Tag Archives: Boomer Bust

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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Millennials: The New Normal

Do you employ Millennials? If you have twenty-somethings in your workplace, you do. Most scientists who study generations put the start of the Millennials between 1982 and 1985. Using the earliest dates, the oldest are just turning thirty this year. Sociologists … Continue Reading

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The Return of “Do It Yourself”

For the last 40 years, America has been on a roll. Baby Boomers, raised in a competitive environment, have increased the average work week, made the two income household ubiquitous, and currently operate about 60% of the small businesses in … Continue Reading

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Can Franchising Survive The Baby Boomers?

As a consultant to business owners, this is a column I’ve hesitated to write for a long time. There are over 800,000 franchised businesses in the United States, and I’m not going out of my way to make that many owners mad … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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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The Road Less Traveled

Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Perhaps Robert Frost’s famous poem isn’t a perfect expression of what I am … Continue Reading

Posted in Building Value, Entrepreneurship, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Choosing a Buyer for Your Business

You may be questioning this title. After talking in depth about the shortage of buyers over the next 10 years, the differences in values and work habits of Generation X, and the competition for ambitious people from better financed and … Continue Reading

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Beating the Boomer Bust

We’ve looked at the coming generation of business buyers, and many things about that picture aren’t pretty. When I present to business owners about the Boomer Bust, this is around the time that someone in the audience says “So, are we just … Continue Reading

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The Gen X Business Buyer

Generation X’ers aren’t mini-Boomers. Raised in a rapidly growing economy by parents that approached child rearing as a competitive activity, they saw more, did more, and were given more than their parents could have dreamed of. I took my first … Continue Reading

Posted in Building Value, Business Perspectives, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The X Factor

There are two sides to every business transaction, a buyer and a seller. For most of the last 50 years in America, the Baby Boomers have been the biggest buyers in history. They bought homes and cars to spur the … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Economic Trends, Exit Options, Exit Planning, Exit Strategies, Selling a business, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Outsourcing America

The Baby Boomers created seismic shifts in American culture and economics throughout their lives. Their mere numbers caused much of the shift, but their competitiveness and commonality enhanced the impact at every stage of their lives. In the mid 1960’s, … Continue Reading

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