As a business owner you’re all too familiar with the phrase, “Every penny counts.”

You understand what’s at stake. Your payroll numbers are attached to real people: people who sit across from you in the lunchroom, work beside you on challenging projects and celebrate alongside when the Lions win! 

The weight on your shoulders as a business owner can be heavy. Having spent much of my career working alongside business owners like yourself, I know from first hand experience just how much of that weight can be lifted with simple easy to implement tools like a zero-based budget. 

Every business has a story. And some of the most heroic stories involve the numbers. All of these numbers add up to the story of your business. When it comes time to exit your business, this story is a key component of success. The story of how you got the business to where it is and a picture painted of where it can go are vital to a successful process.

Do you ever feel like a hamster frantically running around a cage? You're doing all kinds of tasks from sunup to sundown, but at the end of the day, you feel like you’ve made absolutely zero progress. Are you Bill Murray living in Groundhog Day? Is it a new day, but the same old problems? If this sounds like your daily reality, this article is for you. While it may sound counterintuitive, I’ve found that the best way to speed up in life is to first slow down.

Being a business owner is an intense and unique experience, filled with both triumphs and challenges. As you consider exiting your business, it’s crucial to address the emotional side of this transition. Discover strategies for managing your feelings, envisioning your future, and finding support during this significant life change.

As a Baby Boomer business owner, you suddenly find yourself facing decisions that once seemed impossibly far down the road. You probably never sat down and proactively planned your own exit from the company you worked so hard to create. Too many baby boomer business owners are losing out on millions in potential exit proceeds from being well prepared to sell.

Whether we believe it or not, we are all creative at heart. We are all capable of creating things that are unique to who we are and what we love to do.

What does a book about the battles of the creative process have to do with my company?

Innovation. Ambition. Passion. Vision. Perseverance.

All words that accurately describe the entrepreneurial spirit and the business owners we encounter on a daily basis.

Personally, I find the perseverance of business owners to be the most impressive trait, as well as the most valuable asset to their success.

What it takes to become great in this world is a willingness to continue when the going gets tough. And to keep going, when it gets tougher.

We speak with so many owners that have found themselves in situations where the way forward was incredibly uncertain.

Maybe you relate?

I’ve watched some business owners become comfortable with what they’ve built and become complacent and uninspired.

If you can find ways to continue to stretch your mind, body, and spirit, it will translate into every facet of your life.

Sometimes the best way to feel alive and to stimulate creativity and what makes us human is to feel a little scared. When we sense that risk, it brings a focus that is often lost in the distraction of our technology-infused world.

And so my challenge to you is…

At Doescher Group, we have two main client paths: Exit and Evolve.

As a business owner, you will one day exit your business. We are ready to walk you through this process every step of the way.

On the other hand, along the road to the eventual exit of your business, it will inevitably evolve as you work to meet customer needs and build value for yourself and your employees.

Regardless of which path of our Provey Process you start down, everything begins with building a relationship through Discovery.

Perhaps our biggest takeaway is a shift from Boomer owners who often have a singular passion for their business to Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z who often see their business as one of many life passions.

What could this generational shift in private business ownership mean for your business?

How prepared are you for the future state of your business? How ready is your business to transfer to a new owner? Regardless of the option that best suits you and your business, you’ll likely need to spend a lot of time seeking out information and guidance on the process. When the initial study was done in 2013, less than 40% of all owners surveyed said that they had an understanding of their exit options. In 2023, that number rose to 70%.

Many of the brightest visionaries and business owners I know have gotten to where they are on pure grit, intuition, and hard work. However, the time comes when they are ready to reach even higher heights, and leveraging data into information can supercharge the journey. 

Shifting from collecting under explored data to arming you and your business with this predictive information empowers you to tweak your business operations in real-time rather than waiting for next month to see your financial results or worse yet never doing this analysis in the first place.

You’ve accomplished everything you set out to do; probably more. Now you’re ready to exit the business you’ve built from the ground up,

After reviewing your options, you’ve determined the best decision is to run a formal sale process to fetch the best offer for your company. Under this scenario, for a variety of reasons more than ever before, your most likely buyer will be a “financial buyer”. Let me tell you who this buyer is, and what they are looking for in your business.

Do you know what your business is worth? As an owner, you might have an idea in your head about what it could or should be worth. Maybe your competitor recently sold their business, and you heard how much it sold for. Perhaps you have done some tax planning. You may have even been approached about selling your business or even received an offer. Whether you're considering selling your business, seeking investment, or simply want to understand its worth, a “limited business valuation” can be a tremendous resource.

The intention during our Exit Audit is to learn the story of your business over the course of interviewing those that built it or have become essential in running it.

Hearing the stories of how it came to be, the factors that cause customers to remain loyal, and the plans for the future.

How did you get to where you are today and how will you reach those future goals you have plans for? That’s what we get to discuss.

The interview portion isn’t an interrogation, it’s a conversation. A conversation that allows us to paint a vibrant picture of your company and its potential.

So much of the value in your business is built on the qualitative data we learn about in the interviews.

If you’re frustrated about scaling beyond what you can personally do or wanting to take a vacation without worrying about the plant burning down while you’re gone, or simply want to leave at 3 to coach your child’s sports team? How do you build a team that shoulders the load with the same discipline and accountability that you bring to the table?

Running a business is a wholly immersive experience, where each and every day presents new challenges and obstacles to overcome. As a business owner, you often develop tunnel vision, focusing solely on internal operations. But at certain moments you may be forced to reckon with external factors, like presidential elections.

You run a business. You’re self-made. You’ve made tough decisions, you’ve taken risks. It hurts to consider the idea of allowing some investor off the street to step into your shoes as owner; someone with no previous history with your customers, your employees, your vendors, your products & services. It just feels wrong.

Creating a thriving company culture is not done overnight, in a week, or even in a single month. It’s created over time, with intentional investment from company leadership, and a commitment to keeping it top of mind each and every day.

Jon Coleman writes, “Workplaces that have a deep sense of mission and values with which we can align are more engaging and joyful to work for.”

As you read that quote, do you have a solidified mission and values that come to mind for your company? Are your company values clear, concise and communicated through the entire organization?

If not, it's time to roll up those sleeves. When everyone's on the same page, decisions become easier, hires become more aligned, and the whole company moves forward with purpose.

You know the days where you’re constantly spinning your wheels? By the end of the day nothing is solved, but you’re exhausted. Your “issues” pile keeps growing as problems are coming in faster than you can find solutions. The brute force method worked when you started your business. But two things have happened. Your business has grown and you’ve gotten older. You cannot keep up the pace anymore. And you’ve earned the right to slow down and enjoy what you’ve built.

The answer is simple, and even a little boring – Systems.