Ask most owners where the value of their business lives and they’ll point to revenue, customers, or their team. Almost none of them point to their operations. But when a buyer evaluates a company, the operations are where they look to answer the only question that really matters: does this business run on systems, or … Read more
You closed more deals last quarter. Revenue is up. The team is bigger than it has ever been. So why does everything feel harder? If you are a business owner generating $500K or more in EBITDA and you are still the person everything comes back to, you are living inside what we call the revenue … Read more
Most owners treat company culture as a soft topic… something that lives in the break room, not the financial statements. But how company culture affects business value is one of the most measurable things in your business. Culture shows up as turnover cost, lost productivity, and key-person risk, and every one of those has a … Read more
Most owners start thinking about selling their business about 12 months before they want to be out. That feels early. It isn’t. By the time selling is on your mind, the window to build the things that actually raise your valuation has usually already started to close. Effective exit planning for small business owners starts … Read more
Have you ever sat through a meeting that felt frustratingly circular? People rehash the same points, get lost arguing emotions instead of facts, or fail to generate any fresh ideas. Meanwhile, the clock ticks and you leave without making a decision. Edward de Bono felt your pain. That’s why the lateral thinking legend invented the … Read more
When Indra Nooyi returned to her native India in 2007, newly appointed as PepsiCo’s CEO, she noticed something deeply moving. At every turn, people congratulated not Indra herself but her mother, recognizing her role in nurturing Indra’s journey to success. This awakened something in Indra. She realized that behind every leader, there are often unseen … Read more
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and the Genius of Reverse Engineering When Boeing set out to design the 787 Dreamliner in the early 2000s, they wanted to create an airplane that would provide exceptional passenger comfort and long-range capability at greater fuel efficiency than any previous wide-body aircraft. Essentially, they asked – what would the ideal next-generation … Read more
What is a Chairman…and is it Something I Want? If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you will know that I am constantly discussing how to become the Chairman (or Chairwoman, but for purposes of keeping this blog succinct, let’s use the term Chairman) of your business. However, for many business owners, … Read more
You spent three hours with her on the phone and then another two planning the perfect night. You read and re-read her texts, searching for signs of how she felt about you. You said every word out loud as you read… even the emojis., sounding them out in your ears for nuance and tone. What … Read more
“Business is there if you go after it.” — Estée Lauder Born Josephine Esther Mentzer, she was drawn to her uncle’s chemist shop as a young girl, fascinated by the potions and fragrances that he worked with. This fascination laid the foundation for her lifelong passion for cosmetics and one outstanding model of business success. … Read more