James runs a mid-sized 20-person accounting practice focused on Tax, audit, advisory, and bookkeeping. Last month he was in a pitch meeting with a logistics
Tony runs a 12-person engineering services firm. Started out doing MEP design for commercial fit-outs and was genuinely excellent at it. Then a client asked
Sarah runs a marketing consultancy. Eight staff. Decent client list. She wins almost every proposal she submits and she’s proud of that number. Tells people
BOOM. That shot me upright in bed. 2 am on the clock. Was the bedroom actually shaking or did I dream that part? Couldn’t tell…
There’s an old Allstate commercial. “You’re in good hands with Allstate.” A simple reassuring message to stop worrying because someone has your back. Now ask
Marcus runs a managed IT services company. Fifteen staff. Thursday afternoon he shut his laptop at two, drove to his daughter’s school, and grabbed a
A business owner wants $10 million for his company. The buyer comes back at $5 million. The seller says the business has more in it.
I was making an introduction recently between an investor and a logistics company that could be a good fit for his portfolio. Before the meeting,
After a presentation I gave recently on the four key questions every investor asks before putting money into a business, an older gentleman approached me.
If you’ve seen The Founder, you already know the gut punch. Dick and Mac McDonald built something extraordinary. A kitchen that ran like a machine.
If you’re reading this from Dubai, Abu Dhabi or anywhere in the region right now then you already know… The last couple of weeks have
Took the girls to the park this morning. Getting them some exercise. After playing ball they wanted to run and for me to time them.
My friend is stranded outside the country His grown-up children are still here in Dubai. Desperately he wants to get back here…while I’m looking how
Saturday was the deadline to become a lifetime pioneer member of Fall in Love with your Business Again. Saturday, I had set aside all day
Wednesday I told you about Scott who was hustling hard on a newer business and doing everything himself. When I mentioned building an exit-ready business
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
This week, police in North Carolina found Michele Hundley Smith alive and well. She’d been missing since December 2001. Left home to go Christmas shopping
In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufrense didn’t wait until he was “ready” for his exit. When he picked up that rock hammer for the first
His name was Robert. Engineering consultancy. Fifteen years in business. Solid revenue. Good clients. Respected in his industry. On paper, worth north of $2 million.
One of my first clients was proud of his spreadsheet. Massive thing. Hundreds of tabs. Colour-coded. Formulas nested inside formulas. He’d built the entire accounting
“My customers are different.” “My employees wouldn’t respond to that.” “My industry doesn’t work that way.” BS I hear these lines constantly. From owners in
A friend of mine owns a construction company. Every time I see him, he looks like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards. Bloodshot eyes.
I once had a potential client who ran a logistics company. Smart guy. Built the thing from nothing. Knew every truck, every driver, every client
This week I told you two stories. The first was a man who threw a chair across a Greek café, danced a warrior dance, and
That’s how the conversation started. No excitement. No ambition. Just a man who’d spent years building a technology business and was ready to be done
This week I’ve been telling you about a friend who turned down an 8-figure offer for his business that happened to be seven times bigger
Yesterday I told you about a tiny café in a Greek village. A three-piece band. A warrior dance. A chair thrown across the room. After
The café was tiny. Packed wall to wall. The kind of place you’d walk past and never notice if you didn’t know it was there.
I was with a business owner while he took a Zoom call from Greece. Everyone else has the usual fake backgrounds. Blurred offices. Corporate bookshelves
This week you would have noticed a pattern. Many businesses don’t fail just because of competition, the economy or the markets. They failed long before
“Winterwonderland!? Get ready to get ripped off” Admission – Cha Ching Unlimited Ride Pass for kids – Cha Ching Meals – Cha Ching Rides for
One by one the University of Chicago MBAs lined up to meet the older man who accompanied the young female Goldman FX trader who was
“Growing sales killed my business.” It was sad.. resigned.. And his voice has been in my head since the event.. John had followed the
Friday night was one of those perfect Dubai evenings. Good wine at happy hour. Then a short walk to a neighbouring restaurant where alcohol wasn’t
This week had one theme: Owners sabotaging themselves — not from stupidity, but from the illusions that sound smart. Let’s review the carnage… MONDAY —
Yesterday I shared the story of Jason Weaver — the young Simba voice actor who chose $100,000 plus lifetime royalties over a $2 million upfront
“Poor man wanna be rich… rich man wanna be king…and a king ain’t satisfied until rules everything”-Bruce Springsteen “Badlands” Bruce wasn’t talking about business owners.
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