What does the future of your business look like?
Just in case you want to skip ahead to a specific topic in this post use the links below.
- Questions in my head about the future of my business
- Introducing the book “Built to Sell”
- Points that I found helpful from reading this book
Questions in my head
Over the past couple of years I have thought about my business and what will happen when I retire. Will I still have clients that need on going services? Who will provide those services? Will my business just wither and die? Can I sell the business? Will anyone want it? And on a personal level will I have enough to retire before I’m 126 years old?
Built To Sell by John Warrillow
Recently I was recommended to read a book called “Built to Sell” by John Warrillow. I didn’t actually read it so much as listen to it on CD in my car, but we all “read” in different ways, right?
The book tells a story about a business owner of a service based business that is struggling. He asks a valued associate for advice. The associate explains to the business owner the good, bad and the ugly about his current business model and what a sale of his current business would look like. Then he describes another way that this scenario could pan out with a few changes in his business model. The business owner follows the advice from this associate and learns how to best structure his business so that it will sell.
For anyone that does not know what selling a business looks like, this is a great place to start. I found that it really got my mind thinking about my business and what I want to get out of it. Now when I’m making decisions about my business bits and pieces from this book pop into my head which is a very good thing.
Points I found helpful
Below I have shared some of the points that stood out for me when I read this book:
- Different perceptions of a product based business versus service based business when it comes to selling a company
- When a service company is sold, the owners typically get some money upfront and the rest is contingent on hitting performance goals in the years ahead. (Warrillow, p. 23).
- Understanding the challenges when you are the business versus the business being able to run independent of you.
- What to think about when hiring a sales person? Who are they? What skills should they have?
- Why a management team is useful and how to keep them engaged through carefully crafted compensation packages.
- How to move forward to sell your company