For Less Anxiety You Need to Plan Before You’re Ready
“If I had known this before I sold my business, I could have saved myself two years of anxiety.” This is truly what a business owner said to everyone at an in-person workshop I was giving. Doris, not her real name, was present at one of these workshop events held for her networking group. She…
Focusing on Exiting Feels Like a Loss of Business. It’s Not and Here’s Why.
| Even if you are thinking, “I just don’t feel like it” – Do it for legacy. | When we started our businesses, we knew we had to learn a lot of new things. It wasn’t enough just to be an expert around our product or service, we also had to learn how to be…
Don’t Start with Valuation
When people come to me about preparing their business to exit, their first statement is almost always, “I don’t know what my business is worth, if anything at all”. Then they ask if I can do a valuation to see if they would be able to sell and exit. There are two issues with this:…
How Leadership Pays Off, At All Levels – Revisited
In an article from October 2023, “A Story of Two Shutdowns And Their People“, I told the story of two very similar manufacturing companies with two very different distinct leadership styles that created two very different cultures. In today’s article, I am revisiting these two leadership scenarios with a look at how these styles affected…
The Role of Systems in Your EXIT
Systems are the sexiest part of business. No? OK, that might just be me. Most people do not want to think about systems, except to initially set them up and hopefully use them. Don’t wait until you are thinking about leaving; build a business with current and future value – Systems are the key to…
Four Important Points in Change – Revisited
Why revisit change steps? Because there is no way past change without going through it. Knowing how is important. Change in your business comes at all stages of your business: at the beginning, while you choose the direction to go in and adjust to find your actual best positioning when you are thinking of growing…
Are Your Sentinel Processes in Place?
In my original post, Sentinels To Change, from March 2023, I showed how having a business with a process to allow your team to share their view of the future, can help you prepare for your changes that could devastate your future business or changes that could make you more competitive. Having a company full…
5 Reasons You Won’t Exit Your Business and 5 Solutions
There are many reasons why a business cannot Run Without You; one of these reasons may be because you are not ready. Baring the obvious reason of, “I have not even thought that far ahead,” I want to share 5 reasons with you and one thing you can do to get started for each. 1….
My Business Isn’t Ready for Me to Die
OK, this may be a little morbid to think about, but let me tell you why you want to go through this thought process. I’ve had several owners tell me they don’t want to tell anyone they are thinking of leaving the business. They are afraid people will get worried and leave; people like clients,…
Group Norms and Change: They’re Affecting Your Bottom Line
When we look at change inside a business, we often look at the big picture, “how the business manages the changes to reach its goals”. But what we don’t often look at are the components of change that can negatively affect the bottom line of your business. What we know of human behaviours and change…