Business is a Competition

I’ve not revealed this before, but earlier this year I was invited to be on the panel of judges for the “ActionCoach My Business Magazine Awards”.  I felt it was a great honour to be asked so could not refuse the request.  The task was not easy for many reasons.  The number of entrants was significant and thousands of pages of data had to be considered carefully to form an assessment of each candidate.  With most being of such an incredibly high standard, this truly made the task for judges very difficult.  Amazingly though, most of us formed a fairly similar opinion of those candidates that really stood out from the crowd.

It got me thinking about how important it is to stand out from the crowd when you’re in business, and not just to win competitions.  It demonstrated to me yet again, that it’s no accident when a business is successful.  It does become obvious to everyone when you stand out from others in business, and there is a lesson in it for each of us in business.

As a follower and regular reader of this blog, you already know that I bang the drum (rather loudly) about business succession, and I do so because you are operating a business that I know you will one day hope to sell.  You’re working hard building an asset, and often you’re so hard working ‘in’ it, that you can overlook working ‘on’ it.

I want to see my followers succeed and stand out from the crowd, especially the crowd that is gathering around the ‘for sale’ post.  I’m referring to the tsunami I mention in my book “Your Business Succession”, because the average demographic age group of small to medium sized business owners are so near to retirement and are looking for ways to extract their equity to move on to another phase in their life.  With so many about to do this (80% in the next 5 to 10 years) there will be quite a crowd of businesses selling.  It will become a buyer’s market and only those that ’stand out’ from the crowd will gain the most when they exit.

You Business Succession
Leigh Riley

Too Young To Exit?  Think Again

Now before you zone out because you think you’re too young for formal exit strategies and succession plans to matter, think about these two very important points:

• 50% of business owners leave well before retirement because of factors they could not have imagined, such as dispute, divorce, disability and death.  You don’t want to get caught out in a weakened position trying to liquidate your business equity in a crowded market, so take steps to ensure you have an action plan that will keep you in control to capitalise when you exit despite your circumstances.
• Raising Capital to grow your business or release your equity when exiting your business takes time to organise.  In fact it’s damn hard for an SME like yours to get finance for anything related to business if you don’t have a clearly demonstrated and formal exit strategy in place. That means your business growth could be stifled or you could get stuck without any funding when you do leave.  Either scenario is one you definitely want to overcome well beforehand, so get ready now.

Time For Your Business To Stand Out In The Crowd!

The  reason I’ve commenced a series of FREE educational webinars, is so you can see what you can do to ’stand out’ and make the difference for maximised cash flow and profits, with an enhanced  business valuation and a strategy to ensure you get paid what you deserve for your lifetime of effort in business, through most circumstances.

I’m pleased to reveal the finalists have been chosen for the ‘ActionCoach My Business Awards’ .  You may see those that ’stood out’ for yourself by clicking here.

Here’s to your business success and profitable exit!

Leigh Riley

The Future

At a recent presentation given by futurist, Morris Miselowski (Business man, dynamic speaker, entrepreneur, academic, prison chaplain, welfare counsellor, media personality and futurist guru), the audience was astounded by his vision for the future of technology and its effects on business. Most people around me expressed opinions which ranged from dismay and excitement through to some being totally shocked and aghast by the extreme innovation and change about to unfold.

During the presentation, Miselowski outlined just some of the changes that will occur in 2020:

• We will have moved forward 100 technological years
• Average job tenure will be 2.4 years
• 1/4 workers will be working remotely or virtually
• 60% of tasks and jobs performed have not yet been invented
• Our growing healthcare industry will service our ageing population as we strive for quality of life as we routinely live to 100 years of age and beyond
• Expect to see a growing number of Genetic Counsellors, Stem Cell Researches and Custom Implant Organ designers jobs being advertised
• Baby Boomers will be hiring retirement coaches and counsellor, financial advisors and wealth experts to advise them on how to maximise their post work lives.
• Digital professional will be another sought after industry due to online worlds.

Change or Die

Whatever the consensus or feelings, the message was very clear. Either move with the times and shift your business focus to be aligned with the new innovations or you and your business will be out of the race. With 20 years of change already squeezed into the past 2 years, Miselowski cautioned business owners to brace and prepare, for the next 10 years will unfold a whole century of change during that time. Now that’s enough change to surpass author Alvin Toffler’s predictions in the 1970 book titled “Future Shock”.

Future Shock

Whether your perspective to change, tends toward abhorrence or enthusiasm, there is no time to lose. Navigating your business through will require you to sharpen your business skills and optimise your business performance to capitalise through impending change. Couple this reality with surfing through the Tsunami wave of businesses about to change hands, there is no doubt there will be fall out.  Only those that team vision, with the ability to adapt will be in a position to capitalise. You are going to want a robust support team. Business Coaching with the end in mind will likely be one of the only ways you’ll achieve your goals.

