had the privileged position of talking with many Large Enterprises across North America regarding their sustainability initiatives. After a year of ongoing conversations about qualitative and quantitative information and how, why and when to share - one factor is fairly constant - the arrow. Is the arrow on any particular sustainability metric going up or down in the right direction? A good example of this can be found at: http://www.sapsustainabilityreport.com/operations-impact The point – pun intended – is that many companies are still just making statements on their public facing sites about their initiatives. How are we to believe that they are actually dealing with the items or if they are just making empty promises? Do we really have to wait a year to read the results in their annual report? Any organization just making statements is in danger of green washing accusations. Imagine if we could do our financial reports this way? Would shareholders just accept that we “state” we are going to turn a profit or reduce costs without any real metrics? Major banks are now determining the risk of loans to corporations based in part on these “statements” and how real they actually are. The good news is that any corporation can get the arrow working for them with an automated software solution that collects, monitors and drives the arrows. Eventually arrows will be the norm so now is the time gain the advantage – the power of the arrow is yours to wield. A good place to start might be to ask the company that is showing a good example of arrows like the one sited above – how did they do it?

Vacation sustainability

2011-05-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year when many of us start planning our summer vacation. It is also a perfect time to exercise your power as a buyer. When you are booking transit, accommodation and entertainment why not ask about the sustainability initiatives of those organizations? A simple query can go a long way to impacting the world. Maybe the vendor your are choosing does not have a sustainability practice but now that customers are asking starts to look deeper into some initiatives. You may not know how extensive the efforts are with other vendors but once you learn you have some bragging rights and can relax that much extra knowing you are doing your part - even on vacation. Many hotels are cutting costs significantly with their sustainability initiatives. It may be that the extra profit floating around will serve you better with discounts or excellent service! Also, if an organization does not care about the planet what kind of culture do you think you will experience with them? – how much will they really care about you? Part of the memories of a holiday are telling the stories after so learn more about your providers and you might just be surprised how your vacation changes for the better. Remember, sustainability goes beyond waste, water and air and includes social elements as well. You may be on the receiving end of a genuine smile from the staff serving you or they may be struggling to share a good vibe since the vendor you booked has a bad social track record. One little question or a bit a research could really change the dynamics of your trip. Ask and you shall receive – or at least be for warned.

From certainty to confidence

2011-05-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

A corporation can hold several meetings and double check all the measurements and reports to get to a place of certainty in their sustainability practice - but does that bring confidence? Confidence is when the organization really believes in what they are doing and does not look at the future as a threat. Many companies are still dealing with their sustainability practice as a - make sure - or - ensure - practice instead of building the practice for confidence. So what instills confidence? Consistent tracking and a system of alerts and monitors goes a long way to achieving confidence. Those can not be accomplished with excel spread sheets and setting up watch dogs in the organization since people fail and excel is problematic on many fronts. Connecting sustainability data into an automated system and establishing key performance metrics that align with corporate goals is the only way to move from certainty to confidence. The most sustainable companies in the world have done the work to white board out their sustainability practice and deploy a software solution to bring it all together. The good news is that the process is less daunting and expensive than many may perceive. Furthermore, the return on investment can be calculated up front. If you are in the drivers seat of a sustainability practice now is the time to bring it all together with a software solution so that you can take you vacation this summer - with confidence that they system is working for you - instead of you working for the system.

Engage student brains

2011-05-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

Part of a broader strategy for a corporation should be to engage their sustainability practice with local Universities. Nike found it’s famous “just do it” logo and statement by leveraging the fresh nubile minds of higher ed. Why not challenge those minds with corporate sustainability data to come up with game changing approaches, ideas and opportunities? When a corporation has an on-demand sustainability software solution it can engage outside resources for analysis and contribution. Of course standard NDA’s should apply between students and companies and the assignments structured for optimal outcomes. When you mull this over it is easy to see the “win” cases. The university gets to deal with real world data and problem solving directly impacting the local communities. The student gains valuable real world experience. The company gets cheap – if not free – brains looking into it’s sustainability practice. Finally, the over-all we move the conversation of sustainability more into finding opportunities – rather than creating costs – issuing reprimands or the ages old play to change minds about taking care of the environment. Since a sustainability practice is more than just environmental a broader subject matter expert student body can be embraced. In fact, maybe any balanced doctorate program should include some form of sustainability contribution/link on that subject matter. Now that is some good “grist for the mill”.

Short Term Thinking

2011-05-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

Poverty forces short term thinking. Need is a powerful agent in the degradation of our environment so it has to be part of any good sustainability strategy for an organization. Still many companies do not see this as a critical part of their business. Leaders know that companies cannot succeed in societies that fail – a repeated lesson learnt in the developing world. Aside from the obvious feel good implications the reality of addressing this inside a corporate sustainability practice has real asset valuation. Only sophisticated software solutions can help a corporation move beyond hand-out solutions to real efforts that are long lasting. Really, the age old idea of teaching to fish over just giving a fish applies here. The difference is the complexity is so great that getting a handle on the real opportunities can only come through qualitative and quantitative analysis. Deep review usually translates into a cost center many corporations are quick to reduce or eliminate especially in tough times creating a corporate poverty that forces short term thinking. The only answer to link the strategy to the performance metrics of the company and perform real calculations that show bottom line impact – or some would say triple bottom line impact. The good news is that software is available to handle the challenge and is within reach of any growing enterprise. In a way software gives corporations the ability to think quickly to avoid short term thinking. Now that’s something to think about.

License to grow

2011-05-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

How about the concept of requiring companies to get “License to grow”. I think this is an interesting concept but clearly fraught with red tap potential. Could this be a militant reaction or just plan common sense. I don’t know about the rest of you but if my neighbor wants to build a bigger house or generally change anything it can either be a blessing or a curse but for the most part some sort of permit is required so I’m calmed by the fact that someone is reviewing the merits. More than most the merit of waste, water and air are top of list. So – if we apply this to our love of capitalism and growth will it work? Could we insist that companies get a license to grow based on their sustainability practice. I think it’s fair – if your company is supporting planetary life – grow – if not – put your capital towards figuring out how to support life….and when you get there – then grow. Good job there is software solutions that can support a company’s audit abilities around people, planet, profit and help them justify a license to grow.