Lynnelle Wilson's BOLD Business

Invest in your Exit

What would you say is the biggest misktake most business owners make? Not having a business plan? Not making financial projections? Not having a marketing strategy ...a competitive analysis? Nope - it's not having an Exit Strategy.

What is a business anyway and why do we want to own one; not because we want to "be" our business. However, it is not easy to keep that line between our business and our lives from bluring. As much as it feels otherwise, your business isn't you and you aren't your business. Think about your business as a vehicle; the vehicle that takes you to the life you want to live or that brings that life to you. 

Therefore you must know what you want from life, in the short-term and long. The business plan then answers the questions:

• What is your business
• Where is your business going to take you (long-term)
• How will you get there (short-term)
• How long will it take you to get there (how long is the long-term)
• How much will you have when you arrive? (what do you want in the long-term) - and
• How will you get it? (exit strategy)

I know most business people don't focus on the exit strategy. It amazes me how much a business' worth can increase by, #1) getting your ego out of the way and #2) by considering the business to be it's own entity, and caring for that entity.

Consider your car. Your car needs to be washed, waxed, the oil changed, tires rotated, etc. You wouldn't dream of putting water in the gas tank just because it was cheaper than gasoline. Why? Because it would kill the car. Why would you not consider investing appropriatly in your business?   

When you are growing a business there are 4 basic roles you must plan for, care for and grow through.

1. The Technician:  In the beginning, at the very least, you are involved in the day-to-day operations. As important as this role is, it's not the only - or even the most important role in the business. This is where most of us get lost and we can't get out of our technician role.
2. The Manager:  Eventually, if we have discipline and are good at delegating, we hire staff and become a manager to the new technicians. 
3. The CEO:  The challenge most of us have is to make enough time on a regular basis for this role ...from DAY-ONE.   This is the role that keeps the others in-line and on track. Without the Chief, there is chaos.
4. The Investor: Most business owners approach this role as financier, not investor. Investors have an expectation of return. They understand the risk, the timeframe and, based on both, an expected return. We aren't funding our life, we're investing in it.

What is your "expected return"? What is your exit strategy?  When you start to think about yourself as an investor in your business, you'll find you will make decisions differently. When you do the value of your company will increase accordingly.

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BOLD Women, mark your calendar for April 29th. The 2nd BOLD Women Entrepreneur event is happening. For more information call Lynnelle at 207-221-3492.

I, Entrepreneur

Last week was officially National Entrepreneurship Week, and I gave a lot of thought to what we do. I'm talking about me and you, the people I write this blog for, the people I coach and consult with.

We're nothing like the mythological entrepreneur, storming the public stock exchange armed with a big idea, an MBA, and venture funding. I call us independent "knowledge" entrepreneurs. Some of us are in established professions; attorneys, CPAs, architects, etc. The rest of us are a mish-mash of consultants and coaches who help other people do better by sharing our expertise with them.

We have to know our "stuff" and we also need to know how to deliver it so clients will use it and benefit. We have to be good at what we do, but our marketing and our administration have to be good enough for us to stay in business; which is where I come in.

Our big challenge is making a career of all this. Most of us can "get by" alright, but we need to put back investments for savings and retirement. We also need to find time in an already crazy schedule to work on the future; to create products that provide us with steady, passive revenue even when we don't show up; which is where I come in.

The other big challenge we face is keeping balance. Most of us love what we do and we can easily lose ourselves in the work we love. It's hard for most of us to take time off for ourselves and for our relationships; which is where I come in.

And we've got all the usual challenges that small businesses have. Regulations and taxes seem like they're going to choke us to death. Things that corporate workers take for granted, like health insurance, can be dauntingly expensive; which is where you come in - write your representative - get involved.

So why do we do it? Most of us could make more money working for someone else; probably working less time, as well.

I think we do it because we've discovered, often by accident, some very important truths.

We've discovered that when you work for yourself doing something you love you never want to go back to working the way most people do. We've discovered that it's a great feeling to take responsibility for our work. And we've discovered that work isn't separate from life, it's a part of life and it can be a rewarding, enriching and an empowering part of life as well.

That's what being an entrepreneur is all about. I wish all of it for you. Be BOLD.

Please join me Tuesday, 3/11, as BOLD Women Celebrate Entrepreneurship - a great networking event. The Cumberland Club, 116 High Street, 2/26 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, $10 advance registration and $20 at the door. Email or call me for more information; 207-221-3492. (Rescheduled from 2/26)

What is an Entrepreneur?

What do you think of when I say the word "entrepreneur?" There is so much focus this week on entrepreneurship (2/23 to 3/1 is National Entrepreneurship Week ) that I began to wonder what most people think an entrepreneur is. It means so many different things to different people.

In American culture it's such a romantic word. After all, it's origins are French; the French the verb "entreprendre" which means, "to undertake".

In our culture today, the mythological entrepreneur is someone who lives in a hotbed of new, mostly high-tech / bio-tech business; somewhere like Silicon Valley or Boston's Route 128.

