Building and selling a business requires two types of discipline: 1) Focusing on your niche to build an independent, scalable and successful company, and 2) Focusing your actions and decisions on those that build the most valuable and least risky asset. The type of asset a future buyer would pay the highest money to acquire.
Before looking to sell your business, have you considered the mental, financial, and business readiness that will determine if you get the full price, half or nothing?
After a frustrating low valuation, Laura Steward executed a simple 3 step program to introduce recurring revenue and step back from day to day sales. As a result, she sold her company two years later for 4x the original valuation price.
After doing the hard work of winning customers, how you onboard them will determine if they stick around.
Forgetting or overlooking cash flow is not only a risk to the viability of your business, but can often reduce the value of your business. Instead if you can drive up your cash flow you will often drive up the value of your business and reduce your stress in the process.
Many owners had to take on too much at their own businesses during COVID. This article shows 3 steps you can take to get your life back.
8 facts to help you determine if you own a business or an expensive job. if you own a business than you own an asset that others might want to buy from you. If you own a job, than most likely your business ends when your self employment does.
The Music Industry Illustrates the sometimes exponential value of owning a unique brand. Artists like Bruce Springsteen who own their name, Amazon who owns their distribution experience and Peloton who owns a unique community all illustrate how these unique aspects drive up their respective values.
If you are a business owner you will often have to “fire “yourself from the day-to-day grind of your business so you can truly unlock the value of your business.
To Grow the Value of my Business requires more than just increasing profits. It requires me to optimise my business on the 8 key value drivers a potential buyer would look at.
Use the art of bundling both your expert and general services to capture customers, build their lifetime value, and drive up the value of your business.
Despite having no grapes, vats or wineries of their own – nor experience in the industry – Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey were able to create, grow and sell Barefoot Cellars for millions. 15 lessons they shared from this experience are listed below.
As you know, it is far easier and efficient to cross-sell a new product to an existing customer than it is to market and find a new customer for that product.
If you are looking to just grow your top line revenue, then cross-selling is a very effective technique.
However, you do have to be mindful as to the extent of your cross selling and how it affects your revenue diversification. In some instances, if you cross-sell your existing customers too much stuff, it could make your business far less valuable.
Amazon Prime is arguably one of the most successful examples of a company transforming its repeat customers into repeat business subscribers on the planet.
Not only did the average customer life time value (LTV) more than double, the the success drove tens of thousands of non Amazon customers to subscribe and engage with the company off the bat as repeat subscribers.
As Amazon knew (and clearly illustrated) repeat business drives the value of a company, but not all repeat business is the same.
“I wasn’t being strategic, I was going through a divorce!”
Divorce often sinks a company but John the owner was able instead to transform his company into an independent asset. Today he works 90% less hours, his company is growing, and he enjoys the business much more.
is your business independent or does it own you?
10 Questions Often Asked When Looking to Sell Your Business One of the most intimidating aspects of selling your business can be facing the barrage of
Wisdom is not the same as Intelligence or even technical knowledge. Thousands and tens of thousands of very smart business owners were technical experts at what they produced and should have had business success, but their companies lie in unmarked graves across the economic landscape.
Lack of market demand is the primary reason provided for many start ups failing, but that does not fully explain why 50% of SMEs fail within five years.
“Prepare the business for a sale even if no intention to sell currently or in the future”
Why ? Because if you are preparing to sell from now (even if you do not intend to actually bring the business to market anytime soon), you will position your business to provide you multiple options when it does come to exit. That can mean passing along a well-functioning business to your children (instead of a lemon that prematurely ages them as they struggle to deal with its inherited issues and problems), selling your business at a premium (due to multiple and/or strategic buyers) or other options in between (minority sell off, etc)
Why did you decide to become an Entrepreneur? If you’re like most owners, you aspire to have the freedom that comes from owning your own independent business. This desire for freedom often leads owners to aspire for a bigger business, which they think will give them what they want. Unfortunately, most owners who strive for more revenue or profit as their primary goal often end up with less freedom as slaves to the day-to-day grind of their business.
There’s an alternative to get you closer to what you want..
