Intentionally growing your company - The changing role of the CEO: Your business model is a Key Performance Indicator

Recently, I began teaser introductions to the following five topics.  I believe that each topic is a key issue for growing your company from 15 to 50 and then to 150 people or more.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus:

Know Thy Self  

Look at Your People 

Culture

Processes/Systems

Business Model

Today we will focus on #5, Business Model.  When asked, almost everyone says they have a business model.  The question should be, does your business model work? 

At 15 employees, most companies take any customer and are delighted with them all.  What most often happens is that many businesses at this level, essentially focus on materials, direct labor and determine profit. 

At this stage most companies business models don’t take in to consideration all of the cost factors that have to be included in operating their company.  This recognition failure means that they become resigned to staying at this level.  The two most overlooked cost factors seem to be administrative and Top Management (owner may be taking a salary or may not; the owner may be doing what will become two or three full time positions). 

The personal costs are failing to pay the owner as an employee of the company.  Often, the owner is both General Manager and Sales force.  If the owner is not separating out their roles and the value brought in to the company from the ownership value, then it becomes very difficult to afford hiring the right people as the need arises and the owner let’s go of some of their roles. 

The administrative costs are especially front and center when a business begins to come up against competitors.  Pricing in small companies almost never takes in to account the costs of having people who don’t directly support the sales and production part of the business.  Initially, this gives the small company an advantage over larger competitors.  As the Company grows and G&A increases in both real dollars and possibly in percentage of G&A to the rest of the company, it will continue to be important to manage/control expenses and it will become more important to understand how to include G&A as a part of your business model. . 

As companies grow towards 50 employees one of the big learns is when a company analyzes its customers and find that some make them lots of money and others don’t.  This is often the beginning of a shift/change in the business model because quite often the early customers (who are loyal and love the company) are not what the company needs in order to further grow and develop.  This quite often means that the tough decision to move on from (get rid of) these customers has to take place.  Also, at about 30 employees on the way to 50, it is often the time that a company has to move to more experienced/skilled managers.  What often happens is the existing key employees dig in their heels around letting go of old/core customers. 

On the way to 150 employees, the business model again needs to morph.  The complexity of the business requires further analysis of who is a target customer, how we profitably address their needs, are we aligned to service that kind of customer and how do we close the gaps as we begin to compete with more sophisticated larger companies? 

At both the 50 and 150 employee stage, one of the largest issues is ROI (Return On Investment).  Companies find that they must re-invest in people and equipment with significant cost tags.  Much of the time, this is when a company that has been profitable, become unprofitable.  Anticipating these growth needs and keeping an eye out toward what the needs will be and when are critical factors in success at these stages. 

At what stage are you?  What is your business model and at what point do you think it may not work anymore?

Intentionally growing your company - The changing role of the CEO: Processes and Systems:

Recently, I began teaser introductions to the following five topics.  I believe that each topic is a key issue for growing your company from 15 to 50 and then to 150 people or more.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus:

Know Thy Self  

 Look at Your People 

Culture

Processes/Systems

Business Model

Today, let’s look at #4, Processes/Systems.  I have found three issues recurring so often they feel like rights of passage. 

My experience with companies at the 15 and 50 stage is that systematic anything is pretty rare.  These companies have either started out with a founder who has an exceptional  ability to sell or produce product or create excitement and service relationships (occasionally all three), or there are long standing employees who know the business as it is and keep a great deal in their heads. 

One of the issues that looms largest for a company wanting to grow to the 50 employee level is translating company knowledge to others and making this knowledge replicable (meaning that it can be provided to others without the founder or key employee).  The hurdles to move through this no man’s land are usually: Culture, perceived value of processes/systems and some discipline. 

Culture of smaller companies is usually one of heroics, someone or some few who do things in a n exceptional manner.  Perceived value is either personal or cultural (“I don’t need it, why can’t they just do it too”).  Discipline raises its ugly head when priorities are made.  Getting started on creating replicable processes and systems usually loses out to “We have business that we have to attend to.”

For 50 employee companies, the two issues that most often come up is failing to develop processes that are appropriate for the size and focus of the existing/near term business and second is the issue of making sure that processes, and the people who use them, actually work/serve the goals everyone has for the business. 

At 150 employees companies often come up against issues of complexity vs. the fit of the processes/systems.  All too often there is a disconnect between the people being asked to follow the process and who is developing the process.  Investing time and resources on acceptance, use and implementation of the process/system is all to often overlooked or minimalized. 

