Unlocking Retirement Savings to Fund a New Business Many people have dreams of starting a business but lack the capital or funding needed to launch their new business ideas. It’s true: It costs money to start a business. The
Strategic planning
Do You Need a Virtual CFO? Every company must find an efficient way of handling accounting and bookkeeping functions. For many businesses, an
Feb 27, 2024
Feb 27, 2024
1 min read
outsourced CMO services. In short, we become your company’s chief marketing officer and do so virtually and efficiently — saving you time and money. Since 1999, we’ve enjoyed building and boosting brands for a core set of industries. Our thoughtful process, experienced team, and vested interest in our client’s success have positioned us as one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most sought-after marketing partners for those looking to grow their brand awareness and bottom line. Stop paying for digital and traditional services you may not need. Our retainer, no markup model means our recommendations don’t come with any catch or commission. Our advice aligns with what you need and what fits within your budget. For more information, contact us at 410-366-9479 or info@incitecmo.com.
We have been asked to explain our product and services on multiple occasions. For those interested, you may find this episode to be a good listen, as it fully explores our services and how our involvement can significantly benefit your client. While this particular episode deals with land sales, the concept is universal to the sale of personal property, business and other appreciated assets.
Is there an AI role in Exit Planning? The media is packed with stories about Artificial Intelligence. According to the stories, because a smart search engine (which is essentially what a Learning Language Model [LLM] is,) can pass a Bar exam, it threatens all kinds of white-collar careers. And in case you were wondering, no – I’m not writing this on ChapGPT. That “surprise” trope has been so overdone on every local television station that I hope I never see it again. Also, if you thought this column would be about how to write letters, proposals, and social media posts using AI, you’ll have to look elsewhere. At ExitMap® we launched our AI upgrade in May. It does all the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph, but it can also be a useful tool for owners within its limitations. Writing a few hundred prompts (They used to be called “queries,” I don’t know the difference) has given us some insight into how it works, and where it doesn’t. Using AI for research
Whether you are advising a company preparing for a future sale, or working with a new acquisition, it is helpful to understand the value that independent board directors can bring – for M&A, growth, strategy, and more. See more at:
When a periodic Structured Risk Remediation: With our guidance, clients have successfully identified and prioritized vulnerabilities, moving from reactive stances to proactive strategies that mitigate potential threats and losses. Ensuring Compliance: Our experience has shown that businesses that adhere to comprehensive assessments not only align with industry regulations but also cultivate enhanced trust amongst their stakeholders, customers, and partners. Cost Optimization: We’ve assisted several enterprises in eliminating system redundancies and streamlining their budget allocation, directly leading to significant cost savings. Focused Automation: Leveraging automation insights from our roadmap, our clients have boosted productivity and ensured consistent, high-quality outputs across their operations. Growth Scalability: Through our roadmap, businesses have been able to preemptively address the technological needs of future growth, ensuring seamless scaling and adaptive infrastructures. Technology Modernization: We’ve witnessed clients transforming their operations to stay competitive, integrating modern systems effortlessly with other platforms, yielding a competitive edge in their respective markets. Informed Decision-making: By providing a clear and data-driven roadmap, we’ve empowered clients to make evidence-based decisions, fostering alignment amongst stakeholders. Future-Proofing the Business: Our roadmap has enabled businesses to stay ahead, anticipating emerging technological trends and ensuring their strategies remain relevant amidst rapid changes. In essence, a remediation and investment roadmap crafted from a periodic technology due diligence assessment offers businesses a clear, actionable, and strategic path forward. With our expertise and hands-on involvement, we’ve ensured that organizations are optimally positioned for success in both the immediate and distant future. Those organizations that committed to our technology assessment recommendations have not only become more appealing to investors but have also significantly improved their customer experiences, leading to higher retention rates.
