by theEmother | Jan 8, 2018 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, how to sell a business, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind
So, you’ve gone down the road of being a Business Owner.
You had a terrific idea and came out all guns blazing!
Then over time, it has slowed, stagnated, as have You.
It’s now got to a point where, for whatever reason, it is no longer working for you.
The fizz has lost its pop!
You want time and headspace to explore other options.
Is it time to bring your business to the conclusion you both deserve… that is, to GET OUT.
By not thinking about how to “Change the Ending” may result in the blood, sweat and tears, time and money you’ve invested, being all for naught, nada, nil!
There is no quick fix with taking this road, other than to pack the Business away with the toys.
Do you really want to do that? Are you really OK with getting no payback for your once grandmaster plan?
If not, then there’s work to be done…
by theEmother | Oct 9, 2015 | business ideas & thinking, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Warren Buffett famously invests in businesses that have what he calls a protective ‘moat’ around them – one that inoculates them from competition and allows them to control their pricing.
Big companies lock out their competitors by out-slugging them in capital infrastructure investments, but small businesses have to be smarter about how they defend their patch. Here are four ways to deepen and widen the protective moat around your business:
Create an army of defenders
Ecstatic customers act as defenders against other competitors entering your market, a factor that has enabled many businesses to defend their market share in their market.
Get certified
Is there a certification program that you could take to differentiate your business? For example, a RTO (Registered Training Organisation). It was a lot of paperwork and training, but the certification process acts as a barrier against other people jumping into the market and competing in the same way.
Get your customers to integrate
Is there a way you can get your customers to integrate your product or service into their operations? Can you offer your customers training in how to use what you sell to make your company stickier?
For example, like how you use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Once the CRM of choice is creating a weekly sales funnel in a CRM platform, it harder to convince you to move to another. That’s what you want your product or service to achieve.
Become a verb
Think back to the last time you looked for a recipe. You probably ‘googled’ it. Part of Google’s competitive shield is that the company name has become a verb. Now every time someone refers to searching for something online, it reinforces the competitive position of a single company.
Is there a way you could control the vocabulary people use to refer to your category or specialty?
Widening your protective moat triggers a virtuous cycle: differentiation leads to having control over your pricing, which allows for healthier margins, which in turn lead to greater profitability and the cash to further differentiate your offering.
Which makes it even more Saleable when the time comes…
Interested in knowing how your business rates at this point in time?
Opt-in (over there ->) and receive the TEMpter which will take you through a checklist to ascertain just how ready your business is to sell right now…
Go on, it’s F*REE!
by theEmother | Jan 15, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, entrepreneur trends (past & present!), Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
As noted in late 2013, Bernard Salt the demographer comments,
“all the global financial crisis did was to accentuate a social and technological trend in shopping that was already well under way. I suspect the same logic applies to recent profound changes in business.
Business is always looking for operational efficiencies, one response has been the contrarian pursuit of new opportunities. But here’s the twist. The new business opportunities coming out of the past five years have split into two categories: the conventional and the unconventional.”
Disruptive Thinking is unconventionally very exciting; it is also the way of the future. Business Owners should not only encourage but facilitate disruptive thinking and thinkers.
Your Business Online Strategy is a classic form of the new Disruptive Thinking.
Hence why it is imperative that you get started on it now, if you haven’t already. It will be even more so when the time comes for you to sell, when your business to good to go on the market…
To watch Bernard Salt discuss Disruptive Thinking, click here
by theEmother | Jan 10, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, BUY a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, Online Strategy incl. www, start with the end in mind, the business model
Whilst each of you are determining your own Online Business Strategy, I’ve been working on mine. That is, I am now in hot pursuit of Online Businesses and websites as a potential purchase for myself and/or my network of potential buyers… Do you have one?
Is your Online Business/website:
- profitable?
- traffic savvy?
- niche driven?
- older than 12 months?
- ready to be sold?
- priced to buy?
If yes to any of the above, please contact me at sell@theentrepreneurialmother.com advising the above details and the best way to contact you?
by theEmother | Jan 9, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Finish Unfinished Business, MEinc, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
It will fundamentally change the way the Business you built operates.
Are you OK with that? Really?
Because if you do want to pursue this path, you will need to be.
You started the business one way, which may now potentially look and feel a whole lot different. And you have to be fine with this evolution. If you find you are not then maybe it’s time to best get out of the way…
If you want your Business to be 21st century ready, then going Online has to feature as part of the growth plans. This is where you start treating your business with respect and as the asset it is, not just as a cash cow.
If your business is to no longer look and feel like your business, is this palatable to you? Is it something you can continue and run with? Or is this highlighting bigger decisions that need to be made?
