Answer These Questions if You Want to Accelerate Business Value in 2023

Most small business owners invest in the stock market, either directly or through retirement plans, with the goal of future financial security. However, not every business owner pays the same level of attention to the key drivers behind the value of, what is often the largest asset in their investment portfolio, their business.

In their book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy, they speak about successful execution as “exposing reality and acting on that reality”.  These questions will help “expose reality” as we begin a new year, regarding your plan for building and growing the value of your business.

 1.         Do I have a healthy management team?   It's often been said that people are our most valuable resource. Experienced leadership, that understands the business, as well as the culture of the organization, is critical to the ongoing success of the business. This is also one of the key factors behind developing business value when it comes down to selling your business.   Cultivating these employees, and ensuring that they remain even after you sell the business is significant to the events or buyer/owner of the business

2.         How effective are my operating systems?  Human resources, personnel recruitment and training, asset control, production control, and performance reports are all the key ingredients of healthy operations within any organization. If these internal mechanics are not running well, this could have significant negative consequences on the value of the organization.

3.         Are my margins equal to or better than the industry average?  If not, what actions can will it take to get them there?

4.         How diverse is my customer base?  Having one's eggs in one basket is always a risk. Having a key single customer that has more than 10% of total sales obviously is a downside for a business. Long before being ready to sell it is helpful to take a look at this and pursue diversification.

5.         Is my facility in “ship-shape”?  - keeping our home reflects our values and our priorities. Similarly, keeping our business facility in a sharp condition reflecting professionalism and effectiveness is critical to establishing business value. It was so into an outside third party, first impressions are significant. They were plucked attention to the small details.

6.         What is my growth strategy?   The roadmap for growth needs to clearly laid out, risks identified, and goals established.  The future cash flow, value, and well-being of your employees is dependent on a vision for the future codified into actionable steps.  The plan alone will not get you there, but no plan will get you nowhere.

7.         Do I have control of my numbers?  At the end of the day, you need to understand the financial health of your business.

Exit planning should begin the day you start your business.  And, at the core, or center of exit planning is maximizing the value of your business.  Just as you manage the value of your 401k or investment portfolio, investing time, energy, and thought into building the value of your business will position you to exit in the manner you desire.  Get started today by exposing reality and assessing your business value drivers.

Invest 12-15 minutes in the FREE ExitMap® Assessment and get a 12-page report scoring you in four key exit planning areas: Finance, Planning, Revenue/Profit, and Operations.

Build and grow the right way...

Like most successful small business owners, George had invested much of his life and resources in his business over the last twenty plus years and realized personal prosperity and respect within the marketplace.  The business had been profitable, with revenue generally stable and increasing, and George continued to see his personal standard of living increase.  

At the same time, George had an ongoing irritant, and that was his inability to "really take a vacation".  George and his wife Susan were able to "get away" a few times each year, but it was seldom more than a week, and he most always remained tied to the business in some way or another while he was gone.  His phone and computer would still see a lot of action on "vacation".

Five years ago, George was "ready to sell the business and retire".  They now had four grandchildren they wanted to spend time with, they wanted to travel, and simply "enjoy life" while they were still very healthy.  George's transition from being "all in" to "I'm done" happened quite fast, surprising both George and Susan.  Coincidentally, around that time, George was approached by a couple of potential buyers interested in purchasing his company.  George was excited that he would now sell his company and he and Susan would be free to do all they wanted to do.

George experienced what he called "a sad awakening" when the most serious buyer made an offer that was significantly less than what George and Susan needed, along with an "earn-out" requirement.  George would have to remain on as an employee for three more years in order to earn 25% of the proposed sale price.  The potential buyer pointed to areas of risk including "the business still runs too much through you George", a lack of management team incentivized to remain during the transition, an inability to produce requested financials in a timely manner, and an unproven growth strategy as reasons for the low offer.

George had a huge decision to make, take the low offer and adjust downward the plans that he and Susan were looking forward to, or, reject the offer and invest more years in building his business the right way for a successful sale in the future.  Not an easy decision considering a few days ago both he and Susan were envisioning travel and "grandkid time" becoming reality within the next few months.  As George is now an employee working hard to earn the balance of his reduced payout, and Susan is doing much of the grandkid time by herself, he came to understand the hard way that you can never start too soon in building your business the right way for a successful exit.

 Invest 12-15 minutes in the FREE ExitMap® Assessment and get a 12-page report scoring you in four key exit planning areas: Finance, Planning, Revenue/Profit, and Operations.  

Using Cybersecurity to Improve Your Company’s Valuation

Thanks to increasing reliance on computers, data, social media, programs, and networks, businesses all over the world are at a greater risk of a cyberattack or data breach. Companies have to fend off malware, DDoS, and phishing attacks at unprecedented levels. Cyberattacks have become so common that the cost of managing cybersecurity risks has become more of an investment than an expense. Consequently, one of the hidden costs of a cyberattack is how it affects the value of your company.