Jason Moore and Haley Devlin were running Stratasan on EOS and were stuck. They had hit the ceiling and were no longer making progress. In early 2021 they decided to move beyond EOS, and began working with a System & Soul coach to focus more on their people, their culture, and their organizational habits. They created habits that everyone in the organization could align with: evergreen, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual habits. These were the cornerstone of their success and foundational to their successful exit. In fall of 2022, Jason and Haley negotiated a successful 9 figure exit, and they attribute much of that success to the clarity and execution System & Soul brought to their team. If you’re looking to scale and exit, and realize that people are more than 1/6th of your business, check out www.systemandsoul.com Jonathan King 469.514.7564 jonathan@leanleadersinc.com
PRESS RELEASE – Walden Businesses, Inc. is pleased to announce its client Paradigm Security Services, Inc. completed a successful sale to Pinnacle Security & Investigation, Inc. Walden initiated this transaction and acted as advisor to the seller. “We were lucky to have Sara Burden’s skill and commitment to guide us in preparing the company for sale; orchestrating meetings; and keeping everyone on track to closure,” said Rick Strawn, CEO of Paradigm Security. Paradigm Security Services provides armed and unarmed private security guard and patrol services to corporate offices, transportation and logistics industries, healthcare facilities, hotels and multi-residential housing, manufacturing, and construction industries. Provides onsite training before guards enter the field with a client, as well as ongoing training, etc. Also provides executive protection, armed protection, and more. Industry leader in the North Georgia market – the company was in an excellent position for a strategic acquirer. Press-Release-w-SB-Paradigm-to-Pinnacle-SB32122
The end of the year is drawing to a close, and CFOs everywhere have their sights set on 2023 — making it a perfect time to fine-tune organizational strategy and business operations. To ensure their companies are well-positioned for success in the new year, C-suite leaders must think big picture yet also focus on the daily details; this unique choreography of visionary oversight and intricate precision will give organizations an edge in a competitive environment. The upcoming year can signify reaching new heights for many organizations. To prepare, organizations should take a step back, developing pathways and objectives that align with their company’s overarching goals. Talent Retention The past year has been a rollercoaster, with businesses having no choice but to adjust to the realities of the Great Resignation and a tight labor market. However, the focus for many companies in 2023 may go beyond finding new employees — it should include options for retention strategies. According to a survey, employers worldwide plan to increase their salary budgets by 4.6% next year, the highest jump in 15 years. Most organizations attributed the increase to inflation and a tight labor market. If your organization doesn’t proactively look after the financial well-being of your workforce, your best and brightest could be recruited away. Remote and Hybrid Options: During the pandemic, remote work for office jobs became necessary for employers. Nearly three years later, most office workers don’t want to give up that flexibility, and many have proven they will find work elsewhere if that digital option is taken away. Offering flexible schedules and investing in tools and resources that enhance remote and hybrid collaboration will remain critical next year. Mergers & Acquisitions For most of 2021, mergers and acquisition (M&A) roared on. However, macroeconomic tensions in the air somewhat diffused that furor in the second half 2022: many large platform deals were halted, even as add-on deals stayed robust. This turning of the rides may be chalked up to the highest inflation in 40 years, rising interest rates, market volatility, supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine conflict weakening confidence for some transactions. Whether there is further change in store remains to be seen. Will the market change in 2023? It appears to be a toss-up. Some economic experts argue a sharp turnaround is surge in transactions next year. Despite the current wave of uncertainty that has left many companies to reduce some M&A activity, the classic motivations pushing firms towards these transactions remain. Seeking growth, expanding into new markets and gaining access to new products and services have long been a major impetus for companies an increasingly important role in aiding business operations by streamlining mundane tasks and freeing up resources that can be put to better use, therefore increasing the likelihood of success during uncertain times. Turning to intelligent automation, also known as robotic process automation (RPA), to conduct financial tasks or other processes requiring high levels of audit and oversight is a great place to start. Automation can also benefit employee retention, supply chain logistics and compliance with new accounting standards. Vendor and Service Pricing As we turn to the new year, it is also crucial for organizations to closely analyze their major contracts with vendors, suppliers and service providers. Taking time to reflect on each agreement is a proactive approach that will pay off in the short and long term. Considering options like renewing existing deals or negotiating more cost-effective terms helps keep costs down and can lead to better business relationships. Look for services and programs that may be underutilized — adapting, re-envisioning or cutting them can result in savings. Risk Management When considering potential risks for the coming year, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve in assessing pitfalls and any areas of vulnerability. Think ahead to what risks your organization may face in the coming year. How can these risks be mitigated or minimized? Risk management areas to focus on include: Cybersecurity: Security and data breaches are becoming so common and detrimental that the SEC recently called for steps and processes can you take to make improvements? Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: This past year will be remembered for many things; unfortunately, it will also be remembered as a year rife with supply chain disruptions. Given the current economic state, organizations must a defensible stance regarding complex tax incentives, such as the Employee Retention Tax Credit and the research & development tax credit. Next Steps Our professional financial experts stand ready to assist you with any organizational strategies or business operations challenges you may face in the coming year. At CBIZ & MHM, we work closely with your organization to find solutions to your unique problems. With our assistance, you can focus on what you do best — running your business.
