
Spinning Gold into Hay
“That’s a palace?” my daughters exclaimed. Their eyes were declaring what their mouths were too polite to say. That’s complete ***t. So they weren’t impressed
End Burnout — Fall in Love with Your Business. Full Access and all calls $997. Get Your Spot

“That’s a palace?” my daughters exclaimed. Their eyes were declaring what their mouths were too polite to say. That’s complete ***t. So they weren’t impressed

“Wisdom is worth more than silver; it makes you much richer than gold. Wisdom is more valuable than precious jewels; nothing you want compares with

I have been out of touch for a week or so. Not because I am blowing you all off but just to step back and

Friday was fun. I organised an afternoon lunch and then happy hour with over a dozen business owners and service providers. We didn’t have an

“I learned more from a 3 minute record than I ever learned in school” Bruce Springsteen – “No Retreat, No Surrender” In the mid 80s

You know what’s funny about my business? The wide variety of industries and situations I get called into that differ significantly on the surface but

Last day of FAQ week. And this one is the question that separates the owners who end up with options from those who end up

Day 2 of FAQ week. Today’s question hits a nerve with almost every owner I talk to. “You talk about building a business that runs

It’s a holiday week all across the globe with bank holidays in the West and US, Eid here in the Mideast, and Pentecost both last

I recently met a business owner generating nine figures in revenue. Multiple suitors circling. The kind of interest most owners dream about. And none of

Paul and David both started logistics companies around the same time. Both built them to roughly $8 million in revenue with teams of about 30

Yesterday I told you about the blind man and the Pharisees and how the experts who were supposed to see most clearly were the ones

In the Gospel of John there’s a scene that has always stuck with me. Jesus encounters a man who has been blind since birth and

Yesterday I ran an intimate M&A deep dive breakfast with eight professionals who all touch mergers and acquisitions from different angles and what came out

Last night I attended a hosted dinner featuring Gaston Hochar, the third-generation family owner of Chateau Musar, one of Lebanon’s most iconic wineries.Twenty-four of us

Met a guy called Adam at the gym this week. We got talking between sets and he mentioned he’d recently exited a cybersecurity firm here

Over the weekend one of my email subscribers asked if he could get in on the Pioneer deal because he didn’t have time to sign

She nailed it. So I agreed to having Mitch Martina Cleaning Company come to our house for a deep cleaning of the apartment even though

The other day I took my youngest to a new café while we waited for her sister to finish school. When we sat down the

Monday’s business growth cohort call for Fall in Love with Your Business Again went somewhere I didn’t plan. What was supposed to be a walkthrough

A carpet cleaner in Baltimore charges double what everyone else charges. He has a waiting list. His competitors slash prices to win jobs and wonder

The Answer Changed the Wine Industry. A few years ago when I was working as a Value Builder Advisor with John Warrillow’s Built to Sell

Today is St George’s Day. My namesake and patron saint. Legend has him on a horse slaying a dragon. Well forget the dragon because the

Who do you think won my business? Met a wealth advisor at a networking event a while back. Seemed sharp. We agreed to grab a

Before leaving for RAK with the family, I sat down and made sure three different client milestones were completed and delivered, so that nothing left

Before heading to Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) with the family for a couple of days I had to stay home for the LG technicians to

A digital agency owner I’ll call David lost a pitch last year to a competitor who charged nearly double his price. Same scope. Same deliverables.

There’s a documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi about a man named Jiro Ono who runs a ten-seat sushi restaurant in a Tokyo subway station.

After my post of Sophia on a horse, I received the following email. Hi George, I went to that polo club on Monday. My daughter

Looking for quick, powerful insights on what investors really want in a business?
We covered it this week, and these game-changing lessons continue to surprise business owners.
If you’re thinking of selling one day, ask yourself: are you prepared with answers that will make investors sit up and take notice?
Or are you leaving the hard questions unanswered?

When it comes to valuing a business, risk is everything. Imagine bidding at an auction on a note that might pay $1 million or might pay nothing—how high would you go?
Now, if that $1 million was guaranteed, suddenly, you’d pay much more.
The difference? Predictability. Too many profitable businesses fail to sell because they lack this key ingredient.
Curious about building investor confidence? Join the free Business Owners Club and our live Zoom session on November 19.

As a kid, “Uncle Ted” terrified me—he saw through my spoiled antics and wasn’t afraid to call me out. Later, I realized he was more than tough; he was a self-made success and, eventually, a mentor. But when it came time to sell his thriving business, things didn’t go as planned. Now, I share his story to help other business owners avoid his fate.

9 out of 10 business owners struggle to sell their businesses on terms they want. Why?
They can’t convince investors of their business’s future potential in the right hands.
If you want to attract serious buyers and keep control over the deal, start planning now.
Sign in to the Owners Club for the 4 questions you need to answer to make your business investor-ready. Plus, join our Open Office Discussion!.

Last night, I watched a documentary on the 2004 Red Sox—a team that, after 86 years, made bold moves to secure a championship.
It reminded me of a key insight when valuing businesses: like a traded sports icon, your past efforts alone don’t drive investor interest.
Investors focus on future potential under their control.
Find out more in our free Owners Portal and Join me on November 19 for a free session where I’ll cover how to make your business irresistible to investors.

Ever thought about what would happen if life threw you an unexpected curveball?
I recently heard a story that hit me hard—a business owner who poured everything into his work until, one day, he couldn’t anymore.
No backup plan, no safety net… and in an instant, everything he’d built was on the line.
It’s a powerful reminder of why having a business that can be sold today really matters.

A conversation with Brian highlighted the millions he saved by building a sellable business even when he didn’t have any intention to sell at the time.

It was on another election day that I started my new life here in Dubai. The people I’d meet and the experiences I’d have in that job would shape why I started Sophiall and why I strongly believe that every entrepreneur deserves success and shouldn’t miss out like 70% of other business owners who build profitable companies but can’t successfully sell them or pass them down.