Cybercriminals, like water, find the path of least resistance. Investing in cybersecurity best practices, including a layered security strategy will reduce the risk of an attack. Stepping up your cybersecurity game will, in turn, enhance your market position and add tremendous value to your business. From a valuation perspective, strong cybersecurity means less risk for potential buyers and future investors. Cybersecurity diligence is particularly important for business executives who are looking to sell or are on the verge of selling.

Add Value to Your Company with Better Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has become a necessity for every business out there, whether they offer products or services. Cybersecurity is rapidly becoming a trend in company valuations. All the factors that go into the value of the company including data operations, assets, customer records, intellectual property, employee information, marketing tactics, etc. are all vulnerable to cyberattacks. Demonstrating cybersecurity strength and integrity contributes to a company’s value.

As you can see, improving your company’s cybersecurity stature will fetch you a better price when it’s time to sell. Here are a few ways to secure your business and improve its value.

Risk Assessment

Cybersecurity risk is the likelihood of reputational or financial loss from a cyberattack or a data breach. A cybersecurity risk assessment is essential to a company’s risk management strategy and data protection efforts. Assessing risks and vulnerabilities can help you understand, manage, control, and mitigate cyber threats across your business.

Network Encryption

Data theft, tampering, technical failure, eavesdropping, etc. have all become commonplace in data networks. Securing network transmitted data against cyberattacks and data breaches is imperative for businesses. Only encryption can make sure that your company data is protected while in transit across data networks and links.

Network encryption makes data unreadable by anyone who is not explicitly allowed to access the information. A VPN is one of the most effective encryption tools. It creates a secure tunnel between your devices and the Internet, protecting your data from snooping. A VPN can also be downloaded in simple steps.

Layered Defence Strategy

In today’s dynamic digital environment, having a cybersecurity defense strategy can help businesses strengthen their resilience to cyberthreats. This strategy employs a series of layered defensive mechanisms including antimalware and network security controls such as a firewall to protect your online presence.

An emerging trend in the business world is the use of cybersecurity in company valuation. Organizations must strive to improve their cybersecurity position and increase their value. But with the cyber threat landscape evolving at a faster rate than companies can keep up, this is easier said than done. Risk assessment, network encryption, and adopting a layered cybersecurity strategy are some of the steps business leaders can take to improve digital security and add value to their companies.

Chris Jones is the resident tech expert and managing director of #TurnOnVPN. #TurnOnVPN is an activist group whose mission is to promote free and unimpeded internet for all. We take part in numerous online events to advocate for a safe, secure, and censor-free Internet. Learn more at www.turnonvpn.org/blog/.

Invest 15 minutes and take our FREE Exit Readiness Assessment.

Creating Attractive Business Value with Operational Excellence

It’s estimated that there are around 9 million Baby Boomer business owners. Each of them will eventually be exiting their business. For the large percentage of those owner-operators who define a “successful” exit as getting top dollar for their business, how do they actually realize that goal?

Potential buyers look at a number of indicators when searching for a business, in order to get the assurance that their investment is a good one - especially in an industry that has a large field of competitors in the same market.

So, what about you and your business? What differentiates you from your competitors in the same market? What do you have that your competitors don’t have, that makes you attractive to potential buyers now or in the future?

Having attractive EBITA is important and a good start, but this may not be enough to secure top dollar. For most potential buyers, there has to be more substance to your business to make it stand out from others. Buyers want to see the overall value of your business and whether it’s sustainable after you leave. This is especially true when they need to rely on the existing leadership team. So how do you stand out from other potential buyout targets? How do you build value in your company now?

The answer is simple, and easier to achieve than you may think. You achieve it by implementing a proven and practical operating system, one that incrementally strengthens your business in every aspect of your organization. EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, does exactly that for your business. When faithfully implemented and sustained by the leadership team, operational excellence is obtained and is self-sustaining. Healthy year-after-year growth is achieved. 

EOS® addresses an organization’s key aspects, called The Six Key Components™. They are Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. Combined with the EOS time-tested tools, guiding principles, and disciplines, this EOS Model™ becomes the means of achieving operational excellence. EOS is used by thousands of businesses to obtain better control, better balance, better focus, more company-wide excitement, and more profitability.

When a potential buyer of your company clearly sees these things in your business, you have excellent leverage and are in a better position to have a successful exit after taking all the other steps in your exit plan. To learn more, contact us at ENNIS Legacy Partners today.

Invest 12-15 minutes in the FREE ExitMap® Assessment and get a 12-page report scoring you in four key exit planning areas: Finance, Planning, Revenue/Profit, and Operations. ———————————————————————

Robert "Bo" Lotinsky has decades of combined leadership, management and results-oriented experience in a variety of sectors including manufacturing, non-profits, telecommunications, publishing, internet start-ups, and construction. Bo developed a passion for operational excellence in his first job with FMC Corporation’s Material Handling Division. Bo transitioned into start-up and mid-sized organizations for the excitement and challenge of seeing them grow more quickly and successfully.