Your Business Life Raft is Your Business Succession Support Team

You’ll want to demand an up-to-date succession plan. Necessity dictates your strategy to handle your eventual business exit must include provision for planned and unplanned exit circumstances. But it must also incorporate the array of strategies to unleash operational business opportunities and uncover pitfalls that could impact the lifeline of your business, it’s value and continuity. Ultimately it will affect your family and personal financial security.

Take Action today

Get started by Downloading your free chapters from the ”Your Business Succession” book.

Here’s to your successful future business exit strategy!

Leigh Riley

So if you’ve been signed onto my blogs recently, you’d be aware that I’ve been in the USA learning all that I can about the latest exit planning strategies at an MBA style intensive program run at the University of Chicago. I’m pleased to report that I passed the exam which means I’m now able to put more letters after my name as a qualified CEPA®, but the best bit was that I learned a lot, and I met a lot of great people too. I’ve also been indoctinated into the Institute of Exit Planners.

Surprisingly, there are not a lot of people in the world specialising in Succession Planning, and at the risk of sounding a bit precious, I’m kind of one of a very unique group in the world. In Australia, that group is especially unique and tiny, because there are only four Aussies with this qualification, and three of them were at the training with me. What does that mean for you? Well it’s something to be aware of when you seek out your succession support, because there may be some people posing as professionals in the area of succession planning, but if they aren’t formally qualified, you’d have to wonder how good their services and advice will be to you.

There is a lot to consider with your business exit plan, and the statistics are not good for Aussies, who have so often failed to plan for the important succession event that will inevitably happen in their business.

If you need to know what to do to get started, download some free chapters from my book: Your Business Succession and sign up for my regular blog to receive lots of helpful and handy business exit planning tips.

Here’s to your Profitable Exit Strategy!

Leigh Riley M Bus, Certified Exit Planning Advisor® (CEPA®), DFP, Cert IV A & WT
Consultant Business Succession Strategist, Author, Speaker, Trainer

I think it is bad enough to close your Business doors because you can’t sell, but consider this GPs story.

Dr Francis had served his community in a Practice established over 30 years.  With no business operational skills learned throughout Medical School, Dr Francis was like many of his peers: a very good doctor concerned for his patient’s welfare, with little interest in the business matters of his private Practice.  Honourable as that may seem, it did not serve him well.  Nor did it serve his loyal staff or the patients he’d so diligently cared for over 3 decades.  When he was eventually forced to exit due to ill health, and a new owner could not be found for his Practice, his only option was to close his doors. 

This was a disaster with a threefold effect:

1. His staff were adversely affected being suddenly without jobs

2. His community was impacted heavily due to loss of his valuable services

3.  His personal finances were hit hard, because not only did he not receive any financial consideration for his lifetime of efforts, but he had to meet an obligation owed to staff for long service leave payments and other entitlements.  The insult to injury was that it meant he must pay out money to leave his Practice.

Avoid a similar situation

• Start by educating yourself about the options you have.  In the books ” Your Business Succession”  and “Your Practice Succession” you can find all the practical tips to positioning your business on a course of strength and success through any of the identifiable succession triggers.  
• Sign up for the Live FREE Webinar to learn more about what you can do to successfully exit from your business, despite the circumstances. You can do this by emailing your interest to my office at support@ybsprofits.com  or   call 1300 499 255 or (03) 9584 5099 to book your place. The session will be on 21 June 2011 and it will run in two timeslots , 2pm or 7pm for 45 minutes.

Here’s to Your Profitable Exit!

Leigh Riley

Businesses: 6% Will Close Without Selling (ATO)

In Australia, that equates to about 120,000 businesses a year that do not sell, with owners simply closing their doors.  Alarmingly, this statistic is rising due to the large amount of businesses that are not adequately prepared for the issues they will face when the time comes to leave.  They haven’t built their business as a valuable asset with a Business Selling Strategy.  Escaping these statistics is easier than you may think.

75% Have No Succession Plan

The 3 top reasons business owners like yourself state as why they haven’t implemented a formal exit strategy is because

• they’re so busy working ‘in’ their business, they’ve failed to take stock and spend time working ‘on’ their business;
• they think it’s too hard and allow seemingly more pressing everyday tasks to take priority, ultimately losing focus of the big picture for their business with a business selling strategy;
• they don’t see the immediate need, particularly if they feel it will be some years before they wish to retire from their business

The Number of Business Owner’s that will Leave Due to Unplanned Circumstances is 51%

Business owners always believe they will choose the time when they will leave…..but in doing so, they lose control when they overlook the 6 Succession Triggers and fail to understand that only 2 of these can be controlled.  The other 4 exit triggers will adversely affect them, impacting heavily on their financial outcome when they exit from their business.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

How Do You Escape and Overcome the Succession Statistics?

