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Prevention is Better Than Cure

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To grow a valuable business – one you can sell – you need to set up your company so that it is no longer reliant on you. This can be easier said than done, especially when, like a PR consultant or plumber, what you are selling is your…
Goalie

Four Ways to Protect Your Turf

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Warren Buffett famously invests in businesses that have what he calls a protective “moat” around them – one that inoculates them from competition and allows them to control their pricing. Big companies lock out their competitors by…
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Where to Start, When Your Growth Stops

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Why would two companies in the same industry, with the same financial performance, command vastly different valuations? The answer often comes down to how much each business is likely to grow in the future. The problem is that a lot…
Bicycle in snow

9 Warning Signs You’re a Hub-and-Spoke Owner

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If you were to draw a picture that visually represents your role in your business, what would it look like? Are you at the top of a traditional Christmas-tree-like organizational chart, or are you stuck in the middle of your business, like…
Birth

WHAT YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE SAYS ABOUT YOUR EXIT

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In our experience, your age has a big effect on your attitude towards your business and how you feel about one day getting out. Here's what we have found: Business owners between 25 and 46 years old Twenty- and thirty-something business…
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THE DANGER OF MARKET TIMING THE SALE OF YOUR BUSINESS

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The other day I was speaking with a successful CEO in his fifties who runs a heating and air conditioning company generating eight million dollars in revenue and over one million dollars in profit before tax. Even though he was tired and…