Is Your Business Prepared for Battle? – BAS Market Insight Volume 5 Published on December 7, 2022
Here are ten ways to increase the value of your business: 1. Stop chasing revenue. A bigger company is not necessarily a more valuable one if the extra sales come from products and services that are too reliant on the business owner to deliver them. 2. Start surveying your customers. It’s a fast and easy way for your customers to give you feedback, and it’s predictive of your company’s growth in the future 3. Sell less stuff to more people. The most valuable companies have a defendable niche selling a few differentiated products and services to many customers. The least valuable businesses sell lots of undifferentiated products and services to a concentrated group of buyers. 4. Drop the products or services that depend on you. If you offer something that needs you to produce or sell it, consider dropping it from your offerings. Services and products that require you suck up your time and cash and don’t contribute significantly to your business’s value. 5. Collect more money up front. Turn a negative cash flow cycle into a positive one and you boost your business’s value and lessen your stress load. 6. Create more recurring revenue. Predictable sales from subscriptions or recurring contracts mean less stress in the short term and a more valuable business over the long run. 7. Be different. Refine your marketing strategy to emphasize the point of differentiation that customers value. Be relentless in highlighting this advantage. 8. Find a backup supplier for your most critical raw materials. Consider placing a small order to establish a commercial relationship and diversify the sources of your most-difficult-to-find materials. 9. Teach them to fish. Answer every employee question with “What would you do if you owned the business?” Your goal should be to cultivate employees who think like owners so they can start answering their own questions without coming to you. 10. Create an instruction manual. Document your most important processes so your employees can do their work independently. You can write these down or use instructional video.
Are you satisfied with your 2022 growth? If so: congratulations! If you want to accelerate growth in 2023 though, and make it less painful / stressful for you, you will need a different approach. This is exactly the point of our upcoming CEO Growth Workshop on Tuesday December 6 at noon EST on the topic: “How to plan for successful growth in 2023.” By the end of this FREE interactive CEO workshop you will: – Have a first draft of your 2023 goals and priorities, and have a methodology to keep improving them with your team. – Have identified your 2-3 Q1 2023 quarterly priorities. – Have a plan in place to improve the execution of your 2023 priorities. This CEO Workshop is free and is open to all growth-minded CEOs who want to become better leaders. Register now:
Popular
What's Trending
As an advisor, your role is to help clients prepare to exit their business, yet many people resist thinking about the future because it involves so many unknowns, decisions, and choices. And emotions typically complicate matters further, sometimes derailing the process altogether. Here are some questions that can help you establish rapport with your clients, learn more about their concerns, and move the conversation forward. How are you feeling about your work/profession/business these days? Which aspects of work are you still enjoying, and which are you ready to leave behind? Do you envision retiring from work at some point, or are you contemplating an encore career? What part of planning for your future feels most challenging? How do you imagine your life in retirement will be different from how it is now? What process are you using to figure out what you’ll do next after you retire? What would you like to see happen with your business long term? What options have you considered for the transfer of your business? What steps have you taken to make your business more attractive to a potential buyer? What are your concerns about transitioning your firm to new ownership? What would be your ideal scenario for transitioning out of your company? What topic(s) have we touched on today that we should put on our agenda to revisit? So, what happens after you pose a few of these questions and your clients open up about emotional matters? Remember, the most helpful thing you can do is to listen attentively. You’ve created a valuable opportunity for them to talk about things they may not share with other advisors. Here are some tips for managing the conversation when clients raise emotionally loaded topics: Don’t try to “fix things” by immediately offering suggestions. Doing so sends the message that you’re uncomfortable hearing their concern. You can offer suggestions but do so later. Don’t say anything that conveys the message that their feeling or concern is unwarranted. “There’s really no need to feel that way” or “I’m sure it will be just fine” may sound reassuring to you but could be experienced as dismissive by your client. Don’t immediately offer a logical counterpoint to your client’s emotion. Remember, feelings don’t have to make sense; they’re “as is”. Put another way, if feelings made sense, they would be thoughts. People report concerns and characterize their feelings differently from one another, so it’s in your best interest to seek amplification and clarification by inquiring as follows . . . “I want to make sure that I understand exactly what you mean by ___. Can you tell me more?” “People sometimes mean slightly different things when they talk about ___. What does ___ mean for you?” “Before I suggest anything, I’d like to learn more about it from your perspective.” It’s possible that during early conversations your client may hint at mixed feelings about exiting their business. That’s perfectly