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Monday, July 16, 2018

Planning a business exit can seem like a lot of work at first. From building business value to developing capable successors to figuring out exactly what you want to do with your life after you leave, Exit Planning might look like too much work for one person to do. In our experience, Exit Planning isn’t something that business owners can tackle alone if they want to exit on their terms. But with so much to do, where can you start? One way to begin the Exit Planning Process is by writing your Exit Plan down. Writing your Exit Plan down can provide three potential benefits when done properly. Increasing Clarity, Accountability, and Chances for Success Written communication is often clearer... Read More

Monday, July 16, 2018

CEDAR FALLS, IA-- Advance Iowa, a program hosted on University of Northern Iowa’s campus, will be expanding their services to include meeting the needs of family owned businesses in Iowa.  The Family Business Forum Breakfast Series is designed to bring families together to learn best practices from experts and other family businesses who are navigating the landscape of owning and operating  a family business.

 

All in the Family: Family Business Succession Planning Breakfast, the first of three meetings, will take place on September 28th a... Read More

Thursday, July 05, 2018
What’s So Important About Planning?

When business owners start their businesses, they often create a written business plan to guide them toward success. However, many successful owners don’t mimic that process when they begin to approach the end of their business ownership.There are three areas in which forgoing planning for the future can create unintended consequences for business owners: money, time, and successors. Consider how a thoughtful planning process (or lack of one) can affect each area.

 

Planning Affects More Tha... Read More

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

By Josh Baron, via Harvard Business Review

 

I was recently asked to give a talk about family businesses, and the conference organizer told me not to even mention the “three generation rule.” As he put it: “Everyone already knows that family businesses don’t last.”He’s perfectly right. An oft-cited statistic is that only 30% of family businesses make it through the second generation, 10-15% through the third, and 3-5% through the fourth. These are dishear... Read More

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

If you’re considering transferring your business ownership to family, you might be tempted to put your family’s wants over your own goals. While this altruism may be admirable, it can also cause more problems than it solves. Consider the case of Darnell Orie.

Darnell Orie was unsure how to approach his business exit. His son, Hannibal, was the main reason why his company had tripled its revenues and profits over the last 15 years. And even though he wanted to begin winding down his own involvement in the business, he knew that he had to keep Hannibal motivated to grow the company: His retirement depended on Hannibal’s continued success growing the company.

Darnell had al... Read More

Thursday, May 17, 2018

By Jim Schleckser, via Inc.com

Serving as the leader or CEO of an organization of any size can be a difficult and lonely job. Fortunately, there are many tools available to help you become a better leader--including things like going back to school to get your MBA, reading books, and, of course, learning on the job.  

But there is also another way to accelerate your learning curve on your way to becoming a better leader: by joining a CEO peer group.

A CEO peer group is a made up of a group of CEOs, ideally who run compan... Read More

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Six ways to profit from your vacation this summer

Summer is here, and although it may seem strange, now may be the perfect time to increase the value of your company.The most valuable businesses are the ones that can survive without their owner. A buyer will pay a premium for a company that runs on autopilot and levy a steep discount for a business that is dependent on its owner.This summer, consider taking an extended break from your business to see how things will run when you’re not in the building.  It’s likely that some things will go wrong, but use those errors as the raw material for making your business op... Read More

Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Business owners seldom seek to exit their businesses without attaining financial security. They understand that one requirement of financial security is to grow business value, but many struggle to achieve this goal. Fortunately for these owners, Exit Planning can directly address their need to build business value and serve as an unexpected solution for owners who want to increase their businesses’ value, but don’t know how.

One of the pillars of Exit Planning is a timeline that plots the value-building actions that owners should consider in order to position themselves to exit their businesses on their chosen exit date. This timeline incorporates how much the business needs to g... Read More

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Most business owners think selling their business is a sprint, but the reality is it takes a long time to sell a company.  

The sound of the gun sends blood flowing as you leap forward out of the blocks. Within five seconds you’re at top speed and within a dozen your eye is searching for the next hand. Then you feel the baton become weightless in your grasp and your brain tells you the pain is over. You start an easy jog and you smile, knowing that you did your best and that now the heavy lifting is on someone else’s shoulders.

That’s probably how most people think of starting and selling a business: as som... Read More

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

When business owners begin to think about their business exits, they tend to focus on one specific goal that they want to achieve. Some owners focus on when they want to exit, some focus on how much money they want when they exit, and others focus on the person or group that will take over once they exit. But what’s the process that takes owners from thinking about what they want, to acting on what they want?

In the context of Exit Planning, it’s important for business owners to understand the two-pronged approach that Exit Planning Advisors take to Exit Planning. The first prong is the general prong, which focuses on a successful business exit for a business owner. The second pro... Read More

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