Proactively Take Control of your Future ExitOn today’s episode of #PoisedforExit, we interviewed my long-time colleague, Dyanne Ross Hanson on this episode of Poised for Exit. Dyanne is a CEPA like me and specializes in working with families looking to transfer to other family members or employees. She has a process that is worth learning!Dyanne's mission as an adviser is to monetize an owner's investment in the business. She believes that owners looking to sell internally to family or employees should begin 5-7 years out. Most owners wait too long to begin the process and thereby reduce the number of options they have for a successful transition. When internal successors are lacking capital to make the purchase of the business, Dyanne works with them to construct ways for them to buy in overtime. She uses investment products that allow the buyers to earn equity positions over time, which at a certain point makes them more bankable for financing.Listen to this episode hereFind Julie hereLearn  more about Dyanne Ross HansonThank you to this month's sponsor! Sunbelt Business Advisors 

Better HR Delivers Better Business ResultsOur #PoisedforExit guests today featured JB Lloyd and Jill Petschl of Oasis. With the abounding matters that business owners deal with everyday, HR matters are at the top of the list. Oasis publishes an annual survey of business owner responses to various questions about owning and operating in today's business environment. In this way, they keep a pulse on what's happening with their clients and can modify or add services as necessary and needed. The survey itself consisted of 450 business owners. Many of the statistics derived from the results will not surprise you, but the biggest obstacle owners are facing today is in managing their people. Another staggering statistic derived from the survey is that 78% of the 450 respondents said they spend an average of 10 hours per week on HR matters. That's a lot of time! When you put pen to paper, how much is that time worth that could be spent doing higher level things like implementing growth strategy, acquiring new customers, and the like? A few of JB's recommendations for business owners to recruit and retain top talent:Think beyond pay increasesOffer meaningful benefits that impact the whole personOutsource services that bog you downFor more on this 23 minute interview, listen now!Find Jill and JB's key links here: Benchmarking ChecklistWhite PaperResearch HighlightsOasis PEOFind Julie here.Thank you to this month's sponsors! Sunbelt Business Advisors 

I Didn't Think My Business Was SellableToday's episode on #PoisedforExit is a special interview between Brad Peterson of Sunbelt Business Advisors and his clients, Janet and Keith McCarty, who recently sold their business called "Virtual Bookkeeping". As Janet put it, "we didn't think our business was sellable!" Being a professional services company, their enterprise value was derived from their client list, their brand, and their long term reputation. They thought that because they didn't have commercial real estate, equipment or other hard assets that they had nothing to sell. This turned out to be just the opposite!Working with Brad, they learned they had a very marketable business and over a very short period of time, they had 11 written offers on their company. They were able to "choose their buyer" as they put it, making sure the buyer's values matched their own. That of ensuring a legacy for their clients and employees, and they feel they've done that. A very inspiring and informative story for any business owner; listen to the episode here!Find Brad here.Find Julie here. Thank you to this month's sponsor! Sunbelt Business Advisors 

Your Price is Too LowToday's #PoisedforExit episode featured pricing expert, radio host and speaker, John Ray. John's expertise in how to price your services is far reaching, and we only touched on the tip of the iceberg with this episode, but you're sure to glean some valuable nuggets from this interview just the same!He says most professionals price their services too low. There are many reasons for this (Imposter Syndrome, for one) and many times the service provider doesn't have the proper tools to analyze their current pricing. One important factor used in determining a reasonable, profitable price is behavioral economics. Why do people buy from you? How do you get to the heart of what matters to the client?  What services do you already deliver that would be perceived higher in value by the client and therefore should command a higher rate? John shares the answers to these and many more questions about the pricing journey, why it's a journey, and why you shouldn't expect your pricing to be perfect (especially right out of the gate)!If you are struggling and stuck in a pricing conundrum, check out John's show at pricevaluejourney.com  or his website at johnray.co   John's interview with me covers a hot/messy topic, but help is on the way.  Check it out here.Find Julie here.Contact John here: [email protected] you to this month's sponsor: Sunbelt Business Advisors