normal, but you need to bring it out into the open. You want to foster an atmosphere such that your client keeps you apprised about where they’re at. If they keep their ambivalence to themselves, it has greater potential to blindside you and complicate the sale. You can say: “In my experience, it’s normal to have some mixed emotions about selling. Those thoughts may not always be top of mind, but when they do pop up let’s be sure to talk about them. Believe it or not, they can help inform our process and alert us to aspects of the sale that are important to you.” You may also find that your client is overly risk averse. If so, consider saying the following: “Our work together won’t be comprehensive if we only plan for what could go wrong. That’s just half the equation. It’s fine to be conservative and err on the side of caution, but to be truly realistic we should also consider a range of possibilities both good and bad.” Author’s Note: The concepts in this article are derived from Robert Leahy’s book, Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy. New York: Guilford
For five decades, the southern United States has been an attractive location for automakers to open plants thanks to generous tax breaks and cheaper, non-union labor. However, after decades of failing to unionize automakers in the South, the United Auto Workers dealt a serious blow to that model by winning a landslide union victory at Volkswagen. In an effort to fight back, three southern states have gotten creative: they passed laws barring companies from receiving state grants, loans and tax incentives if the company voluntarily recognizes a union or voluntarily provides unions with employee information. The laws also allow the government to claw back incentive payments after they were made. While these laws are very similar, each law has unique nuances. If you are in an impacted state, you should seek local counsel. In 2023, Tennessee was the first state to pass such a law. This year, Georgia and Alabama followed suit. So why this push? In 2023, the American Legislative Exchange Council (“ALEC”), a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments, adopted Tennessee’s law as model legislation. In fact, the primary sponsor of Tennessee’s bill was recognized as an ALEC Policy Champion in March 2023. ALEC’s push comes as voluntary recognition of unions gains popularity as an alternative to fighting unions. We recently saw this with the high-profile Ben & Jerry’s voluntary recognition. Will this Southern strategy work to push back against growing union successes? Time will tell. Brody and Associates regularly advises its clients on all labor management issues, including union-related matters, and provides union-free training. If we can be of assistance in this area, please contact us at info@brodyandassociates.com or 203.454.0560.
Almost since time began, the nimble small business has been axiomatic. Large corporations are like big ships, the common knowledge goes. They take a long time to change direction.
I once had the thrill of interviewing Jerry West on management. He was “The Logo” for the NBA, although back then they didn’t advertise him as such. Only the Laker followers knew for sure. In 1989 the “Showtime” Lakers were coming off back-to-back championships. Pat Riley was a year away from his first of three Coach of the Year awards.
Can you Offer Too Many SKUs to Your Customers? The short answer is YES! A SKU, or Stock Keeping Unit, defines each different product version that you sell and keep inventory of. There may be different SKUs of the same overall item based on size, color, capacity (think computer or cellphone memory), features, and many other parameters. For build to forecast businesses, that number of variations can quickly explode and become difficult to manage. Your customers are busy and want ordering simplified. Of course, they may need (or want) more than one variation of a product. That is reasonable and a common aspect of business – one size does not fit all! But there is a point where too offering too many SKUs is not value added either for your customer or your business. In his April 30, 2013 article “Successful Retailers Learn That Fewer Choices Trigger More Sales” in Forbes, Carmine Gallo discusses his experience and a study about “choice overload” by other authors. He writes about a retailer that “has discovered that giving a customer more than three choices at one time actually overwhelms customers and makes them frustrated…when the customer is faced with too many choices at once, it leaves the customer confused and less likely to buy from any of the choices!” Choice overload is well-documented in consumer studies but can apply in B2B as well. While customer satisfaction is important, another key concern is the often-hidden costs associated with a business offering and managing a large number of SKUs for a given product type. These costs include holding inventory, S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) team time, small production runs, and scrapping inventory. Holding inventory takes up space, which may come with a cost or utilize racks that could be used for other products. Scheduled inventory counts take up employee time and may result in blackout periods when the warehouse is not shipping product. The more SKUs there are, including extra SKUS, the greater the potential impact. The Sales team’s forecasting and the Operations team’s purchasing reviews that are part of the S&OP process can occupy more of their valuable time if they need to consider these times. If small orders or forecasts require a new production run, this could be costly and create excess inventory. Whether from this new production or past builds, eventually it will make sense to write off and scrap old inventory, another cost impact to the company. How do you know which SKUs to focus on if you wish to look at reducing