Summer is here, and although it may seem strange, now may be the perfect time to increase the value of your company. The most valuable businesses are the ones that can survive without their owner. A buyer will pay a premium for a company that runs on autopilot and levy a steep discount for a business that is dependent on its owner. This summer, consider taking an extended break from your business to see how […]
Meschelle Peterson
How To Scale Up Your Service Business
Increase the value of your company by training others in your area of expertise. It can be tough to grow a service business. Clients are typically buying your expertise, and if all you have to sell is time, the size of your business will always be limited by the number of hours in your day. One way to scale up your service business is to launch a training division to teach others what you know. That’s […]
Achieve your financial and business goals
Achieve your financial and business goals faster, more easily, and more efficiently
The hidden goal of the smartest business owners
What are your business goals for the year? If you’re like most owners, you have a profit goal you want to hit. You may also have a top line revenue number that’s important to you. While those goals are important, there is another objective that may have an even bigger payoff: building a sellable business. But what if you don’t want to sell? That’s irrelevant. Here are five reasons why building a sellable business […]
Thinking Vs. Doing: The Owner’s Dilemma
There’s a steady breeze from the northwest, which cools the warm Caribbean afternoon. Framed between a palm tree and the turquoise water, you notice a man reading. He appears to be working, which seems strange given his appearance: shaggy blonde hair, linen shirt, surf shorts and flip-flops. You squint and realize the man is Richard Branson and he just happens to be running Virgin Group Ltd., a multibillion-dollar conglomerate. He is working where he usually […]
You-proofing Your Business
Making your business less dependent on you has a number of benefits: you can scale your company more quickly if you’re not acting as a bottleneck; you get more time to enjoy life outside of your business; and a business less dependent on its owner is much more valuable as an investment. Pulling yourself out of the day-to-day operations of your business is easier said than done. Here are three specific strategies for getting […]
The Surprising Secret To A Big Exit
We get to see a lot of company founders who are contemplating an exit. Some of our customers get lucky early in life, but in the vast majority of examples where a founder is getting a seven- or eight-figure offer, it is not their first rodeo. In fact, most owners have had multiple failures and modest successes before their first big exit. One of the most compelling reasons to consider selling your business is to […]
One Way To Decide When To Sell
How do you know the right time to sell your company? One answer to this age-old question is that the time to sell is when someone else is willing to invest more in your business than you are. When you start a business, nobody is willing to invest in its success more than you. You’ve already worked a 40-hour week by Wednesday and, if you’re like most founders, you’ve invested a big chunk of your […]
The Anatomy of a Successful Exit
Stephanie Breedlove started Breedlove & Associates in 1992 as a way to pay her nanny. The big payroll processors weren’t interested in dealing with one person’s wages and doing it themselves was complicated and time-consuming, too much for the then overwhelmed Breedloves. Breedlove saw a business opportunity and started a payroll company for parents who needed to pay their nannies. By 2012, Breedlove & Associates had grown to $9MM in revenue and then she […]
3 Surprising Reasons To Offer A Subscription
You can now buy a subscription for everything from dog treats to razor blades. Music subscription services are booming as our appetite to buy tracks is replaced by our willingness to rent access to them. Starbucks now even offers coffee on subscription. Why are so many companies leveraging the subscription business model? The obvious reason is that recurring revenue boosts your company’s value, but there are some hidden benefits to augmenting your business with a […]