I can’t cover all the ways for you here in a short blog post, but I can share a lot more techniques in the books, and also in a FREE Webinar.  If you are serious about your business direction, have a goal for the way you see it developing as a valuable asset that you can one day sell, you can’t afford to miss the opportunity.  Sign up for the FREE Webinar to learn how! You can do this by emailing your interest to my office at support@ybsprofits.com  or  call 1300 499 225 or (03) 9584 5099 to book your place. The session will be on 21 June 2011 and they will run in two timeslots, 2pm or 7pm for 45 minutes each.

Here’s to Your Profitable Exit Strategy!

Leigh Riley

I’m blogging to you from New York City and about to reveal the last 3 important reasons to think like a buyer when you sell your business. These are the points I emphasized to the editor of Inc Magazine (USA) when I was asked to list the things a buyer should look for when buying a business (these follow on from the previous two blogs)

Scenes form New York City: Columbus Circle in Manhattan

8.Systems and Processes

Buyers will want to check out the way your business operates as this will provide an indication of efficiencies. If it is a turnkey operation that anyone can run; and there are established, up to date training manuals, and all staff clear about their role in the business, buyers will pay a premium for that, so it makes sense to ensure you provide this if you are to profit the way you had hoped when you leave your business. If not, be prepared to have a buyer beat you down on price.

9.Leases, Plant, Equipment and; Machinery

Terms and life of leases of your business operation are essential so buyers will scrutinize these carefully. You want to make sure there are reasonable and long term leases in place to protect the continuity of the business operation. Operational equipment must be in good order, or else a buyer will be turned off believing they may be burdened with the need to inject immediate capital to upgrade for future efficiency of the business. Tired equipment, plant and machinery can be a massive drain on profitability, so sort it out before you sell, otherwise you can expect this to be reasoning to beat down your business price.

10.Exit Planning Prospects for the future

I know you’re thinking “why would it be important to a buyer to consider their exit strategy on a business they’re about to buy and probably not planning on leaving for some time?” It’s good question, but definitely don’t discount it because buyers today are thinking to start with the end in mind. That’s because the informed buyers knows one day they will want to also sell for a maximum price. The informed buyer also knows they may not always choose when they leave because unplanned events such as dispute, divorce, disability and death are a lot more common than is thought. You can help by thinking about the exit options for them, and one way to demonstrate this is to have your own exit strategy clearly mapped out. Financiers are now also asking for this information before they lend money on the acquisitions, so it really is in your interests to have this sorted out before you sell. On top of that, it will help you because what if circumstances force you out unexpectedly? Is this a business you are going to be able to off load quickly if you need to, and at a price that is satisfactory to you. If it’s a business that requires special interest or skills, you better start thinking about it now, before you sell, so you don’t get caught out and left strapped for cash.

You can read a lot more about these points I make in the book “Your Business Succession, how to enter, execute and exit your business for maximum cash flow and profit”

Here’s to Your Profitable Business Exit!

Leigh Riley

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Family Business Exit Strategies

(Read on for your Three FREE offers with this post)

During the last two posts of this series, I introduced the concept of different business categories and how each of these will be affected differently when establishing Your Business Succession Plan. 

Business Succession Planning is relevant for every business owner because one day, you will either want to or have to, exit your business. How this is to occur will depend on the type of business you have and the type of outcome you are looking for.

Despite the type of business you have, you’ll want to maximise the cash flow and profits you receive when you exit, whether by planned or unplanned circumstances.  This will be very important if you want the sales proceeds to fund the next phase of your life, or to assist you and your family to maintain a decent living standard after you exit your business.

During the previous posts I discussed situations involving the Sole Proprietor and the Medium-sized Business about how to maximise their outcome when they exit their business. In this final part of the series, I will discuss the succession plan of attack for the family business owner who wants to pass the business on to the next generation.

Typically the family business owner can be the most difficult succession plan to devise, because it not only involves the business value, money and mode of operation in succession discussions, but also the family and its dynamics. 

If you are a family business owner, it is especially challenging for you because, not only do you need to build it in a manner that will make it a valuable asset to set you up comfortably for the next phase of your life, but it must also help you to pass on and assist the next generation (your family) to build sufficient capital and skills to buy and run the business.