So what are the issues you have had to address in adopting/creating and implementing  processes and developing systems?

Intentionally growing your company - The changing role of the CEO: CULTURE

Recently, I began teaser introductions to the following five topics.  I believe that each topic is a key issue for growing your company from 15 to 50 and then to 150 people or more.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus:

 Know Thy Self  

 Look at Your People 

 Culture

Processes/Systems

Business Model

Today, we are touching (and I do mean touching... this is a very large topic) on #3, Culture.  My experience with companies at the 15 and 50 stage is that culture is almost never an intentional act.  Most founders, and most of us, stand for beliefs.  In a company you may start with, “We are about unparalleled customer service.” So, you work 24/7 and every customer expectation is met or exceeded. You hire friends or others who are just as excited about cigars, pools/spas, making after market auto products or providing marketing services.  Everyone is in heroic mode (saving the day or making customers ecstatic). 

Then your company gets to $1M in sales (this might start earlier or later by $500K) and you begin hiring people rather than zealots.  In most cases, what happens is that the culture of heroics and zealotry starts falling apart.  I have experienced companies reaching up to $5M before they actually confront the failing culture.  For the ones that survive this first culture stage, three things become paramount: customer focus, developing their first systems and moving from holding knowledge as power (the important stuff is in people’s heads). 

So let’s assume you make it through this first stage, what is culture likely to be?  Most often, I find that the culture focuses on work harder.  The survivors have revisit customer focus again.  This time, they confront and develop a clear idea about who their best customer, who they serve best and what kills their ability to make money.  The culture shifts from personal relationships and anecdotal business practices to systems.  Either outsiders come in and begin this process or the owners find good consultants.  The first formation of a management team happens along the way and often it is populated by survivors (people who did well in the company up to now).  There is still little intention or conscious focus on what culture we live and what culture and values we want to live. 

At this stage, with fifty employees, the culture usually gets murky.  It is one of the signs that the company is, again, in a no man’s land and often G&A costs are rise to a point where the company must confront: whether their business model works anymore; too many mini-cultures often from having brought in more people; and why the owners are in business (asking why you are in business is often met with blank stares at this stage, when at $3M the answer was clear and crisp). 

At 150 employees, there is a need for systemic culture and often CEO’s who’s companies are troubled as they approach 120 million have not focused on two things: spending most of their time on coaching their direct reports and keeping their culture alive and central to all of the business. 

Weigh in here.... agree? Disagree?  What have been your experiences in getting the gap closing?

Intentionally growing your company - The changing role of the CEO : Look at your people

Over the next few weeks, I will chat with you about five topics.  I believe that each topic is a key issue for growing your company from 15 to 50 and then to 150 people or more.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus:

 Know Thy Self 

Look at Your People

Culture

 Processes/Systems

Business Model

Today, we are tackling #2, Look at Your People.  My experience with companies at the 15 and 50 stage is that after, and along with the owner CEO, the key employees are the biggest reason that companies get stuck and do not make it to the next level.  Most often the Owner does not start by looking at themselves and getting others to weigh in on their gaps in experience, skills and capabilities and then determine whether they will continue to hold the top seat in their organization or apply themselves to the place they provide the most value.  If they decide to continue to remain CEO, most do not develop (on their own or with others) a professional development plan, including a set of specific actions and on a timeline. 

Part of developing and executing such a plan is that it forces the Owner to confront the brutal question... can they learn, get experience, etc. what they need to and within the timeframe that will work for the company and their exit?  The second result is that they begin holding themselves out as a model for everyone else and the expectation around developing key employees shifts when this happens.  I have worked with Harvard MBA’s who either got stuck on telling themselves (and everyone else), that they had no need of a development plan or they figured out where their gaps were and addressed them. 

At 15 and 50 people, many Owners feel that they can’t afford to hire the right people and make do.  I also hear from some that they can’t afford the coaching or other outside help that will close their or their employee’s gaps.  If this is the case, you probably do not have a sustainable business model, or are over-valuing what salary you should take out of the company.  Seriously, if you are going to do your first company, or CEO position or ..... you should plan on having some one in a trainer position and the amount of time/cost and be tailored to budget.  Just don’t convince yourself that you can’t afford it.  The potential consequences are too large. 

At 150 people or greater, the issues begin to change and often the Owner is in a position of having to deal with their ego (keeping up with bright people who have already done and experienced where you want to go).  In these cases, it is important to have some conversations about expectations regarding roles, responsibility and authority. 

