Key Employees and Covenants Not To Compete

“My key employee really is key to my company’s success, but I can’t (or won’t) ask him/her to sign a covenant not to compete. Besides, I’ve heard that covenants not to compete aren’t enforceable.” This dilemma is quite common in the closely held businesses. If, for a moment, you accept a basic tenet of Exit […]

Incentive Plans for Key Employees

Experts and laymen agree that one constant of successful companies is a stable, motivated management team. This quality not only contributes to corporate success, but it is also key to the business owner’s successful business exit.

When Selling To Insiders, Cash Is King

If you contemplate transferring your business to an insider (employees, children or co-owner) and you want to get paid the value of your business, then, generally speaking, the value of your business cannot exceed four times or five times the true cash flow of the business.

Elements of a Plan to Sell to Insiders

Today, we discuss the essential elements of a plan owners use to transfer a business to insiders that keep the owner in control until he or she is paid the sale price. If you suspect that the children, key employees, or co-owners you would pick to succeed you do not have the funds to cash […]

5 Ways to Address Deal Killers Before They Kill Your Deal

When you set your business up for future success, you can set yourself, your family, and your personal interests up for similar success. But a common problem owners overlook is how to address Deal Killers, which can prevent you and your company from achieving the success you want. Today, we’ll examine eight common Deal Killers […]

Deal Killers: Catch Them Before They Harm Your Future

Preparing your business for a successful future often goes hand in hand with preparing your business for a successful sale. No matter whom you sell to—and even if you believe you’ll never sell your business—you should focus on catching Deal Killers.

5 Aspects of Strong Goals and the Consequences of Missing Them

Setting goals is a catalyst for success, especially if you’re planning for the future of your ownership and the success of your business. The strongest goals tend to have five aspects that help you guide the process for achieving them. In other words, when you set goals, you want to set SMART goals:

There’s More to Business Than Money: Values-Based Goals

Successful business owners often want more than just the maximum amount of money they can get. These owners have deeply ingrained values-based goals that guide why and how they do business. But many of those same owners don’t apply an appropriate amount of weight to values-based goals until it’s too late to achieve them.

The Magic Behind Writing Your Plans Down

For nearly 5,500 years, human beings have written things down. From Hammurabi’s Code and the U.S. Constitution to your personal business plans, writing things down helps people follow rules and best practices, and pursue goals and action items. However, many successful business owners don’t have any written plans they can follow to help them achieve […]

Walk Before You Run: Phased Planning

Planning for a successful future without your business is a smart strategy. One of the traps that business owners commonly fall into as they begin planning for their successful future without the business is seeing what they need to do and trying to do everything all at once. However, much like your business didn’t spring […]