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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: small business advice
Turning Plans into Realities
We’ve discussed some simple steps to getting started on your annual business plan. (see previous post: The Seven Questions of Simple Planning). Once you have the questions answered, you can begin moving towards the actions that transform your plans into … Continue reading
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The Seven Questions of Simple Planning
The Creation In the beginning was the plan And it sprang from the assumptions And the assumptions were without form So the plan was void of substance And darkness fell upon the face of the workers And the workers … Continue reading
One Response to The Seven Questions of Simple Planning
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Excellent advice, John. I offer my clients a less rigorous first step, not nearly as good as yours. It too is designed to get their toe in the water, in hopes they will engage in the process and expand upon it. On one page they list the two or three most important accomplishments for the year; then the two or three shortfalls for the year; then the two or three most important goals for the upcoming year.
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Trimming the Customer Tree
Anyone who has shopped for a live Christmas tree knows the drill. They have some on display, but none look exactly like what you want. You start looking through the trees that are still bundled up. If one looks promising, … Continue reading
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When is the Right Time to Sell?
In the last few weeks I’ve had several conversations with owners about selling their companies. In one case a professional firm with whom I’ve worked for the last 4 years completed a merger with a large national company. That was … Continue reading
One Response to When is the Right Time to Sell?
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The right time is NOT when you are down because the business is down. Case in point: a few years ago Mr. X was suffering through a low point in the business because of poor market conditions. He was so affected by it that was seriously thinking about selling (obviously at a very low price because of the down turn in the business). I knew the business had a lot of potential and that the down cycle would be reversed, so I wanted to change his mind. Rather than trying to convince him I decided to talk with his wife who was also very active in the business. I asked her: “What would you and Mr. X do after you sell?” She replied: “I guess we would start another business”. So I asked her: “Tell me, how were the beginnings of this company?” She said: “Oh my God, they were terribly challenging and not much fun”. I said: “So, do you really want to go through all that again?”. She looked at me with puzzled eyes and said: “I never thought about it that way; you are right I don’t want us to have to go through that again”. So they decided to keep the company and work to return it to its rightful place. Today the company is four times the size and they get unsolicited offers for many times the price they would have had to sell at the low point. The moral of the story then is: sell when business is doing well, never when it is down.
I cover this subject in detail in my book “Its Lonely at the Top”; “A Practical Guide to Help You Become a Better Leader of Your Small Company”.
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3 Responses to Three Circles of Family Business
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Ouch, I am living this situation. Vision and leadership is the challenging issue. There is not one right way to run company. I learned from you that each business reflects business owner’s personal values and style. Great article and if others respond too, hopefully you will share more on this topic and transitioning family business.
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Additional Information,
Actually the most stable relationship system is a three party system where the third party acts as a calming, reasonable voice that facilitates constructive communication and decision making. In family business succession work we have long advocated a three system view: Family, Business and Board. In the latter we work toward a balance of participants between family representatives and respected, independent outsiders with experience and expertise relevant to the current and future work of the business. We typically do not recommend professionals – lawyers, accountants, consultants… who are aligned and indebted financially to the business. The challenge is to start this process long before succession – through family education and involvement of key family members in learning about and appreciating the complexities of running and growing a successful family business. The earlier the better…
Bill Seelig,
bill@seeligs.comBill Seelig
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Legal succession planning is also important for family businesses. This is especially true when one beneficiary of the owner’s estate is clearly the right person to take over operations and another beneficiary is clearly not interested.
These are great tips, I really like that one about thinking of prospective customers. I’ll have to make a list like this, it is the new year after all!