Weigh in here.... agree? Disagree?  What have been your experiences in getting the gap closing help you need in sports, fitness, marriage/relationships or other areas, including business? 

Intentionally growing your company - Know Thy Self

Over the next few weeks, I will chat with you about five topics.  I believe that each topic is a key issue for growing your company from 15 to 50 and then to 150 people or more.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus:

Know Thy Self
Look at Your People
Culture
Processes/Systems
Business Model

Today, we are tackling #1, Know Thy Self.  Why is self-knowledge so critical to growing a sustainable company?  Ultimately, because culture is key (yes, I know I listed it as #3) and creating a culture from awareness and intention has got to be one of the most difficult undertakings imaginable. 

Why awareness and intention?... because most of us don’t sail through life creating those things perfectly by just being us.  We miss cues from others and from ourselves. 

My experience has been that unaware CEO’s get in their own way.  At some point, whether at 15, 50 or 150+ employees, they top out and their companies stall.  Unawareness come in lots of packages.  Do any of these resemble you?

1) Do you have to be the top dog and think that you have to the title?  Often these Business Owners would be happier by taking another title then CEO and doing that job;

2) There are those who are very bright, learn quickly and do things better than most of us.  This describes the vast majority of my clients.  These type often are unaware that they are stifling their companies because they are the smartest gal or guy in the room.  Everyone waits for the smartest guy in the room to solve the problem and none of their people ever get to make mistakes, learn and develop. 

Then there is group #3) There are those who just can’t delegate.  They have to control or their standards are really high and they feel no one meets those standards. 

Whatever the reason for the lack of awareness, many business owner’s don’t know themselves and usually don’t see the wake they are leaving.  If you resemble any of the above and are still reading this blog, congratulations! 

You are a member of an elite group, those who are willing to learn and grow.  Find someone or some group who will be unfailing in their support and challenge of you.  Place yourself in a position where you are more likely to observe and from what you observe, grow yourself. 

As an example, I asked one CEO who I work with to turn over management meetings to others and forbid himself from talking at those meetings.  Both he and his team learned that the team was valuable and had to step up when he was not there to save them.  The results for both sides was good. 

Another way to get some self-awareness is to use one of several scientifically calibrated surveys.  These are not tools like DISC or Myers Briggs.  While those two tools have some uses, the uses are limited. 

Scientifically calibrated surveys are tools that use a large pool of people (in this case executives who have been successful) and calibrate their responses to create a norm of where a CEO should fall on things like aggressiveness, diplomacy, initiative, certainty, etc.  Be sure to have your survey explained to you by someone trained in that survey and who is prepared to work with you on creating a professional development plan that will serve you.

So, Self-awareness is key to figuring out whether you are a good or bad fit for what you do and how you might improve from whatever level you are now.  Then you have to do something to close the gap around your weaknesses and develop your strengths. How have you learned to increase your self-awareness?  What would you recommend as a step?  Is learning something you do regularly and frequently? 

Intentionally growing your company

I work with CEO’s/Business Owners.  One of the areas my clients and I focus on is how to grow their companies sustainably.  To me, sustainably growing a company, means it is profitable; creates enough cash for its growth (or has a reasonable strategy for obtaining growth cash); does not need me, or anyone’s heroic actions; employees at every level are engaged in and feel their work is satisfying; its customers/clients can’t pull their money out of their pockets fast enough to hand it over (meaning they are ecstatic with the products/services of the company. 

One of the advantages that consultants have is that they see lots of businesses and know that their businesses have trends and share in similar growing pains.  One of the disadvantages that a business owner may experience is that they think what they experience is unique. 

About 2/3 of the businesses I deal with have 15 to 150 employees (about a third of them have 150 to 1,0000 employees). There are fairly big shifts that businesses experience at around 15-20 employees and again at around 50-70 employees and then at around 120-150 employees. 

The Holy Grail is figuring out how to help those businesses through the no man’s land - the grey areas - that are these transition points.  So, here is my take on that Holy Grail, on what companies and my clients need to focus on in order to grow sustainably:

1.    Know Thy Self:  Figure out what you do well and what you don’t.  Even more importantly, figure out what you like doing (gives you energy) and what you don’t like doing (takes away energy).  Focus on what your role is now and what it will become as you grow.... a hint... the larger your company grows, the less time you should spend on actually making product or providing service and the more time you should be spending on coaching and leading those who do make the product or provide the service.  What will that mean for you and will you like what you will be doing? 

