Tag Archives: business planning

What is Your Company Worth?

A business owner hires a financial planner to help him with his retirement options. They review the owner’s current assets, his house, stock portfolio and other investments. They go over his insurance coverage. Then the planner asks, “What about your company? How … Continue Reading

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Who Owns the Portal?

We are 30 years into the computer revolution, which I am arbitrarily marking as beginning in the mid-1980’s, when Apple II and IBM compatible (286) computers began to show up on the desks of people who weren’t in the “computer room.” … Continue Reading

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Ready…Set…Exit! Part II

Last week we discussed the tsunami of Baby Boomer retirement, and how we will reach a peak of nearly 500 unsold businesses a day within the next 5 years. The statistics are immutable. The birthrates of the last century are … Continue Reading

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Ready…Set…Exit! Part I

For the last six years I’ve been writing and speaking around the country to business owners about the coming tsunami of retiring Baby Boomer business owners. My e-book “Beating the Boomer Bust” details the  statistics (For a free download, go here … Continue Reading

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Managing Employees, Marketing, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can Your Small Business Survive Disaster?

Memorial Day weekend served up numerous reminders of the vulnerability of small businesses to disasters. Boardwalk vendors were reopening on the Jersey Shore and Coney Island. San Antonio was underwater, and a large portion of Moore, Oklahoma was swept away … Continue Reading

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Boomer Business Owners’ Retirement Accelerates

Pepperdine University, in cooperation with the International Business Brokers Association and the M&A Source, publishes a quarterly Market Pulse Survey on the sale of small businesses in the United States. The most recent report, covering the fourth quarter of 2012, … Continue Reading

Posted in Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Life After, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Small Business and BIG Taxes – Timing is Everything

This column typically focuses on the issues of running a business, especially those that revolve around leading employees and growing profits. When I am consulting on issues that include tax planning, I am supposed to include a “Circular 230 Disclaimer”, … Continue Reading

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Does Your Business Need to be Leaner and Meaner? (Part 1)

I’ve been surprised by the tone of my clients’ conversations since the beginning of the year. They want to get tougher. They want to plan more. They want to find the chinks in their armor, and sharpen their weapons. These … Continue Reading

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Business Plans and New Year’s Resolutions

For the last week or so, the regular denizens of my local gym have been “preparing” for the onslaught of Resolutioners, as we call them. Those are the folks that show up every year right after the holidays, determined to … Continue Reading

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2013 Planning: Try Starting with “Who”

For many years, I’ve begun each annum with my clients by helping them answer the Seven Questions,  some simple keys to basic planning for the year. This year the questions have been picked up by my friend Jim Blasingame at the … Continue Reading

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Business Value: Do Your Numbers Add Up?

Most small business owners don’t understand how to value their companies. For some, misunderstanding the way that buyers look at the value of your business can be very costly in the long run. The fourth of our Rights and Obligations … Continue Reading

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Thinking Isn’t Doing

My friend Phil owns a mobile imaging company. His employees criss-cross the major cities in South Texas in dozens of trucks outfitted with portable X-Ray and ultrasound machines, responding to calls from nursing homes and home health providers. In th beginning, … Continue Reading

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