your total number of SKUs? Start by examining SKUs that have: Low historic sales over a period of time Small variations between SKUs that customers do not value Older technology or model when newer option SKUs are available This requires a true partnership between Sales and Operations. It starts with educating both teams on the costs involved – neither group may be aware of the money and time impact to the company. Periodic (such as quarterly) reviews of SKUs that meet the above descriptions should become a fixed part of the calendar. A review of the data and other available for sale options should result in the identification of SKUs which may not be needed. At that point, it is helpful to have a customer friendly EOL (End of Life) Notice process by which you inform customers of last time buy requirements for this SKU and alternates available. It is usually best to provide some time for the last time buy in the interest of customer satisfaction, although that may not always be necessary. At a company that designed and sold electronics, a robust SKU rationalization process was implemented to help address these issues. A representative from the Operations team analyzed SKUs that met a version of the above criteria and suggested candidates for the EOL process. Next, a member of the Sales team reviewed them and, where appropriate, issued product change or EOL notices to customers, providing them time for last time buy orders when needed. These steps helped reduce the work involved in maintaining these SKUs while not leading to any customer complaints. A final note – sometimes it makes sense to continue offering low selling SKUs – to support customers buying other items (hopefully in larger quantities). It may be worthwhile to encourage them to keep coming back to you for all of their product needs and this may be a way to accomplish that. But it helps to understand that this is truly the case and not assume that this customer would not be equally happy with another, more popular, SKU. Steven Lustig is founder and CEO of Lustig Global Consulting and an experienced Supply Chain Executive. He is a recognized thought leader in supply chain and risk mitigation, and serves on the Boards of Directors for Loh Medical and Atlanta Technology Angels.
When it comes to careers, business owners are a minority of the population. In conversations this week, I mentioned the statistics several times, and each owner I was discussing it with was surprised that they had so few peers. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are over 33,000,000 businesses in the US. Let’s discount those with zero employees. Many are shell companies or real estate holding entities. Also, those with fewer than 5 employees, true “Mom and Pop” businesses, are hard to distinguish from a job. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Association, lists businesses with 5 to 99 employees at about 3,300,000, and 123,000 have 100 to 500 employees (the SBA’s largest “small business” classification.) Overall, that means about 1% of the country are private employers. Owners are a small minority, a very small minority, of the population. Even if we only count working adults (161,000,000) business owners represent only a little more than 2% of that population. So What? Where am I going with this, and how does it relate to our recent discussions of purpose in business exit planning? It’s an important issue to consider when discussing an owner’s identity after transition. Whether or not individual owners know the statistics of their “rare species” status in society, they instinctively understand that they are different. They are identified with their owner status in every aspect of their business and personal life. At a social event, when asked “What do you do?” they will often respond “I own a business.” It’s an immediate differentiator from describing a job. “I am a carpenter.” or “I work in systems engineering,” describes a function. “I am a business owner” describes a life role. When asked for further information, the owner frequently replies in the Imperial first person plural. “We build multi-family housing,” is never mistaken for a personal role in the company. No one takes that answer to mean that the speaker swings a hammer all day. Owners are a Minority We process much of our information subconsciously. If a man enters a business gathering, for example, and the others in the room are 75% female, he will know instinctively, without consciously counting, that this business meeting or organization is different from others he attends. Similarly, business owners accept their minority status without thinking about it. They expect that the vast majority of the people they meet socially, who attend their church, or who have kids that play sports with theirs, work for someone else. There are places where owners congregate, but otherwise, they don’t expect to meet many other owners in the normal course of daily activity. This can be an issue after they exit the business. You see, telling people “I’m retired” has no distinction. Roughly 98% of the other people who say that never built an organization. They didn’t take the same risks. Others didn’t deal with the same broad variety of issues and challenges. Most didn’t have to personally live with the impact of every daily decision they made, or watch others suffer the consequences of their bad calls. That is why so many former owners suffer from a lack of identity after they leave. Subconsciously, they expect to stand out from the other 98%. “I’m retired” carries no such distinction. This article was originally published by John F. Dini, CBEC, CExP, CEPA on
Previous
Next
Explore the Knowledge Exchange
Make XPX Part of Your Business Plans
Explore
Learn
Account
Connect
Help & Support
© 2024 XPX Global LLC. Privacy Policy Norms & Principles Site Map Terms of Use
© 2024 XPX Global LLC. All Rights Reserved.