The entrepreneur has an MBA or higher degree and a 100+-page business plan that is copy written and patented for a great new invention. The entrepreneur shops the plan around to venture capitalists until she finds the million dollar-funding angel needed.

Then it's a wild ride, up, up, and away, to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), at the end of which, the entrepreneur cashes out, gets a bazillion dollars and retires on their private island in the Mediterranean.

Is that you? Well, it's not me. I am going to retire in Paris, not the Mediterranean.

Seriously, though; here's what I know:
Most of us who start businesses in this country don't have an MBA or much formal business education, for that matter. Most of us have a special talent, skill or hobby and we start businesses based on that: hair salons, auto body shops, law practices, graphic design firms, construction companies, house cleaning services, accounting firms, retail stores, consulting, etc. What we don't generally don't love is "the business of building our business".

Most of us who start businesses don't begin with the idea of starting the next Microsoft or the next Google. We start our business because we love what we do, we want to make a decent living and we want to make be a positive change in the world, or at least in our corner of the world.

We may not ever get on the cover of Business Week, but then again we just might! We focus on helping our clients succeed and if we "take our medicine", we'll succeed as well.

Be BOLD . Turn the mirror around, take your medicine and learn to "love the business of building your business" and succeed.

Microsoft Small Business Summit

I just ran across this and thought I would pass it on. Many of these free online seminars are little more than infomercials but I have higher hopes for this one. The Microsoft Small Business Summit has something for everyone in their 4-day lineup. It's a live, online broadcast March 24 - 27. Check out the Microsoft Small Business Summit.

Staples' Survey Reveals Our Work Habits

Staples just released the results of a telephone poll of US businesses with less than 20 employees. That's me. It's probably you.

The poll-takers quizzed small business owners on their work habits. Here's the basic findings:
"For most of the managers surveyed, the standard 40-hour work week does not apply." (no kidding)
"Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) work well beyond a 40-hour week, and one in five (21 percent) work a double week, logging an extra 40 or more on-the-job hours. Those surveyed site business growth (9 percent) added responsibility (7 percent) and "trying to keep up" (5 percent) for their heavy workloads. Some managers have compensated for these increased work demands by letting work trespass into once-sacred personal time."

I knew that we worked a lot. My January 8 post on MaineToday.com noted a survey (again, businesses with fewer than 20 employees) that found over half 'sleepwork'. Talk about working overtime.

Most of us work these long hours, in-part because we love what we do. The other reason is because we don't know any other way to build our business. It's not until you stop and take a breather that you notice just how much we are sacrificing other parts of our lives to our businesses. About a fifth of the people polled said they worked during dinner four or five nights a week. Half said they cut back on family time to work more.

This concerns for a couple of reasons:
1) We feel if we aren't doing something, we're not being productive. However, we actually need time away from work to do better at work. Study after study says that if you're rested you work better and have a better attitude. Think of all the money and effort invested in improving the quality of our products, services, staff, policies, procedures, etc. What have you invested on improving the quality of your midset? We spend so much focus on re-engineering our business but almost nothing on reengineering ourselves, the one's who actually make things work... or not.
2) We have friends and family and important people that we don't see during work yet who are vital to our well being. Those relationships can help us through tough times, as I've talked about before. Strong relationships, like successful businesses, don't happen by themselves. We have to do our part and make the investment required to keep them strong.

Some time in the next couple of days, stop for a minute. Think about how you spend your time. If it's not the way you want to be spending it plan to do something different. Then be BOLD and do it.

Do You Love Your Business?

I'm writing this post on Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Most independent professionals I meet tell me they love what they do. That's easy. Of course we do. Otherwise, we would be working for someone else.

My Bold question is: "Do you really love your business?"

It seems so simple. If you love the core work that makes you money, then you will dive into it with enthusiasm, relish the details that drive great performance, and get energy from the process. If you don't love the "business", you'll probably do better in the long term by finding something else to do.

If you love what you do, business is like a game of pinball. You do all the things you need to do to win, even the things you don't like. Then you get to keep playing without putting more money in.

Do you love your employees? If you have people working for you, do you love them? They should give you help and energy. If not, it's time to do something. Do you love your clients? We spend a lot of time with clients. Do you love them? You do your best work with your best clients. Working with your ideal clients makes life easier, more profitable and you'll have happier clients also.

What is the common connection with the clients that you really love to work with? Figure out how to get more of them. Are there clients that you hate to deal with, who drain you of energy? It's time to take the Bold step and help them move on.

Do you make enough money? Only you know what "enough money" is for you. But if you don't make "enough" then you'll be frustrated and stressed no matter how much you love your work and your clients.

This is more than either gross or take home revenue. Do you make enough to provide the insurance you need? Are you building a retirement plan? Are you making enough to take time off?

It's easy to say you love your work without giving thought to loving your business. The BOLD thing to do is ask yourself some tough questions. Then, act on the answers.