Chief Stripe Changer Talks about Finding your Fire!Today on #PoisedforExit we interviewed Cat Breet, Chief Stripe Changer, whose mission is to help people get more freedom, fun and money out of work! Cat's work brings her into Board rooms, executive offices and group coaching sessions where she works to help her clients "find their fire". Too many people are living their lives unfulfilled, because they  struggle with identifying what they really want out of life. She facilitates her clients  through a scoring system that contrasts their priorities with the options they have for making changes. We also talked about how sometimes we struggle to find ourselves. Yet, finding ourselves, what we want and don't want are different today than in previous years. As people, we evolve and grow, which may cause what we really want to evolve as well. Cat has a process for helping clients identify and revise that over time. Her advice for anyone struggling to find fulfillment in work is to do two things: 1. Find your fire  2. Identify what the fire should look likeCat has a resource she has created called the "Priority Scorecard" for any listener who requests it. Click here to get your complimentary copy and see how you score!  Listen to the episode here to learn more about the Scorecard! Cat also has a weekly live LinkedIn show on Thursday mornings. You can find more information on her show at www.linkedin.com/in/catbreet   Lastly, she has a new book coming out this summer! To learn more about her book go to www.catbreet.com  Find Julie here. Thank you to this month's sponsors: Sunbelt Business Advisors

Next Generation of Manufacturing: Challenges to TransitionOur guest for this #PoisedforExit episode has a long history in manufacturing, as an owner and now as the President of Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association. Steve Kalina and I had a great conversation about what his organization specifically does to help manufacturer's grow, educate their teams, retain talent and plan for transition. Steve came from a family business, spending 20 years in various leadership roles before he decided he needed to make a change. All those years working in the industry himself really enrich his role as President of MPMA. When his members are stuck and need connections to find answers, Steve's background serves them well. Tactically and logistically, he gets it. Emotionally and psychologically, he gets it too. Under his leadership MPMA has determined the focus of their Strategic Plan to be on Workforce Development. The biggest issue facing manufacturer's everywhere lies in their ability to recruit and retain people who are so hard to find. Learn more about how MPMA assists its' members in workforce development by listening to this short episode now.Find Steve here and find Julie here.Thank you to this month's sponsor! Sunbelt Business Advisors. 

Extreme Focus: Benchmarks over GoalsOn this #PoisedforExit episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark LeBlanc and it's loaded with nuggets of wisdom and action steps!Mark is a national speaker and author. He also consults for professional sales people. He's had many years to perfect his process for his clients and his presentations are more than impactful. Can you tell I'm a fan? Mark says that one thing we all lack at times is focus. We tend to set 'goals' and then break our commitment to ourselves to achieve them (sound familiar?). We then look to the future for what we hope to accomplish this year, instead of on what we can accomplish today and in the next 30 days . Mark says that a "sliver of focus" will make more impact in your level of achievement using bite size business development tactics, woven into a morning routine that will pay back big dividends. He calls them "high level activities", even if you're simply sending a thank you card, making a phone call to a prospect, or sending a newsletter to promote your latest product or service. Our biggest enemy is fear in all its forms and as Mark says, it never sleeps. If your role is to develop more business for your own company or the one you work for, you'll want to go to his Growing your Business website to check out Mark's programs, books and presentations. He's even offering a no-strings attached free gift for our listeners! Simply email him at [email protected] and he will send you his Focus Tool for free, and he will not add your name to his database. Really. For more on this outstanding interview, listen to the episode now!Find Mark here and find Julie here.Thank you to this month's sponsors! Sunbelt Business Advisors and JAK + Co. CPA's.