2.    Look at Your People:  What do they do well?  What will they need to do well at the next step in your company’s growth?  Do they have the skills to take that next step?  If not, can they acquire those skills (close the gap)?

3.    Culture: What is it now?  What will it need to be at 50 or 150 people?  If it should be the same, how will you make sure that the culture/values continue?

4.    Processes/Systems: Do I have any?  Are they broken? If I do have processes and systems that work now, at what point won’t they work or need to be changed/adapted? What do those processes tell me about #1, 2 and 3?

5.    Business Model: Am I profitable now and how much cash does my company throw off/create?  Will my business model work at the next stage of growth (50 or 150 people)?  Why might it not? 

Over the next few weeks, I will focus on each of these five topics.  What is missing from this list?  What would you add or take away? 

What’s so hard about getting people excited - Working on vision

I just finished a short book by Bob Rotella, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, which may be the best business book I read in the last three years.  Dr. Rotella is a sports psychologist who has worked with some of the top professional golfers and some of the top sports figures too.  Every important point made in this short book is applicable to running a business and, I might add, improving your life. 

Today, let’s just take one of those points... working on vision.  Many of the Executives I work with have a hard time with vision.  It is too soft for them and I often hear them complain about working on vision as something that business professors think is important and its just not what real business is about. 

Rotella presents vision in a simple direct and accessible way.  Essentially, he is saying, you need to be specific about what you want to create (in business, vision is about creating something that does not yet exist).  The more specific you can get, the more likely you will hit your target.  His second point is that you must find a way to viscerally feel the steps that will accomplish the vision. 

Rotella urges golfers to see exactly where the ball is going to end up, be able to watch (in your head) the flight path of the ball.  He then provides a couple of anecdotes about how to bring in other senses to add to the concreteness of what you feel. 

He mentions a renowned player who tells Rotella about the player’s method for staying loose and focused: First, choose the club you want, shrug your shoulders to loosen your muscles and then imagine/feel the time when you hit that club the best you ever hit it (all of us who golf know that time when we hit an effortless, smooth and magical shot with a certain club). 

So, working on your business vision, can you see, feel, taste and hear the vision you want to create?  Are you able to make it specific, the more specific the better? 

Now here is something that Rotella does not address (after all, golf is a one person game, rather than a team effort):  Are you able to communicate that vision to a variety of people in a way that communicates the feelings and magic about your vision? Are others around you excited by what you want to create?  If not, why not? How do you create this kind of excitement?

The earlier you are in your company’s development, the more likely you have people around you who believe in you and/or your vision.  Ask them to answer a few questions:  First, is it you or your vision that creates excitement?  If its not your vision, ask them how big the vision is?  What would make it bigger?  What would make it more specific?  How would their life be different if the vision came to pass?  What would they need to see/feel/hear/taste/smell for the vision to be really visceral/specific?  Now you can begin to work on your vision and get further feedback as you go. Have fun.  

DOING THINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, LIKE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

Today, let’s talk about doing something for the first time.  Whether it is a sport, or doing a business plan, the first few times most of us do something, we are cautious... too cautious.  Why, because we have to think too much while we are doing the sport or business plan.  Thinking is a slow and often over-rated process. 

So, let’s take doing that business plan for the first time.  There are over achievers out there who want to produce a fifty page plan, after ultimate research.  What usually happens? It is studied to death.  No one steps up and owns it.  It sits on the shelf. 

The ExcellPugetSound lesson here is the first time you do something, like a business plan, start small and learn from doing.  Then go do it again. 

The secret about business plans and much of what we learn is that the learning is from trying it and seeing what you can improve upon the next time.  With business owners who have never done a plan (this includes one business at over $200M in sales), it is important to put a stake in the ground and then communicate around it.  Have a plan for collecting feedback and then do it again... only the second time, think about expanding who gets involved.  After years of planning, you will end up like one company I have worked with (probably the best annual planners I know) saying that you are still learning and improving. 

There is a second reason why the first time you do something it is about caution.  I remember being on our high school’s gymnastic team (perhaps mascot would have been a better position).  We had some really outstanding athletes and had been state champs two years running.  At the state meet that year, one of our teammates was introduced over the loudspeaker system as attempting a dismount that had never been done in a high school meet.  I still remember the words, “... for the first time in....”  My teammate pulled it off flawlessly. 

Why? Because it was not the first time he had ever done the dismount.  I watched him hundreds of times as he broke down the maneuver and did very small parts, perfecting them, and then put those together. 

