Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
Don’t generalize; specialize. If you focus on doing one thing well and hire specialists in that area, the quality of your work will improve and you will stand out among your competitors.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
If you get an offer to buy your company, the second most important number on the page may be the working capital calculation. If your offer does not include details on the working capital calculation, be sure to lock that number down before you agree to anything.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
Don’t be afraid to say no to projects. Prove that you’re serious about specialization by turning down work that falls outside your area of expertise. The more people you say no to, the more referrals you’ll get to people who need your product or service.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
The business really started to take off, and, better yet, it was scalable. All because we led and didn’t follow our customers.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
Allow the manager to withdraw one-third of the account’s balance each year after a three-year period. That way, a good manager must always walk away from a significant amount of money should he or she decide to leave your company.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
That’s the only way you can sell without putting a lot of your compensation at risk in an earn-out. Alex, you need to train people to handle each of the five steps of your process so you don’t have to be the guy piecing every project together from scratch.” TED’S TIP # 4 Don’t become synonymous with your company. If buyers aren’t confident that you
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Avoid the cash suck. Once you’ve standardized your service, charge up front or use progress billing to create a positive cash flow cycle.
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
This week, I’d like you to write an instruction manual for the Five-Step Logo Design Process. Bring it with you next time we meet and we can talk about how it is working.”
John Warrillow • Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You
You’ve assumed most of the risk and the acquiring company gets most of the reward if you’re successful. Acquiring companies use an earn-out formula to buy a business when they know the founders are the business. Your job is to build the Stapleton Agency up to a point where the business is independent of Alex Stapleton.