The Business of Robots: Coming to an Industry Near You!On this episode of #PoisedforExit, we spoke with two partners at Durabotics, Ron Jost and Tim Hedlund who are expanding the robot systems they manufacture to new industries. Their primary focus has been industrial robotics, and it will remain as such, however they're breaking new ground with the medical and hospitality industry!Imagine sitting in a restaurant and a "Bella Bot" comes to your table to serve water and hand you a menu... The fact that robots increase efficiency and save time and money is nothing new, especially in the industrial marketplace. But the fact that our workforce seems to be shrinking every year is great cause for concern and the question is, how will many businesses continue to operate if they can't find the people to take the jobs? You've likely heard an age-old objection that "robots take away people's jobs", but Tim says that is almost never the case. He's been in the robotics industry nearly 40 years, so he should know. What robots can do for example is enable workers to do higher level, customer facing jobs that impact growth and revenue. The Durabotics tagline states that their products are "designed to take on the jobs that human beings can't do, won't do or shouldn't do." Dangerous jobs. Mundane and repetitive jobs. Lower level jobs that are essential to overall production but could be done by anyone and tend to cause higher employee attrition. Durabotics is expanding in industries not traditionally set up for robotics, but would be greatly impacted by implementing robotic systems. Tim said the robot itself is only 20% of the entire system. It's the system behind the robot that impacts the business so much, and each system is customized in industrial situations. However, Bella Bot products are much lower in cost and are built and ready to go!For more on Durabotics and their latest "Bella Bot", listen to the episode now.Find Durabotics here.Find Ron here and Tim here.Find Julie here. Thank you to this month's sponsors: Sunbelt Business Advisors and JAK CPA's. 

Build a Sustainable Business by Putting Yourself Out of JobOur guest in this #PoisedforExit episode featured Leslie Holman, CEO of Pinnacle Performance Group. Leslie bought Pinnacle in 2012 and has since expanded into providing services that help owners execute their growth strategies. Leslie comes from a background in consulting and in Private Equity, which truly set her up for building the organization as she has. Her focus has been on creating an organization where people want to come to work and where she'd want to work herself. Acknowledging the humanity of her employees and her clients has been a driving force in helping them not just get through the pandemic, but thrive during it. Her future transition leans on emphasizing Culture and Values. Leaving a lasting legacy is the goal, whenever that day comes. She says that if you picture a heart and a dollar sign on the ends of a legal scale, she's OK with the heart weighing heavier than the dollar sign. In other words, if she spent more time on the personal side of things in her life because she was needed there, vs the business side, she's good with that and is good with her employees doing the same. A popular attractor these days for recruiting top talent. For more, listen to the episode now.Find Leslie here and find Julie here. Thank you to this month's sponsors! JAK + Co. CPA's and Sunbelt Business Advisors. 

In this #PoisedforExit episode, we met with someone who has found great success in owning a number of different franchises and living a life he loves at the same time.  Ben Cowan, owner and CEO of 360 Wow Inc., is not stranger to owning a business and his big success strategy is happiness. Ben owns several 1-800-Got-Junk franchises, along with other franchise labels such as Shack Shine and You Move Me. His commitment to creating a great employee experience is the strategy that has propelled such amazing growth and it's all coming from a genuine concern for the happiness of others.He's recently started an internal incubator program for some of his team who aspire towards entrepreneurship, but need a boost. The program he's assembled to help make that happen for them is quite remarkable. Ben's motto is "happy employees=happy customers" and that has proven true for many years now. He plans to continue using his competitive advantage of evolving an even better employee experience as he continues to acquire more businesses. Ben attributes much of his happiness to a book he read by Mo Gawdat called "Solve for Happy". He also says that his relationship with his banker Jeff Campbell isn't just as an adviser, but as a partner. Thanks to Jeff and Fidelity Bank, Ben has been able to take swift action when opportunity arises, whether it's for equipment purchases, vehicles, or buying another franchise, Jeff Campbell 'gets it' says Ben. For more of Ben's advice and wisdom, listen to the episode now. Ben's Linked In360 Wow Inc. Fidelity BankJeff's Linked InFind Julie here. Thanks to this month's sponsors! Sunbelt Business Advisors and John A. Knutson & Co., PLLP (JAK+Co.)