Business Value Starter Kit
Enter the Business Value Starter Kit free course
If you are a small business owner working more than 50 hours per week, tied up many weekends, thinking about the business while you're at home or out with the family or friends...
If taking 30 days away from the business completely unplugged seems highly risky and might end up with a collapsed business by the time you return...
- You're in the right place.
- You're not alone.
- You're not a bad business owner.
The Business Value Booster Method is based on three basic principles:
- You cannot work your way out of overwork
- The center of everything is a black hole, not a wheel hub
- We don't choose Someday
You cannot work your way out of overwork
The first step in regaining control of your business is to overcome the killer myth among small business owners:
- If you're have difficulties, you're just not working at it hard enough
- You can get through anything if you just work a little harder.
All that overwork doesn't really move the ball forward at all, it just keeps you from sinking in place. It might even be what is actually causing the sinking to happen.
You're not going to solve overwork by working even longer hours.
It's just that simple.
The center of everything is a black hole, not a wheel hub
The reason you are chained to the business day, night, and weekends is that it depends on you to make it run.
You might not have intended it to be that way; it tends ot creep up on you, one reasonable decision at a time.
Once you're there, you're too busy just holding on to think about how to let go. Let alone the chaos it would cause. Clients would be disappointed, your staff wouldn't do things right or even know what to do, suppliers have to be dealt with, and on and on. And if someone doesn't mop the floor at the end of the evening, you have to do it so the place looks presentable for customers the next day.
There is a way to break that cycle of dependence without things falling apart. That's what the Business Value Booster Method is designed to do. You'll know it works when you're on vacation and your phone isn't ringing; that's our definition of success.
We don't choose Someday
Over 75 percent of owners who are already engaged with exit planners discover that they have to exit years before they envisioned. And they were already thinking about it. That doesn't mean you need to exit now while you can; in fact, if you're one of the 55+ hour per week ownership group, you'll be among the 85 percent who cannot sell at all.
What it does mean is that you can't wait until Someday when things slow down or the next big contract is won or, or, or. Yes, you may be able to keep grinding it out for the next 20 years, but then again you might not. Illness, family issues, business issues, and any number of things that you just can't control pop up. For most owners, Someday chooses you. If your business is ready for that to happen, you can drive on with confidence, knowing that Someday no longer has any hold over you.
Hi, I'm Doug Brown, owner of Business Value Booster LLC
I spent several years as a business broker and found it really, really depressing to meet so many hard-working owners who had decided it was time to step back from their business because of illness, or just plain battle fatigue, or it was just time to stop working... and to have to tell them that it was unsellable. No retirement money, no cash payout, just a padlock on the door.
They would ask why nobody had told them about this problem earlier. They were too shattered to hand them the uncomfortable truth that in fact I would have done so if they would have returned my calls or emails or followed up on in-store visits for the past 12 to 24 months. I really hated having these conversations with people who provide the goods and services we use most in our daily lives.
So I decided to try and get up in front of this problem. Instead of having our implied sales pitch being "do you want to list your business for sale," I decided to deal with the problems that would prevent that from ever happening. Instead of "can you help me sell the business," we're going to solve:
- It would be so great to take the family on the vacation they deserve without me being worried the business is going to fall apart while we are gone
- I am so tied down by daily dramas at work that I never get to attend family events or even get home for dinner with them
- I can't sleep because I worry about the next thing that will fall apart tomorrow.
Yes, those things we can help you fix. And when we do, that will create the financial security that is at least one of the reasons you thought you would have as a business owner.
Other things you might like to know about me:
- I went to West Point and became an Army officer. One of the key aspects of that is absolute integrity. I will never BS you to make a buck. (It also means I've had to tell lots of people what they needed to know but didn't want to hear. They seldom take it well).
- I started and built a small business in the automotive industry. At the critical moment in the business lifecycle, Someday came for me in the form of a Reserve callup for Gulf War 2. I was lucky enough to sell it (later as a broker I realized exactly how lucky).
- I've been a business consultant for over 25 years and even worked as a government senior manager. (Big business and government executives are another group that don't take it well when you tell them what they need to know but don't want to hear.)
What we've got here could be a fit for you if you...
Recognize any of the common symptoms of businesses that are making their owner's lives miserable:
- Working over 50 hours a week and most weekends
- Can't take (or haven't taken) a 14-to-30 day vacation completely unplugged from the business
- First to arrive at work and the last to leave
- Lie awake worrying about the next problem, the next payroll, the next customer, the next sales call
- Get phone calls from your spouse wanting to know where the heck you are... again
- Don't have time to participate in community groups or events you'd really like to support
- When asked what you hobbies are, you laugh and say "my business"
What the Starter Kit is... and isn't
Just to be clear, working through the Starter Kit doesn't fix any problems in your business. Its intention is to give you an idea of what I think the solution looks like. Through the videos and exercises, it will give you a sense of what working with me might be like.
Still, the Kit has actual practical value for you.
While it doesn't solve your problems, it does provide a way of coming to grips with them. You'll work through short exercises that helps you define what your real goals are and what you might have to do to meet them. It shows you the path from the survival game you are in now to the kind of business you have in mind.
Once you've worked through the Kit, you can decide where you want to take your business and who you want going along on the trip - if anyone. You're not going to be hounded with follow-up emails and sales calls with false-scarcity pitches. If and when you're ready, you contact me and we'll see if there is a fit and if I have room on my schedule. It's your ball.
Enjoy the kit!
