Posts by John Allen
The Road to Irrelevance: Transferring Your Responsibilities to Management
Longtime readers of this newsletter know that one of our favorite instructions to business owners is: Make Yourself Irrelevant! Newer readers may find that recommendation off-putting so let us explain. Unless your business can run without you, your business has little value to a prospective buyer. If making yourself irrelevant is the goal, how do you…
Read MoreThink About Transferring Your Company To Insiders
Business owners decide to sell their businesses to insiders (co-owners, a key employee, or group of key employees (KEG—Key Employee Group)) for many different reasons. Rightly or wrongly, some believe that their companies aren’t attractive to outside third parties. Others make this choice because they want to “reward” longtime employees with business ownership or want…
Read MoreTime to Figure Out What You Need From the Sale of Your Company
Most owners think they know how much money they will need to “retire” comfortably. Most owners are wrong. Owners start with the less-than-realistic assumption that they will receive all cash at closing for the sale of their companies.
Read MoreNavigating the Choppy Waters of a Sale to a Third Party
If there was ever a time to stay focused on your company, its the period during which you negotiate the sale of your business (often six months or more). Any drop in company productivity, sales, or income is like blood in the water and will be subject to the buyer’s scrutiny and has the potential to scuttle even the best deal.
Read MoreValue Doesn’t Grow on Trees…..or Does It?
You can’t just wait until you are ready to leave your business to find out how much “value” you need or want and how much “value” exists in your business. By then it will be too late.
Read MoreEquality and Fairness in Transfers to Kids
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] Stan Briggs was perplexed when he told his advisor, “My son, Patrick, has worked in the business for the last twelve years. In that time, the business has tripled its revenues and its profits. I’ve started to think about scaling back my activity and I realize how important it is…
Read MoreThe Most Important Exit Goal
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] Over the years we’ve found that the most effective way to describe the goal-setting process to owners is to separate exit goals into three categories. Foundational: What must you attain before exiting or losing control of the business? Universal: What do you (and almost all other owners) wantto achieve upon exiting? Aspirational:…
Read MoreBusiness Owners Who Plan Ahead Increase Success
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.3″] “To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action.” — Michael Hanson If the thought, “Why create an exit plan when I can’t sell my…
Read MoreTimeline For Leaving Your Business
Your exit should not be an event, but a process that takes place over time. Growing your business and your other significant achievements in life were done in multiple steps over a period of time. Why would transferring your business be done in a single step at a particular moment?
Read MoreMotivate and Retain Key Employees
Get More Bang For The Buck: Use Cash Bonuses And Golden Handcuffs To Increase Business Value Too often, owners only discover that the compensation plans they’ve put in place for key employees are sadly inadequate when those key employees leave their companies for greener pastures. The departure of one or more of these key employees…
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