What the audience at the state meet did not see is first time caution because the move had been practiced and repeated.  What many of my teammates had not experienced was all the planning that this guy did.  On the way home from school (nine months before the state meet) he talked (I was the audience) about what it would take to learn and then be ready to do this move at the state meet. 

By the time he made it to state, he had muscle memory and nine months of steadily improving results.  Now go out there and plan for how you will take advantage of the economic recovery. 

Training do it yourself or find good training vendors

This past week, a client and I were talking about “buying” and/or “building” his management team.  My experience is that training is not a strength for small companies (revenues of less than $250M). 

It is not a strength because it is not a high priority and resources for in-house training would represent too large a percentage of gross revenues.  It is questionable if it should be a high priority.  There are some necessary skills and tools that a small company requires on a part time basis and this is where training budgets for small companies should be focused. 

Time after time, I sit with CEOs and business owners who believe in investing in employee training, even training and adding resources for their managers, and yet only focus on technical/tactical skills. If your company is growing, I can say with some certainty that the way you do what you do now is, at some point, going to need to change.  How will your staff know when to change systems and processes? What are their strengths and weaknesses as people/managers?  How will they improve in these areas? 

Some CEO’s, that I meet, tell me about how they do nothing regular, consistent and frequent about growing their own skills, tools and capabilities.  In practically the same breath, the very same CEO’s have said that their employees aren’t ready for where their company is heading.  I usually ask if they are ready and they tell me they are. 

Unfortunately, they often are the reason their company gets stuck and does not grow to the next stage because they think that their job/role is not changing, even though they realize that everyone else’s role is, or should be.  Most Business owners/Executives believe that their company is a pyramid, not a bad metaphor. 

The Business Owner/CEO sees themselves sitting at the top of the pyramid, their direct reports (management team) sit below them and the “worker bees” complete the lowest and largest segment of the pyramid. 

When their business grows, they think that the bottom of the pyramid gets larger (more workers but the upper part does not get wider/bigger or that the total of the pyramid grows upward larger/higher). 

Many of the problems that businesses have in scaling, comes from this view. It does not take in to account increasing complexity/size of the total organization and does not include demands on the upper and top of the pyramid.  

What really happens?  Using the ‘pyramid’ metaphor, the two upright walls of the pyramid grow out and up (think larger structure everywhere: base, sides and height).  When it grows, the business does have a larger base of workers. What is significant is that the business grows up as well as out.  It becomes more complex and it demands a more talented, trained and professional management staff and CEO/Owner. 

As a business grows, it not only needs more line workers, it grows in complexity.  It must create/use more complex and robust process tools and the management, including the CEO, must grow their skills, sharpen and add management tools and expand their abilities to address the increased complexity.  

So, if you want to get to or stay at the top of your game.... how will you invest in your skills to lead, communicate, strategize and execute on more complex levels?  What do you do to invest in yourself? 

If you have grown and run companies that are much larger and more complex then your present company, perhaps you can devote yourself to training staff in-house.  On the other hand, if you spend too much of your time on this valuable activity, when are you going to run your company? 

The dilemma is a fairly easy one for me to answer, as an executive, one of my roles is to mentor, coach and teach people who report to me.  My role as mentor/coach is focused and limited and not a substitute for an intensive focused program.  I am always learning and want to continue growing professionally.  To continue my professional growth, I undertake a number of activities, which include being coached (challenged and supported). 

 I have yet to work in a company that has the resources to provide high level executive development programs, so I look for programs and opportunities to strengthen my skills, acquire new ones and expand my repetoire.  At the same time, I urge and challenge my reports to do the same. 

What are your favorite ways to make sure you grow professionally? 

Scorecards, Dashboards & KPIs - Oh My!

Today we have a guest blog from Elizabeth Andreini:

In Q4 we were all thinking about setting budgets and planning for the coming year. Now that we are in the first quarter of the year, are you making sure that the money you are spending on marketing is as effective as possible? Understanding how your marketing efforts are performing can be difficult but will help you better assess what’s working…and what’s not. Make this the year you make smarter marketing decisions!

