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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: business planning
A New Game Theory – Stop Playing!
I am not a Gamer, as the term is currently used. I tried my hand at Pong on my home TV, and at PacMan in the arcades, but quickly lost interest. Text based strategy software, role-play and first-person shooters never had … Continue reading
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They Who Giveth Can Taketh Away
Many business owners I know are troubled by the NBA’s insistence that Donald Sterling must sell the Los Angeles Clippers, and can do it only in a manner and to whom the league approves. Mr. Sterling has personally been banned from … Continue reading
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Where Will All the Small Businesses Go?
What would the small business landscape look like if over one million small businesses disappeared? Get ready, it’s about to happen. I write and speak frequently about the passing of the entrepreneurial generation. Driven by competitive pressures to succeed, the … Continue reading
One Response to Where Will All the Small Businesses Go?
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Hi
Congratulations on your award. I ran across your book and your IBPA award in the newsletter I am one of the relatively few lawyers around with a foot in the publishing and food and ag entreprneurship camps. I blog at http://schellacres.typepad.com/ and your book would be a natural to review if you are interested in having a review on the blog. Best Success with your book, I think it’s a crucial insight about temperament–can’t make cows hunt, can’t make lions graze (happily).
Best
Rich Schell
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You are Never too Busy to Make Money
Last week I was having lunch with a client who owns a substantial construction firm. His phone pinged during our conversation. He apologized for looking at it, but he was waiting to hear on a couple of large bids. “Dammit!” he … Continue reading
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Who’s Picking Up the Tab?
When a small business is sold, the total price of the business includes not only the cash paid, but any obligations assumed by the buyer on behalf of the seller. Transfer of a loan balance, accrued vacation pay for employees or … Continue reading
The comments about diversifying from one major contract only becomes a necessicity when the contract is up for renewal. I am guilty of falling into a false sense of security and have been financially setback by a large contract changing.
Professional sports teams are essentially a franchise. If the owner of a McDonald’s or TCBY store violated rules in a way that publicly harmed the overall brand, would their removal still be considered “troubling”?
That said, the main point about avoiding too much concentration is on target. In fact, it does not just apply to a single customer or contract. Being in too narrow a market or niche of a particular industry can result in similar risks.
Small business owners have to do what they know and are good at. It is a balancing act for that fact to not leave the business vulnerable to a single contract or market shift. Do not forget to keep looking around as you move forward.
David Basri
Point Enterprises, Inc.
https://www.pointent.com
Point well taken, David. I think what bothers the folks that I’ve talked to is not the ban, or the forced divestiture. It’s the widening (and fungible) scope of ruling what an owner can or can’t do to dispose of his property. Make no mistake, as a rabid NBA fan, I couldn’t be happier to see Sterling gone.
John – thanks for the great discussion on customer concentration and on franchise challenges. Essentially, he was a franchisee of a very valuable franchise and the franchisor decided he broke the rules of the arrangement. Many baby boomer franchisees are looking to exit and need to understand that who they sell to and many of the other deal issues could be impacted by their franchise agreement. They need to understand any limitations, so they can be prepared when they’re ready to exit.