One of the reasons I’m so fired up working with business owners and founders is because I want each and every owner to experience the growth and expansion running a business offers - if you want to grow as a person, your business is a great teacher - am I right?

If you didn’t show up to work in your business for a day, would it continue to run?

Ensuring your business can run whether you show up to work or not is a sign of a true business.

If the answer to this question is no, then you have yourself a nice job you go to each day.

The day will come when we won’t be able to work in our business either for a day, a week, a month, or longer. The question is, will this be a planned break or an unplanned break?

If that were to happen right now, and it was an unplanned break (think injury, illness or caring for a loved one as examples), what would happen to your business? your employees? your family’s salary?

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to sell your business?

Or, hand it over to a family member who now works, or will be working, in your company?

Is this something you know you’d like to do in the future…or does it feel more abstract and you have no idea how to make it happen?

We’ve all heard stories of successful businesses, passed down to the next generation who have failed the business in some way.

While we can’t predict what a new owner might do - whether that’s a buyer or your own family member we CAN prepare our business the best we can so it operates well, setting the new owner, existing employees and existing customers up for success.

AND there’s a way to do all this so you enjoy the benefits now even before you are ready to transition.

As we enter into the festive season and we begin to think about winding down for the year, I wanted to ask you: Do you perform an end of year review?

This is an opportunity to take stock, reflect and take a look at the bigger picture.

It’s been another tumultuous year and depending on where you live, perhaps a return to more things that are ‘normal’ for you.

Whether this is a practice you do each year or if you’re new to it, I wanted to share my process for my business review…

You've likely heard the adage that it’s far easier to cross-sell an existing customer a new product than it is to find a new customer. And if your goal is to grow at all costs, then cross-selling makes sense.

However, all of that sales growth may not do much for the value of your company. If you cross-sell your existing customers too much, it could make your business far less valuable.

When you cross-sell a customer so many products and services that they begin to account for more than 15–30% of your revenue, expect your value to drop. If a single customer represents more than 30% of your sales, expect an even deeper discount.

Customer concentration is one factor that makes up your score on the ValueBuilder assessment — it’s one of eight drivers that’s behind the research determining your business's value in an acquirer's eyes…

If you’re a business owner and you think building a strong foundation that leads to a valuable business isn’t for you - then I encourage you to continue to read.

You see - there’s a strong link between the value of the business and the freedom you, as the business owner, experience in your business.

I hear from so many owners that the reasons they started their businesses were to experience some sort of freedom - freedom to do work they want, freedom to create their own schedules, freedom to work when they want, and to create financial freedom. Yet, many don’t achieve these things.

Freedom = Value.

Why?

Being able to articulate your company’s vision simply is powerful.

It supports your decision-making, how you lead, and provides a guidepost for your company to work towards.

Sharing it with your team, your clients and suppliers can be equally as powerful so people know what you’re about. People are attracted to doing business with companies that have passion and purpose.

If you haven’t articulated or written your business’ vision in a while, I encourage you to use this simple framework which includes what success looks like.

Here’s a vision framework for you to work with:

Does your company bring you energy, increase your financial, emotional, and mental capital?

Or, is it sucking away your energy, and money you never seem to earn more of?

A business is a business when there’s equity to show for your investment. And has value to you and the world.

It’s painful to be reminded of the fact that life is short. But the gift in that reminder is to make the most of the time we have. That includes putting effort into growing your business so it provides the things you need it to provide for you.

If you’re putting up with drudgery, plateauing, or even putting off decisions, I’m here to say that there’s another way…

My mission is to support businesses to grow, scale, thrive and experience the possibilities of what a healthy business can create: an impact on the lives that use/experience the product/service, often going beyond only the user, creating a career and stability for employees to learn, grow and provide for their families, freedom and flexibility for the owner, and a financial nest egg.

The unique element that I bring to my work is my calm approach, simplifying complexity, and support in reducing confusion and overwhelm, which can crop up from time to time during growth stages.

I find one of the most effective ways to reduce confusion is by having a plan. Making a decision and creating a plan to make it happen. However, indecision and overwhelm can crop often up when we’re faced with a decision of some kind that we resist making…

People start a business for all types of reasons. Some start looking for more freedom and flexibility or financial freedom. Some start because they have a great idea that they haven’t seen in the marketplace. Some want to create a legacy or make a positive change in their industry. Your reasons could be all, some, or other reasons for starting your business.

But whatever your reason is, this question is relevant to consider:

Do you want to create a valuable business?

What does valuable mean?

Beyond why you started your business, WHY did you start your business?

Let me explain…

Maybe your WHY was to build a business around a dream or passion, to achieve freedom and financial security, or to change lives through your product or service.

That’s great!

Now, that your business is a living breathing entity…what role will it play in your future?

Will it close when you’re ready to move on or will you try to sell it or pass it down?

Building a legacy or a company that will last beyond you is different than running a business for the purpose of providing an income now. Both are great goals, but the way you build and the focus for growth will be different.

Let’s talk about WHY you started your business:

Was it to:

• Have flexibility and freedom

• Secure a financial future for your family

• Make a difference in the lives of others through your products & services

• Make a greater impact more broadly on the world

• Do what you love to do

Do any or all of these reasons ring true for you?

“I’m too busy growing my business to think about processes”

“Process stifles creativity in our organization”

“Process is considered a dirty word in our company”

I’ve seen too many companies suffer from their belief that if they put structure and flow into their business, their people will feel ‘stifled’.

You know what lack of process, or infrastructure does? It inhibits communication, reduces role clarity, creates inconsistent performance, creates uncertainty when problems arise, and slows growth. Unfortunately, the list doesn’t end there.

If you were to take a survey of Business Owners and ask them why they went into business, many would say one of their top reasons was for flexibility and freedom.

However, when the business gets going and you are juggling all the different roles, it feels like you have everything BUT flexibility and freedom.