If you haven’t put them in place, now’s the time to utilize scorecards, dashboards and other measurement tools to ensure that you are spending money most effectively – and making the biggest impact on your bottom line. Here is a quick briefing on scorecards and dashboards with five hints on using these tools:

•       Scorecards: help you understand performance relative to plan, and enable you to align operational execution with business strategy

•       Dashboards: tie to operational goals and leverage reports containing Key Performance Indicator data to help you gain insight into Key Performance Drivers so you can “pull the right levers”

5 important factors to consider when using scorecards and dashboards:

1. Have a clear purpose in what you are tracking and what you are going to do with it.
2. Be SMART (specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time bound) in your data requirements.
   - Use “good” data. That means data that is not averages, is reasonably accurate, complete AND easy to get.
3. Align the use of the scorecards and dashboards with your company’s business processes so the information can get used in decision making to drive company behavior and decisions for optimal impact.
4. Look beyond outcome data showing history to gain insights on how your decisions and processes can be modified to get a different result – identify your Key Performance Drivers.
5. Provide a frame of reference using targets or benchmarks, whether internal and/or industry specific as a point of comparison.

As the CEO, the questions you should ask about your marketing efforts are:

1. What are the success measures of my marketing efforts? Do I know which marketing efforts are the most effective?
2. Do I have the right information easily accessible in the company so marketing can use it to track their marketing efforts and spend? How can I help ensure the company and those in it are helping capture the information we need?
3. Is my marketing more or less effective than my competitors? Is it more or less effective than others in my industry? Does my marketing department regularly track their progress and make adjustments based on the results so we are making better/smarter marketing decisions than last year?

Here’s hoping 2013 is the year your marketing efforts have even more impact on your company’s success!

ELIZABETH ANDREINI

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the “secret weapon” CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and product management to grow their customer base, increase revenue & scale their business. In addition to providing experienced executive insight and guidance, Elizabeth often works as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed to rearchitect marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC 

Accelerate Marketing, LLC

206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com

www.accelerate-marketing.com

Twitter: @acceler8mkting

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini

What is YOUR Exit Goal and Process for Creating Value?

Today we have a guest blog from Earl Bell:

Being a business owner/CEO can be addictive and imagining what life will be like when you no longer “run the show” may seem like a distant blur.  However, this is EXACTLY what I’d like to suggest you take a moment and do right now!

Are the majority of your assets are tied up in the company?  If so – a sell transaction will substantially fund your retirement.  Do you know “how much money is needed” to provide financial peace of mind?  Do you know what the company is worth today?  What is the gap – in other words – how much additional value must be created before selling the business to achieve your financial goals? 

Get started by assembling the right leadership team before developing a “process for creating value.”  Great leaders know how to coach employees and inspire them to greatness in support of a company’s mission!  Conversely, ineffective leadership and guidance is like having a rudderless ship…  

So… on to the good stuff - what does a process for creating value look like? 

Well, that’s way too complicated to cover in a blog post, but let me give you a simplified model:

1.    Identify the value gap (for example – let’s pretend you want $5 million more enterprise value or $1.25 million in annual operating earnings.)

2.    Quantify what risk you are willing to take – (such as - expanding geographic territory is OK but acquiring a competitor is not OK.)

3.    Identify what creates value - automate decision making in support of this.  Think “offense” in this area – like building stronger relationships with key customers.

4.    Identify what destroys value – build process to eliminate bad decision making.  Think “defense and risk management” – such as using scientifically proven methods to make the right hires for your organization.

5.    Monitor, measure and reward progress – lead and inspire others – align rewards with achievement.

The point I want to make it this… “defining an exit goal and value creation process improves odds for achieving financial peace of mind.”  I’d suggest action sooner rather than later – the stakes are high!

ABOUT EARL BELL

EARL BELL is the author of, Winning in Baseball and Business, Transforming Little League Principles into Major League Profits for Your Company, which provides a roadmap to success for leaders that desire to build thriving companies in a very competitive 21^stcentury business environment.  Earl believes that “everything you need to know about business, leadership and team building can be learned from Little League baseball.”

Earl coaches and consults with owners, business leaders and their teams, teaching them how to dramatically reduce the time it takes to improve profitability, customer experience, employee engagement and company value, while simultaneously increasing discretionary time and reducing both stress/employee burnout.  He believes the secret to winning in baseball, business and life can be summarized in a simple formula:  Winning = Service + Humility. His motto is that Winning in Business is a Team Sport!

Earl has served in the Chief Financial Officer role for numerous companies throughout North America. His personal passion is youth sports and he has coached 28 teams since 2002.  Earl is a CPA, graduated from SU (Seattle University) with a BA in Accounting and from the MILL (Mercer Island Little League) with a Master’s in Youth Baseball.