Building a successful business is a labor of love. Whether it’s the love of creating something, profit, legacy, or otherwise, your business is most likely your passion. But what if your management team doesn’t seem to share your passion, or worse, doesn’t seem to care about the business at all? While the knee-jerk reaction may […]
Your daily responsibilities as a successful business owner can make planning for a successful future seem impossible. But with the right process, you may find that this planning is both achievable and a means to give you even more time to do what you want. Consider this three-step process for how to plan when you’re […]
If cash is king, then cash flow is the kingmaker. Cash flow can have a multiplier effect in terms of achieving your planning goals for a successful future. Often, increasing cash flow requires strong performance from key employees. Let’s look at how properly motivating your key employees could cause a cascading effect that creates a […]
For many owners, business continuity planning means simply signing a buy-sell agreement early in the company’s life and filing it away. Unfortunately, most buy-sell agreements cannot support an owner’s primary exit goals; namely, selling the business when you want, for the amount you want, and to the successor you choose.
Owning a business without co-owners can be great: You get to make all final decisions and reap all profits. But sole ownership has its disadvantages. One of the biggest is that, without a successor owner standing in the wings, your business may not continue if something happens to you.
Running a successful business requires incredible amounts of effort, ingenuity, and capital. And when it comes to planning for the business’ future—both with and without the owner—many business owners ask, “What will this cost me?” Let’s look at the difference between the price of planning, and the costs of shooting from the hip.
It’s not uncommon to hear the phrase “Don’t take it personally” in terms of business decisions. But when you own a business, it’s difficult—if not impossible—to not take business decisions personally. After all, it’s likely that you, your family, and others you care about rely on your business to maintain or their lifestyles or their […]
The strongest businesses often have written plans for how to address unexpected events and mitigate risk, known as business continuity instructions. Their owners ask questions like, “What happens if a co-owner or I die?” “How do we protect key employees from competitors?” and “How do we address interruptions in our supply chain?” Here are three […]
A longstanding credo for successful business planning is to make specific goals. However, there is such a thing as being overly specific in your goals to the detriment of other things that matter to you. Let’s look at how adding fuzziness to specific goals can make your business planning strategies more fulfilling.
Running a successful business is complex per se. Adding the element of “family” to a business often creates more complexities, especially as the business grows. Lifelong family bonds and expectations can run headlong into business realities and needs. Today, we’ll share some ideas about how to keep the family business running and the business family […]
