As a business owner and leader, working ON your business – not just in it – is imperative if you’re going to keep your company on track, moving in the right direction, and reaching the milestones identified for your success and sustained growth. What does that entail? Working ON your business can be summarized as …
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Exit planning is focused largely on optimizing the value of the business, which means you need an understanding and a focus on value drivers. Why is this necessary? The initial steps in an exit plan are straightforward: Choose an exit date. Document foundational information about the company and your exit objectives. Obtain a current valuation …
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Maximizing the value of your business is the focus of a good exit strategy. It logically follows that a focus on value optimization should be built into your overall business strategy and how you run your business. Leading management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, has developed a model for a comprehensive approach to value-based management (VBM). They assert …
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After completing assessments and documentation, choosing her exit date, and working with me to develop an exit strategy, one of my clients is now in the process of executing that strategy. Her primary focus at this stage is on evaluating and optimizing the performance of the value drivers that impact her business. Enhancing performance in …
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My recent blog, Prioritizing Value Drivers in Your Exit Strategy, reviewed the general process of developing an exit plan and beginning to execute that strategy. The process involves optimizing your company’s value drivers – business systems that generate either recurring revenue or financial efficiencies from an established, growing customer base and those internally controlled activities, …
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One of my clients wants to sell her business and retire in 10 years. She completed our online Owner Planning Checklist which got her thinking about next steps. Since then, she has chosen her exit date, thinks she’d like to sell to an outside, third party, and has documented foundational information about her company and …
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The term “Ownership Thinking” (OT) is likely best known as the title of a book. But it’s also a business, and a mindset. The Denver area business came first, founded by Brad Hams in 1995 after several years of developing the Ownership Thinking model. Its goal was to help businesses unleash their potential by providing …
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Once you’ve chosen an exit date, your attention should turn to value drivers – those activities, capabilities, or qualities that add worth to your company and that are under your control. Adding worth includes increasing profitability, reducing risk, and promoting growth consistent with your strategic goals. Optimizing performance in key areas of your business will …
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All business owners know they will eventually exit their business, and most understand that making it happen on their terms is a process that typically takes years. Yet, as is the case with any complex project, sometimes the hardest thing to do is start. Yet, starting is as simple as choosing your exit date! I …
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If your exit plan includes selling your business, you can likely expect the potential buyer to request a Quality of Earnings Report. Obtaining a Quality of Earnings Report (QER) is one of the major steps in due diligence that a prospective buyer will perform to determine the quality of assets and identify financial shortcomings of …
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