In Dubai, working for free is almost a rite of passage for business owners. It has happened to me more than once, and never because I offered.
There was always a big payoff dangled just ahead, close enough to believe in, like a greyhound chasing the mechanical rabbit it is never meant to catch.
By the time you work out the rabbit was never real, you have already done the work.
I took those on the chin. I was angry, naturally, but I handled it with a bit of dignity and moved on.
And then I bought some furniture from IKEA.
All that dignity went straight out the window.
There I was on the floor, surrounded by little plastic bags and an Allen key, holding a diagram drawn by someone who clearly hated me, ranting and raving at a half built shoe cabinet.
That was the moment it hit me. I would gladly pay more, a lot more, to have the thing turn up built and standing in the room. The furniture was never the problem. The assembly was.
That’s how investors feel about your business.
If they have to get down on the floor and work out how yours actually runs, because it lives in your head or half of it is scattered around the place, they do one of two things.
- They knock the price down hard, or
- they walk off and buy one that is already built.
The business that runs without you is the one that arrives assembled.
That is what a buyer pays a premium for.
(It’s also the one that gives you the freedom to invest your time where and with whom you want.)
So which one are you selling, the finished piece or the half assembled boards and drawers?
The Buyer’s Verdict tells you in a few minutes.
Twenty questions, a quick score on the four things buyers pay for, and a straight answer back. Free.
Business advisor George Sotiropoulos uses a self deprecating IKEA story to make a point about business value. He took being cheated out of money in Dubai with some dignity, then lost that dignity entirely trying to assemble a flat pack shoe cabinet. The lesson is that the pain was never the furniture, it was the assembly, and buyers feel the same about a business. If an investor has to work out how your company runs because it lives in your head or is scattered around, they discount it hard or walk away. The business that runs without you is the one that arrives assembled, and that is what earns a premium.