Run Your Business Like You’re Going on Maternity (or Paternity) Leave

How well does your company run when you don’t show up for work? The answer to this question has a significant impact on the value of your business. Suppose your company could survive your absence for a while. In that case, you will score well on something we refer to as “Hub & Spoke,” one […]

The 4 Stages of Exit Wealth

What’s your number?

You know the one.

It’s the amount of money you would have to be offered to sell your business. It can be tempting to imagine selling for an outlandish sum, but is that amount necessary for you to consider your exit a win?

How to Avoid Getting Carved Up by an Acquirer

Streaming services like ESPN+, Disney Plus, and Netflix have risen to prominence in part because cable providers have been holding their customers hostage for decades.
If you wanted to get ESPN in the old days, you had to subscribe to a cable package of six hundred useless channels with nothing but bad sitcoms and crappy reruns.

Why Your Employees Don’t Get It

Do you ever find yourself so frustrated with your employees it causes you to step in and do their jobs?
You realize that it will take much longer to train them to do something than it would for you to do it yourself, so you ask them to step aside and take over.

Why Service Businesses Are Less Valuable (And What To Do About It)

Why are service businesses often less valuable than companies that sell products? The answer comes down to how well your company can run without you (SOPs can help, grab your copy of The Definitive Guide to Standard Operating Procedures). You may be decades away from wanting to sell, but understanding an acquirer’s point of view […]

3 Weeks or 3 Years in Prison? You Decide.

Most founders will tell you that a three-year earn-out feels like a prison sentence. They toil in the bowels of a giant organization where every purchase they make, and every decision they take, is scrutinized by multiple layers of management. The alternative is to take your medicine up front. Spend three weeks documenting your processes […]

The Conversation Behind Closed Doors

There’s a meeting that happens when an acquirer is looking to buy your company. You will not be invited to attend. The meeting involves the senior executives from the acquiring company. The subject is whether or not to buy your business. The principal question at hand is whether they should buy your business or compete with you. […]

The Definitive Guide to Standard Operating Procedures

Section 1: Why Create Standard Operating Procedures What Is a Standard Operating Procedure? A Standard Operating Procedure is a set of instructions used to train and onboard your employees to complete a task. Standard Operating Procedures are the foundation of building a business that can thrive without you which gives you the freedom to work […]

How a Messy Divorce Drives up the Value of Your Business

When couples divorce, it’s messy and expensive. The financial costs and emotional heartache associated with breaking up are massive, and the avoidance of these act as an incentive for many couples to work through their differences.

Stop Selling Your Time

If your goal is to build a more valuable company, stop selling your time. 

Billing by the hour or day means customers are renting your time rather than buying a result, which means that your business model lacks leverage. To grow, you need to either work harder or hire more people. Since it can take months to ramp up new employees, fast growth is just about impossible.