Financial planning is a big-picture process that many people are not fully comfortable with. Business owners will often avoid financial planning, assuming that if they work hard enough and achieve enough success with their companies, everything will all work out in the end. Some businesses are successful enough for this to be true, but for…

Family businesses have a number of inherent strengths. Family members usually have a commitment to each other and to the success of their business and are willing to personally sacrifice for it. Because they come from the same family, they often understand each other in ways that unrelated coworkers do not. Not every family business…

The world is experiencing a great deal of uncertainty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Closures and quarantines are creating havoc for communities and businesses everywhere. Business owners are feeling the pressure of trying to protect themselves from this man-made recession. It’s rough out there. However, as the past has taught us, a tough…

Does your company need a CFO? The decision of whether or not to hire a chief financial officer is one that companies of all sizes must make. That’s because the duties of a CFO are important for both a company’s day-to-day operations and its strategy for the future. While some smaller companies may be able…

In our last blog we discussed two situations in which it’s better to stay in your business rather than exit. In this blog, we will be talking about the opposite: why too many owners stay in their companies beyond the time it would be useful and profitable to exit. The reality is, the vast majority…

We often talk about the importance of exit planning and setting an exit date, but there are cases in which it is better for the owner to continue with his business than to sell or otherwise transition it. Here we will discuss two reasons to stay in active leadership in your business. Reason #1: Your…

Creating and implementing good business processes is an excellent way to increase a company’s day-to-day productivity and profitability. It also lessens the risk of losing key knowledge if and when key workers retire or leave the company. For these reasons, it’s vital that owners create business processes and systems and train their employees on how…

Most business owners will put off exit planning even if they are serious about retiring or transitioning into something different. That’s because exiting a company is something the majority of owners do not have experience with, and it can seem very intimidating. We’ve talked about many of the challenges involved in exiting on this blog,…

Why do people start their own businesses? In a wide variety of polls and informal responses, entrepreneurs say that one of the largest reasons is so they can be their own bosses. Sixty-seven percent of American entrepreneurs listed that as a motivator. While enjoying independence and control is valuable to owners, it can be challenging…

Building a business is about building transferable value, or the value of the business minus its owner. When an owner begins a business venture, he will have goals for the company, both financial and personal. As the company grows and gets larger and more profitable, business value builds. The purpose of good exit planning is…