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As a business owner, you know what it’s like to lie awake at 2 a.m. Maybe it has happened when you are excited and full of new ideas for your business. More often, it’s because you are worried about issues you will face the next day. Sometimes, it’s because you just woke up with the solution to a problem. I’ve experienced all those emotions about my businesses over the years. Awake at 2 o’clock? is where I share them with you, and hopefully help with answers that will let you sleep.
John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA
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Small business owners are the Hunters of the 21st century. We are 3% of the US population, and yet we create over half of all American jobs. As Hunters, we may not be inclined to manage by the numbers or stick to systems. Are you a Hunter or a Farmer?
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How prepared are you to exit your company?
The Assessment breaks down the four major categories of exit readiness; Finance, Planning, Operations and Revenue/Profit.
Tag Archives: employee performance
Companies Sell for a Multiple of…What?
Last week we discussed the difference between Main Street and Mid-market companies regarding their prospects for finding a buyer. You can read it here, but the short analysis is that the market is tightening for Main Street businesses, while the … Continue reading
5 Responses to Companies Sell for a Multiple of…What?
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The Toughest Part of Performance Reviews
There’s been some noise in the business press of late regarding large corporations’ decisions to eliminate performance reviews. Like those who have installed unlimited PTO (Paid Time Off) and other “new” management methods, review-less organizations are deemed to be more … Continue reading
7 Responses to The Toughest Part of Performance Reviews
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Annual reviews are a horrible idea. Can imagine getting feedback 12 months later after a positive or negative event – how does it help? It only slightly recognizes what occurred. We are now moving to quarterly reviews and one day to monthly reviews. In the book The Game of Work, by Charles Coonradt, teaches an excellent method of measuring the success of the employee and how to harness that success to mutual benefit both employer and team members.
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John,
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, great reminders… As I recall, the things in life that are worth amything are often difficult and a lot of work, not fun and easy.
jk
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I fully agree with the negative feelings about performance reviews and that’s why I wrote my book “Performance Reviews; The Bad, The Ugly, … The Alternative” (Amazon).
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An employee is responsible to offer three areas to his/her employer; 1. Performance, 2. (Mutual Respect to organization, fellow employees and customers) , and the, 3. Ability to “Think” as to how they can assist and help achieve the organizations charge. That is it!
A performance review, on a quarterly “update” basis, keeps the individual attuned and allows an avenue to resolve any issues that may be getting in the way of the best performance possible.
It works.
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Never Fire a Salesperson
The majority of business owners prefer linking pay to employee performance. The sales role in most businesses is the easiest and most obvious place to begin. Yet owners struggle with compensating salespeople in a manner that is affordable while still driving sustained performance. Building … Continue reading
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Few Employees Can Go the Distance
It’s been an unusual week. I’ve had at least four coaching conversations about employees whose jobs have outgrown them. On the one hand, it’s good news. It means that the companies are growing. On the other hand, it’s always tough … Continue reading
2 Responses to Few Employees Can Go the Distance
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Other factors beside $ growth can impact “key employee” status. Among them are supervising a business when it starts multiple locations…which often occurs in businesses under 5 million….
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The owner should definitely consider this when hiring and selecting people for development, or they will have telling problems in achieving planned growth.
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Minimum Wage and the Middle Class
“Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of conditions.” – Alexis De Tocqueville (Democracy in America, 1831) Americans have always considered themselves “middle … Continue reading
One Response to Minimum Wage and the Middle Class
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The only real way to solve the problem of the shrinking middle class is through technological advances and higher levels of universal education. Governments at all levels have failed to provide the education required and continue to take more money away from the private sector. Money that could be used to develop new technologies and train their workers to move into higher paying jobs. They are taking actions to get the political support of those who cannot, or choose not to, understand that their simplistic approaches will fail. The envy of astronomically higher salaries of CEO’s are playing right into their political strategies that are definitely not “for the people”.
Right on target. Thanks for the article. Thought: The experts who have never bought oe sold a business,,, are they experts?
Good point, Jon. Some believe that their technical expertise in analyzing financial statements or drafting contracts is sufficient to handle a transaction. Too bad so many owners find out too late that isn’t the case.
Hi John.
If I am representing a buyer, we would look at the discounted cash flow of four year projected earnings, plus a terminal value, particularly if the buyer is using some debt to make the acquisition.
David.
David,
NPV of future cash flows is a reasonable way of calculating ROI for a buyer, but it would still translate into a number that needs to be compared against the industry data calculated in the more standard way.
Good article. The truth is that a business, any business, is not worth what the owner think is worth, and is not worth what the buyer think is worth; it is somewhere in between, but how do you convince both parties of that?