We read the following article recently and it really brought some things to light that we’ve talked about for a long time. But Shawn Kinkade of AspireKC stated it so well that I wanted to share it on our blog and with our readers (with his permission, of course).

Shawn has been my business coach for years. I highly recommend working with a business coach (and I’m happy to introduce you to Shawn if you’re looking for one of the best), especially if you’re a know-it-all who doesn’t realize yet that you don’t know it all.

The key to having a successful, growing, and viable business long term is getting help, delegating, and being aware of the ever-changing world. Taking it all on yourself is a recipe for disaster…or at least getting really tired and burnt out. I hope you enjoy Shawn’s article as much as we did…It originally appeared in in Thinking Bigger magazine.

Grow Faster by Slowing Down

by Shawn Kinkade

November 1, 2015

Working too hard is killing your business.

You’ve owned your business for a while now. You provide a product or service that people need or want, and you do a good job of it. How do I know this? Because you’re still in business. Business owners who don’t offer a great product or service don’t make it very long.

But your company feels like it’s stalling a bit. You’re still really busy—in fact, you’re probably busier than you’ve ever been. But growth, in both top-line revenue and profit, has been really hard to come by. There’s a reason for that stall. It’s counterintuitive, and you’re not going to believe me initially, but it’s true.

You’re working too hard.

The American Dream is founded on hard work, and you strongly (and correctly) believe that if you want to get ahead, you have to work for it. However, once your business is established and has success, the path to the next level of growth requires a different approach. You still need hard work, but as the owner, you have to stop doing all the day-to-day stuff. You have to let go—at least a bit.

Here are the top three reasons you should be working less.

There Are Only 24 Hours in a Day

You’re really good at whatever it is that you do. You may be better at that than anyone you know. But once you’re working a full schedule, there’s no room for any more growth. It’s simple math: If you want more business, then you must get other people to do that critical work. If that’s not possible, then you can’t grow.

The good news is that it’s possible to find other people to do that work. Maybe not quite as well as you can do it, but close enough.

Your job as the business owner is (eventually) to teach others how to add that value that you’ve been adding—not to deliver it yourself, but to teach others.

See the Forest, Not Just the Trees

The world is changing fast these days, and your industry is different from even just five years ago. Social media, marketing, sales, technology—all these things are evolving very quickly, and they all have an impact on business.

If you’re working too hard in your business, then you haven’t had any time to spare to think about the big picture and what needs to be done to work on your business. As the business owner, your primary job is looking at what’s going on in the world and adapting your business to all those changes. That’s not just a survival technique. It’s also the best way to uncover great new growth opportunities.

You’re Getting Tired

When you started your business, you weren’t thinking about how excited you would be working 60 to 70 hours a week with no end in sight. Or about not having the option to take a vacation or spend time with your family or friends.

You’re all about hard work. That’s why your business is successful in the first place. But no one can sustain that kind of pace for a long time without complications. Best case, you get burned out, you start going through the motions and you get really resentful about your business. Worst case, you end up with health issues, and you reach a point where you physically can’t do the work that’s needed.

It’s okay to work smarter rather than harder. In fact, if you want to grow your business, you’re going to have to do that. Remember, if the business owner isn’t excited about the business and where it’s headed, then no one else will be either. And you can’t be excited and focused if you’re tired and distracted.

Where Do You Go From Here?

If you’re like most business owners, your initial thought is that you can’t afford to slow down. The reality is if you want to grow, you’re going to have to. You have to build a leadership team (not all at once, but over time) that can truly own most of the day-to-day responsibilities of the business. You have to find a way to get yourself out of the value chain, because that’s the only way to find the time to figure out how to continue to improve the business.

It’s not easy, which is why there aren’t more really successful businesses, but it can be done if you make it your priority.

Ferris Bueller once famously said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” He wasn’t explicitly talking to business owners, but he makes a great point.

Your business exists to get you what you want out of life. Is that currently happening with your business? If not, what can you do about it?

(Shawn Kinkade is a licensed professional business coach and owner of Aspire Business Development, helping business owners and entrepreneurs grow strategically through focus, clarity and momentum. (913) 660-9400 // // www.aspirekc.com)

In Parts One (See Link to Part One) and Two (See Link to Part Two) of this blog series, we explored the importance to the business owner of maximizing both the quantity and quality of the buyer pool for their business.  Below is a real life example of how implementation of these concepts culminated into a successful transaction.

We recently sold a manufacturing company that catered to a very niche market.  The company had a number of very positive attributes, including a tremendous growth trend and limited competition.  However, the majority of the company’s revenue was produced by three main customers.  Most business buyers would deem this to be too risky.  If the seller had required us to identify a buyer before providing us with critical information, odds are that the one buyer would not have proceeded once the customer concentration was revealed, leaving the seller frustrated that we were unable to present him with an offer from the buyer but also unaware that his expectations were nearly impossible for us to meet.

