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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: small business
Employees Who Make Bad Choices
Employees who make bad choices in their personal lives usually create problems in the workplace. Should you take their issues outside of the business into consideration when hiring or assigning responsibility? The legal answer of course, is “no.” Employers are … Continue reading
2 Responses to Employees Who Make Bad Choices
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Selling to Employees: Is Your Exit Strategy Right in Front of You?
When I interview a prospective client for exit planning assistance, we usually explore selling to employees. The first reaction is always “That won’t work. They don’t have any money.” If you have a company with reasonable cash flow, a talented … Continue reading
One Response to Selling to Employees: Is Your Exit Strategy Right in Front of You?
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Great article, thanks for sharing. We\’ve also written a blog post on why 2017 is the perfect time for baby boomers to consider selling their businesses. Read it here: https://www.tkomiller.com/blog/baby-boomers-and-business-owners-2017-is-your-year
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Employee Experience: Is Bigger Better?
Small businesses provide much of the initial employee experience. We take younger folks and teach them decent work habits like showing up every day, being on time, and working to deadlines. As owners, our personal skills may not be sufficient. We … Continue reading
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What’s in YOUR Nondisclosure Agreement?
A Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) has become one of the basic standard documents in every company’s wallet. Between the rising swell of Baby Boomer owners entertaining exit planning, and greater caution surrounding the legal issues of strategic partnering, an NDA is … Continue reading
5 Responses to What’s in YOUR Nondisclosure Agreement?
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In some areas an NDA requirement preventing hiring any your employees have been found not legal because of is effect on freedom to find new employment for the employee. EG where there are limited opportunities for certain skill sets in the geographic area.
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In many areas, employees’ response to an open advertised employment solicitation is normally not covered by the NDA’s restrictive provisions….while direct contact is. From a client perspective, it is important to note the difference and that the risk exists, but is essentially the same as it is in “normal” times.
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One of the biggest mistakes too many searchers/buyers make entering the buy/sell playing field is not getting their own NDA signed by brokers, owners and sellers of companies. (Not to mention some of the horrible NDAs foisted on searchers.)
• What about protecting the fact that you want to buy a business . . . and you don’t want your employer to know about it?
• How about the content of your financial statement and borrowing power?
This is why the advisory teams of savvy buyers and sellers include experts with a proven record of facilitating win-win deals that should occur.
• I, for example, won’t collaborate with buyers unless they hire the right kind of attorney and tax advisor at the right time and then properly engage those specialists. It’s good for all of us.
BTW, it’s 2 a.m. right now at home in Florida and I’m awake reading John Dini’s excellent website (awakeat2oclock.com) while awaiting a call from someone I’m helping in the UK.
• “Awake at 2 o’clock” . . . I wish I had thought of that title!!!!
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Choosing Not to Maximize Profits
The other day, a client asked me to review some questions from an MBA student studying business ownership. One of the questions was “Are you doing everything possible to maximize profits?” I’ve seen the same question asked in a number … Continue reading
3 Responses to Choosing Not to Maximize Profits
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John,
I agree with your premise, what the question should be is “Are you maximizing value?”
The very choices made by business owners include many of the above that lead not to short term profits but “hopefully” sustainable value.
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John,
Well said and of course there is the issue of reinvesting in the business for sustaining and growing profits, but over the long haul.
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I think that a good question is: Are you happy with your business?
Then ask: What in your business would make you happier?
Then, decide if you want to do it.
I had a small family business with one employee. She was very loyal to us as a family and came to work nearly every day (which was an important part of the job because we were very small and very dependent on each other). She could manage herself and her work load very well. The customers loved her, she knew the business, understood the risks involved and – probably most importantly – knew when to ask for help and when not to. She always got the job done and did it well. She started on a part-time basis and then moved into full.
After she became a full-time employee, I began to see the horrific choices she was making in her personal life (because she would come and talk to me about them – often for long periods of time). Her issues began to dominate the office started causing more and more problems for me. One day, our work was interrupted because someone showed up to repossess her car….but how do you fire someone for that? And through it all, she still came to work every day, got her work done and the clients still loved her.
I tried to create boundaries to manage the drama, but probably didn’t do a great job of it, and it had a fairly negative effect on our relationship. I also had a hard time getting support from the other family members for terminating her because she did such a good job with her work and knew the business so well, and was so loyal to us and the company. In many ways, she would have been very difficult to replace.
It was a difficult situation that really had no good answers or solutions. In the end, it was resolved because we had to close the business for reasons that were completely beyond our control (and had nothing to do with her).
Closing the business actually solved a number of problems that had been brewing beneath the surface and threatened to make families dinners rather painful, but I can’t really recommend it as an effective or ongoing problem-solving tool.
Thanks for the story, Tracey. I wish I could say it was the first such I’ve heard. Closing the business is a more radical solution than I’d typically recommend, however! 😉