The Butterfly: Transforming Your Business to Attract a Buyer
Regardless of your Designed Destination, the ultimate goal of your Ownership Conversion Plan (OCP) is to make your business move-in ready. This means taking steps to resolve issues that could potentially reduce the value of your business in the case of both an inside and outside transfer. Think of it this way: you’ve brought your business through the egg, caterpillar and cocoon phase and your buyer is looking for a full-grown butterfly. Taking the time to overhaul the seemingly minor details ...
The Intersection: Choosing Your Inside or Outside Sale Option
Picture your Designed Destination… in it, have you transitioned your business to family or key employees? Or, did you instead sell or transfer the business to an outsider? Regardless of which option you have chosen, it’s important to allow yourself enough time and necessary resources to optimize your outcome.
When you arrive at the intersection of Inside vs. Outside business sale options, keep this in mind:
Choosing an Inside Sale. If you decide to transition your business internally, ...
It’s Not Your Money
More likely than not you expect the money you’ve earned to be your own, but unfortunately, missteps in your Ownership Conversion Plan can result in up to 75% of it going to the IRS. Failing to follow through on focal points of your Ownership Conversion Plan can mean losses for yourself, your family, and the charitable causes you might otherwise support.
This is a loss not only for yourself, but for your loved ones and community at large. By having an optimized Ownership Conversion Plan ...
Does the House Always Have to Win?
In roulette, the table odds are set so the house, the casino, wins more than 90% of the time when the ball rolls. This means that with each spin, you have less than a 10% chance of winning. Your betting strategies may change, but the reality is that this will not put you ahead of the odds, and you’ll likely find that the risk was not worth the reward.
Take this concept, and apply it to your business, the life you’ve worked so hard to build. Years, often decades of diligence, yet you put ...
Three Essential Steps to Building a Successful Small Business
Dreams versus dreams realized. I note in the preface of my book that the difference, what it takes to continue to build a successful dream realized, is inspired conscious action.
Of course, that’s the beginning of the story. How to really start the journey to build a successful business, many of us know, is a little more complicated than that. What are some of those inspired conscious actions? Below, I share three essential pieces I believe are critical on the road to building a successful small business.
1. Understand what it means to know your destination.
Having a vision for what you want is the cornerstone to building a successful business. As part of your vision, knowing your desired role, and what capabilities you have and/or need to reach your goals are critical components to think through early, to avoid roadblocks later. Having an understanding of these things allows you to do some of the planning needed to move forward.
Realism is critical. In my book, I discuss being realistic largely in Ownership Conversion, but it’s just as important when you start shaping your vision and building the business you want to transform into your legacy. Of course, realism doesn’t mean limiting your ambition. Realism, in this case, is understanding your market, creating a well-thought timeframe as you scale, knowing how to build a team to support you, and understanding your limitations so you can find ways to overcome or minimize them.
2. Invest in Efficiencies Early
As entrepreneurial companies develop, operational decisions are subject to ‘fake-it-until-you-makeit’ and ‘if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it’ mentalities. While I understand it’s easy to make decisions in this manner, these are good mindsets to abandon early so you can become more efficient as soon as possible....
Financial Spring Cleaning for Your Business
Spring cleaning isn't just for your home; it is essential for your business and your future. You made it past tax season. We have endured this extended, cold winter weather long enough. It's time to “Think Spring!” and get your business ready for a big cleanup. These tips also touch on "Turning Your Business Into a Butterfly" section in my Seven Steps to an Effective Ownership Conversion Plan.
Set Goals
Every business owner has ideas and aspirations that may or may not come to fruition. ...
Seven Steps to Your Ownership Conversion Plan™
Creating a consciously designed Ownership Conversion Plan™ (OCP) ensures business owners are in full control of a realistic and timely approach to passing on their businesses. An effective OCP is achieved in seven key steps:
Cement Your Future Vision – Start by assessing your retirement goals. What is your ideal vision for your business, your family, and your retirement?
The Size of the Pot – Take stock of your assets. What is the value of the business and what assets do you have ...
Building Your Ownership Conversion Plan™ Team
Entrepreneurs spend years working on their business and building it up to be a successful venture. When I talk to them about bringing in a team of trusted advisors for succession planning, many want to hide their checkbooks thinking it will be too expensive. However, planning the sale or transfer of your business is no time to cut corners.
Your Ownership Conversion is about selling your life’s work on your terms to outsiders, insiders or family members. It is a strategy comprised of ...
Ready or Not, Your Future is Coming
I have worked with incredibly successful business owners worth tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Early in my career as a financial advisor, it was easy to assume these business owners planned for their financial future. One client described how his son-in-law, a leading law professor at an Ivy League university, advised him that all of his ducks were in a row. Upon closer examination, it became apparent that essential planning had not been executed. He only had a basic will in place for ...
Avoid Gap Shock by Preparing a Strong Personal Hedge
My mission is to advise business owners on how to achieve the strongest possible position for the sale of their business to outside or inside buyers. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a strong and diverse Personal Hedge. Being prepared financially can eliminate the gap shock when it comes time for you to transition your business.
What is a Personal Hedge?
A Personal Hedge is the accumulation of assets outside your business that ultimately enables you to achieve the cash ...