Fortunately, the seller provided us full access to information and engaged us to take the business to market.  We wrote a “blind teaser” that did not include the name of the business or other confidential information, but provided basic high-level financial information and highlighted the business’s positive attributes, its challenges, and the seller’s preferred exit strategy.  This was distributed to a large network of potential buyers, which quickly led to further inquiries from a number of buyers who found the business to be attractive, warts and all, because it was synergistic with their other business interests.

After signing appropriate non-disclosures, interested buyers received additional information and entered into discussions with the seller.  Within a month of putting the business on the market, the seller had selected his buyer from the six parties who submitted offers.  The terms of the accepted offer were very much in line with the seller’s preferred exit strategy and expectations, and due diligence proceeded fairly seamlessly, since the challenges had been disclosed up front.  The transaction closed approximately two months after the offer had been accepted.

What’s the moral of the story?  To optimize the best price and deal terms for your business, don’t limit your options to one buyer.  Rather, provide full information on both the attributes and challenges of your business.  Then let your Apex Business Advisor market the business in a manner that will create a buyer pool of the best and most motivated buyers for your business.

Anita Lieser
Senior Advisor

“Hi Joanne. This is Denise. I understand that you might be interested in selling your home. I can help you with that,” said the Realtor when the homeowner answered the phone.

“Great! I am interested in selling,” Joanne replied. However, when Denise began to ask for more information, such as the price, address, square footage, and number of bedrooms, Joanne quickly cut her off. “I don’t want to put it on the market, but if you have a serious buyer, I’ll give you my address and more details about the house once you bring me an offer,” she said.

Denise quickly realized that Joanne had created challenges that would likely mean that she would not receive the highest price and best terms for her house. These included:

1.    Limiting the quantity in the buyer pool
2.    Expecting offers prior to disclosing information

At Apex, it is not unusual for us to have a similar conversation with a business owner who communicates a desire to sell but unknowingly creates these same obstacles. Parts One and Two in this series of blogs will address these barriers. Part Three will detail a recent success story that highlights how smoothly the transaction process can and should work when the business owner and their Apex Business Advisor work in tandem towards the same goal.

Expanding the buyer pool to improve the quantity of buyers
Simultaneous interest from multiple parties is critical to obtaining the best price and terms and to moving the transaction forward at the most expedient pace. Business owners who limit brokers to one specific buyer or who only entertain the random buyer or two who approach them directly are undermining the process that would render them the highest price, as this creates no sense of urgency or concern of competition for the buyer.

A business is of the greatest value to buyers for whom it most closely aligns with their buying criteria. Taking a proactive approach by allowing your Apex Business Advisor to concurrently present basic non-confidential information to a vast number of potential buyers can create immediate traffic on the business and a sense of urgency among buyers. The buyers for whom the business is the best fit and who are most motivated will quickly rise to the occasion.

Contact your Apex Business Advisor to further discuss our processes for maximizing the quantity of potential buyers for your business.

Anita Lieser
Senior Advisor

The act of “Planning” can conjure up some dread: thoughts of hard work, long meetings, limited results, and risk of missing goals. I guess that’s why so many business owners never put a plan in place for either building a business or exiting a business.

I found a great article that gets to the real importance of having a plan and how it will absolutely impact your next phase of life. And if you are in your 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s and believe you don’t need to think about it right now, kick yourself in the butt for me!

Read about planning for your next phase and call your financial advisor. If they have never asked you about the value of your business and, more importantly, how you calculated that value…find a new financial advisor.

Contact your Apex Business Advisor today for more tips on buying or selling a business.

Doug Hubler
President

Knowing the best time to sell can be a real challenge.

The absolute best time to sell is when you don’t have to sell. Meaning that business is booming, the market or industry is strong, you are healthy, you have a wonderful marriage,  and you still enjoy going to the office. (Sounds like rainbows and butterflies.) You and your business are successful, and you are in an absolute position of strength! The value of the business is probably at its highest point, or “Apex”.

But having all these variables at their best at the same time is fairly rare. So if things aren’t perfect, when should you consider selling?

It depends. Much like trying to time the stock market for the optimal moment to buy or sell, it doesn’t usually work too well. Instead, focus on the facts and try to leave the emotions out of your decision. You should seek advice from your trusted professionals or peers who will best understand your situation.

In general, if you aren’t at the peak of business success, it is best to start the selling process when:

• you don’t have the capital to invest in growing the business
• you feel your energy level to operate the business is decreasing,
• your excitement is waning,
• you are feeling stagnant,
• you are not sure what else you can do for the business,
• or if you think your skill level is falling short of the needs of the business.

However, to get the highest value for your business, it could take several years of planning and preparation. So start the process while things are going well!

Talk to an Apex  Business Advisor about your situation to determine the right time to sell  your business.

Our next Buyer Seminar will be held on March 25th. We will be discussing the Buyer Search Program. Keep an eye open for registration information.

Doug Hubler
President