Excellent Service drives up the value of your business. In this article I illustrate how Amazon solved an AED 1,835 issue for me that generated over AED 400,000 in business value for them. It’s a formula (excellent service – repeat customers – high multiples) they practice again and again.
The Major Blind Spot Blocking Business Value “…Do not think you are wiser than you really are” (Romans 12:16) I wrote an article last month
Financial Freedom – “You Proofing” Your Business In a previous post, I spoke about the Freedom Point and the risk in holding on to your
Are you Achieving Financial Freedom through your Business? When did you last calculate how much of your net worth is tied to your company’s value?
Have you struggled to identify a recurring revenue model that will work in your business?
If so, you’re not alone.
Most owners understand the benefits of recurring revenue, such as predictable cash flow and an increase in their company’s valuation, but struggle with where to start. Just changing your pricing from a one-time transaction to a smaller, recurring fee does not make a sticky subscription model.
Chasing all types of revenue by offering a wide array of products and services is common among growth companies. The easiest way to grow is to sell more things to your existing customers, so you just keep adding adjacent product and service lines.
However, there can be two drawbacks: First, you offer a wide range of products and services without any deep expertise in any of these products and services.
Second, a wide range of products and services can just confuse your customers and lead them to look elsewhere.
Should you Sell your Business Now? 5 Reasons why 2021 might be the time you look to sell your business Have you been thinking about
How practicing Situational Awareness adapted to your business can protect you against the unexpected as well as increase your business value.
He sells a $40,000 product — but kept the store locked because he was “busy.”
Prospects knocked. No one answered.
What if your biggest growth opportunity isn’t more leads… but unlocking the ones you’re blocking?
If you’re buried in the grind and wondering why sales feel stuck… read on..
You’re pushing harder, selling more, landing bigger clients…
But your margins are thinning. Your team’s burning out. And the business feels like it’s held together with duct tape and crossed fingers.
It’s not growth. It’s chaos disguised as progress.
If you’re a 7-figure business owner, you already know what I mean. The next big win won’t save you — it might bury you.
Want to stop the madness?
Ever walked into a room and instantly knew something stank?
That’s how a buyer sees your business—if it’s too reliant on you, a key client, or a fragile process.
I had my own “what’s that smell?” moment at the gym this morning.
It reminded me how blind owners can be to what’s festering in their business until it’s too late.
Here’s how to know where you stand—before the stink costs you everything.
One business owner I met is leaving Dubai this summer—for 3 months.
His only concern? The kids’ school calendar.
His business doesn’t need him.
Another owner? He’s starting over.
His last business collapsed because it relied on too few clients—and too much of him.
Both are focused on building real equity now.
How about you?
Will your business give you options… or excuses?
A bug in my own system.
That’s what I found this week—thanks to a friend in my corner.
It messed up results from my 60-Second Survey. And it reminded me of something powerful:
You can’t build a business of real value if you’re surrounded by yes-men or quiet bystanders.
You need people who’ll call out the bugs—especially the ones you can’t see.
Took me a bit of time to fix. Might take you just 60 seconds to start.
Most business owners say they want freedom.
Time. Peace. A business that doesn’t own them.
But saying you “want it” isn’t the same as doing what it takes.
This story is about a business owner working 16-hour days, ruining his marriage — and for what? Micromanaging his way into misery.
Wanting a sellable business is one thing.
Working for it — the right way — is another.
This one’s about the difference.
I’m not a tax consultant.
But I keep getting cold emails written like I am.
No research. No relevance. No unsubscribe link.
Just like the copy-paste advice that traps so many business owners in jobs they can’t quit.
If you’ve ever paid for “the answer” and got a mess that wasted your time instead…
You’ll get this.
This one’s for the 7-figure owner sick of templates and hungry for real traction.
Some teams are known for winning. Others… for ruining careers.
When the stakes are high and the spotlight is on, even the best talent dies in the wrong system.
So here’s the question:
If someone stepped into your business today—could they thrive without you?
Or would it bury them?
You may be running a machine… or a minefield.
Find out before it’s too late.
Take the 60-second Business Exit Readiness Survey
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