However, even If you are like some family business cases, where you have sufficient additional assets to consider gifting the business asset to family members when you exit your your business, careful succession planning is still essential. 

There are substantial tax implications for you when you gift your business to family members, so don’t overlook the opportunity to gain specialist succession advice well before exiting. 

Your family business is just as vulnerable when you fail to take the action to formalise an agreement to overcome the six identifiable succession triggers (Dispute, Death, Disability, Divorce, Desire for change, Decision to Retire). There are plenty of failed family businesses because they rested on the thought that as a family they’d be ok and work out any succession planning issues when the time came.  If anything, the emotion within a family can steer a business in an un-business like manner.  Don’t become the next statistic.

Do you want to know how prepared you are to Exit from your Business?

Take the FREE Business Exit Quiz to receive your customised report. It takes about 2-3 minutes to complete.

You can also Download 3 FREE chapters from the popular book, “Your Business Succession”.

If you haven’t engaged a Business Succession Strategy Team working together for your benefit
it’s time to do so. Click here to Book your FREE 15 minute consultation with the Exit Experts Succession Strategist (only for subscribers of this blog, so please log on to subscribe)

Here’s to your profitable Business Succession!

Leigh Riley

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Medium Business exit strategies

(Read on for your Three FREE offers with this blog post)

In the last post, I introduced the concept of different business categories and how each of these will be affected differently when establishing Your Business Succession Plan. 

Business Succession Planning is relevant for every business owner because one day, you will either want to or have to, exit your business. How this will occur will depend on the type of business you have and the type of outcome you are looking for.

Despite the type of business you have, you’ll want to maximise the cash flow and profits you receive when you exit, whether by planned or unplanned circumstances, particularly if you want the sales proceeds to fund the next phase of your life, or to assist your family to maintain their livelihood.

During the previous post I discussed Category One being the Sole Proprietor and how to maximise their outcome when they exit their business. 

In this session, I’ll concentrate on the second of the business types. If your business fits into Category Two, you’ll be the type of business owner that puts a large portion of your time and money back into your business.

Your goal is to build the value of your business in a manner, that, by the time you exit from it, will have grown to quite a valuable asset. More likely to be a medium sized business, your business is not reliant upon your services within it, because you’ve developed a team of people to fulfil all the tasks that keep it operational,and if you haven’t already, you are more likely to be developing a management team to oversee it.

Your succession plan will be different because your most ideal successor is probably already working in your team.  Usually they will be familiar with the business clients, systems and processes, products, services and suppliers, so this part of the succession plan becomes a lesser issue when passing on the baton.  

Your succession strategy can encompass many more options than that of the Sole Proprietor, but is no less vulnerable if you don’t take the action to formalise an agreement that overcome the six identifiable succession triggers (Dispute, Death, Disability, Divorce, Desire for change, Decision to Retire).

Due to the size of the valuable business asset you have built, funding the eventual buy-out will usually be a larger problem to overcome.  As a business owner wanting to extract your business wealth in cash, you will need to think outside the square, and a lot earlier, to ensure your potential successor has the financial capacity to pay you your rightful entitlements. This has become more of a problem in a market place that is inundated with tough financiers who severely scrutinize loans on business transactions and acquisitions.

Quite often business owners in this category are aged between 40 to early 50s, and don’t have a lot of personal assets, but tend to have more debt commitments because all available financial resources have been poured back into the business.  If you can relate to this scenario, it makes it more crucial for you to lock in a business succession strategy, that will release you of your debt commitments and protect your interests in a way that will maximise your financial outcome.

Do you want to know how prepared you are to Exit from your Business?

Take the FREE Business Exit Quiz to receive your customised report. It takes about 2-3 minutes to complete.

You can also Download 3 free chapters from the popular book, “Your Business Succession”.

If you haven’t engaged a Business Succession Strategy Team working together for your benefit it’s time to do so. Click here to Book your FREE 15 minute consultation with the Exit Experts Succession Strategist

In the next blog, I will discuss the third category type for succession planning which is the Family Business.

Here’s to your profitable Business Succession!

Leigh Riley

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Currently, I’m in Chicago USA attending the MBA style intensive exit planning study program for Small to Medium Enterprises.

