Business PerspectivesIs Google Making Us Stoopid? As an Exit Planner, most of my engagements involve assessing a management team. They may be the intended buyers of the company, or else they are key factors in the saleability of the business. The biggest and most frequent complaint … Read More » Podcast on Exit Planning ChoicesI had a nice conversation last week with Pat Ennis of Ennis Legacy Partners and Walter H. Deyhle of Gelman, Rosenberg and Freeman,CPAs, both in Maryland. Thanks for the invitation, Pat! You can listen (25 minutes) here.Read More » |
Exit PlanningThe Role of a Coach in Exit Planning Defining the role of a coach on your exit planning team doesn’t just happen. Like any other aspect of working with consultants, you need to set expectations upfront. Many advisors like to characterize themselves as the “quarterback” of a transition … Read More » Impressions of Value in Exit Planning Business owners, advisors, and buyers frequently have widely different impressions of value when it comes to a business. The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Survey canvasses intermediaries who sell privately held Main Street and mid-market companies. One question is about the … Read More » The GAAP Traps GAAP traps often occur when a business owner sells a company to a third party. The transaction is commonly memorialized by a Purchase Agreement. That agreement contains certain representations (or “reps”) and warranties. Read More » |
Managing EmployeesSupply Chains and Labor Shortages Supply chains and labor shortages are the chief topics among the 40 or so business owners I currently work with. Their anecdotes are widespread and widely varied. I wanted to know why, so I did some research on behalf of … Read More » Manager or Leader? Planning Succession Should you hire a manager or leader as part of your succession planning? Before you make that decision, you need a pretty good idea of what your exit plan is. Once your objective is set, it’s one of the answers … Read More » Non-Qualified Plans in Exit Planning When I talk to business owners about “non-qualified plans,” their first reaction is often “Hold on there. I don’t want to get in trouble!” The term “Non-qualified” merely refers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, more commonly … Read More » |
Marketing and SalesTime to Grow Up Young industries no longer have the time to grow up. The cycle of maturation has long been accepted as a fact of life when a new concept becomes a business. There are a few pioneers (defined here in Texas as … Read More » Talk to Your Competitors In my two decades of managing over a dozen peer groups, I frequently had the opportunity to sit in meetings with a business owner who competed with a member of another Board. I occasionally had to bite my tongue as someone vilified … Read More » The Seventh Entrepreneurial Sin -- Pride Every business owner should be proud of his or her business. If you are the founder, you built every system, and probably landed the biggest customers. If you bought the business, you took what was in place and made it … Read More » |