I’ve had 3 days to adjust for jetlag and tonight I treated myself to the Broadway hit show – The Million Dollar Quartet.  This was not only a brilliant display of talent and showmanship, but also raised some interesting points relevant for business owners.  The story is told through the eyes of the Sam Phillips, owner and manager of the recording label “Sun Records”, that gave new talents their chance to make it in show business.  It’s been said that it takes talent to know talent, and that is what comes across loud and clear to me about Sam as I enjoyed the show.  Sam discovered the big names such as Elvis Presley, Johnnie Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Sam had the knack of understanding the wants of the teenage music market at the time, and hand picked the talent that would provide it.  The rest is history.  Despite Sam’s great ear for the up and coming sounds that would pay dividends for his company, he didn’t understand the need to protect his business what he had worked so hard in business to achieve.  He’d taken the risk with these young unknowns, and was so successful at promoting them, it attracted the intense interest of bigger players that enticed these young ambitious artists with lucrative contracts involving greater exposure and success for them.

Sam made some key business mistakes.

1. He had not conceptualised a continuity strategy that would protect his revenue streams.  When he lost his best artists, his business was virtually worthless.   

2. When the offer presented for him to merge with a larger competitor, his ego would not allow it, and hence he suffered financially… Sam didn’t know when to relinquish control for the greater good of him and his company.

3.  Sam did not know how necessary it was to grow his company along with his clients.  They outgrew his service offering and had no choice but to move on, despite them being very appreciative for all he’d done for them.  Not one of them made the decision to move very easily.

Sam was a great guy and a very talented one, but it takes more than this to succeed in business.

I have to ask you now, are you making some of Sam’s mistakes? Or have you implemented strategies to protect your business income?  Is your business developing in a manner that will retain your clients?

 Have you thought about your business exit strategy and is it prepared for all possibilities?

Without a plan to address these fundamental business attributes, it’s likely your business has no real value that can be sold, which is likely to impact your financial future.

 If you want to know what you can do to protect and grow your business value, start by reading the book, “Your Business Succession…proven strategies to boost business profits from start up to step down”  It’s all about how to enter, execute and exit from your business for maximum cash flow and profit.

You can also sign up for the Free Webinar on 21 June 2011 by emailing your interest to my office at support@ybsprofits.com    or   call 1300 499 225 to book your place.

The session will be run in two timeslots, 2pm and 7pm of 45 minutes duration.

Places are limited so don’t delay.

Here’s to your successful business exit strategy!

Leigh Riley

Succession Planning is relevant for every business owner because one day, you will either want to or have to, exit your business.

It is normal for you to hope to sell your business when you exit, and the chances are, you will need the sales proceeds to fund the next phase of your life, or to assist your family in maintaining their livelihood.

How this will occur will depend on the type of business you have. In my experience there are generally three main business categories, and each will require a different approach to their succession planning. This blog will be written in three parts to focus on each of the three main categories, with the first of these being

Category One: Sole Proprietor.

If you fit into the first category, you will have a business that relies on your sole capabilities. For example, if you are a consultant or independent professional (such as a lawyer, accountant, doctor, etc), your business is likely to be the mechanism to sell your expertise and generate your income.

In this situation, you are likely to have a client base that can be sold when the time comes to leave, however the business book alone may not generate the sort of financial outcome you had hoped for.  This could leave you short of cash to fund your retirement, or leave your family with a lowered living standard if you leave under stressed circumstances.

If you are to improve your financial prospects when you leave your business you will want to build an asset with a reliable recurring revenue stream that is not entirely reliant upon you (see the concept of building your
business to the “Three Dimensional Zone of Value” discussed in the book “Your Business Succession” because this will yield the most profitable outcome for you when you exit. 

If you aren’t sure how to achieve this, you may want to engage a business succession strategy team to assist you (book your free 15 minute consultation), so you can maximise the cash flow and profits you receive when you exit your business.

Building your business value, is only part of the succession plan you want to build, because you will also want to identify your successor to establish agreed terms that secure your position through both planned and unplanned circumstances. 

If you are to profit the way you had hoped, your successor will need time to  be introduced to your clients, staff, business processes, suppliers etc, so the earlier you can set up the arrangement, the better your outcome will be.  Successors who have been given time to establish relationships with these key areas of your business will usually be prepared to pay a higher price for your business because it is more likely the clients will stay on.

If you are not prepared to take the steps to build your business succession plan in this way, you will want to ensure you are building a nest-egg aside from your business to ensure you achieve the financial security you’d always wished for.  You may want to engage a financial planner to assist you in building an asset base away from your business.

Discover how prepared you are to exit from your business?

Take the FREE Business Exit Quiz to receive your customised report. It takes about 2-3 minutes to complete.

You can also Download three FREE chapters of the books.

If you haven’t engaged a Business Succession Strategy Team working together for your benefit it’s time to do so. Click here to Book your FREE 15 minute consultation with the Exit Experts Succession Strategist (only for subscribers of this blog, so please log on to subscribe)

In the next post, I will discuss the second category type for succession planning.

Here’s to your profitable Business Succession!

Leigh Riley

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