July 2024

As one historic document put it, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As Christians in business, most of the time we enjoy the work that God has given us, but one of the biggest questions we face is how we can glorify Him with our businesses. I believe that we can glorify God through the decisions we make in our work. That includes the big decisions (e.g. what customers to serve and what products to sell) and the seemingly small decisions we make every day (e.g. how do I respond to this e-mail from an unhappy customer?).

Although many business decisions seemingly involve logical analysis, decision making that consistently glorifies God flows from having a Godly character. And that character is developed through a set of habitual behaviors (or disciplines) intentionally focused on glorifying God and growing in Christlikeness. All of these things only happen if we have a mindset (i.e. attitudes) that values Biblical truths.

The article linked below kicks off a new series where I plan to write about the five attitudes, seven behaviors, nine character traits, and twelve impact-defining decisions that business owners can focus on in glorifying God with their business.

Read what these 33 different aspects are and my plans for the series here.

17 Reasons by Zane Tarence is the most practical book I’ve yet read to help business owners prepare for their exit from their business. If you expect to sell your business in the future, then you should understand the factors that drive buyers’ decisions. 17 Reasons explains these factors and tells business owners exactly what they need to do to make their businesses attractive to buyers and likely to successfully complete a transaction.

As a Value Catalyst, my job is to help clients identify and fix issues like these. 17 Reasons can be a very helpful tool in getting my clients to understand the challenges I’m point out to them. Since business owners are busy running their businesses. I bring the skills, tools, processes, and discipline to help them implement fixes like those recommended in this book.

I strongly recommend 17 Reasons to all business owners and their advisors.

Read my full review here.

I’ve been reworking my website to reflect my new focus on helping business owners prepare for their eventual exit. This week I came to the “About Us” page, which is always hard for me. Since the SDG in my company name stands for Soli Deo Gloria, it seems hypocritical to be bragging about my capabilities, but I know I need to explain to potential clients why they can trust me to be able to help them improve the performance, value, and alignment of their business.

Hopefully the video I came up with gives God the glory for the ways He has blessed me so that I can help business owners. You can watch it at my website at https://www.sdgstrategy.com/russ-story or if you’d rather read the script, you can find that here: https://clearpurpose.media/about-sdg-strategy-1dc2d202268a 

BuzzFeed has reportedly been trying to sell First We Feast, the makers of the highly popular YouTube show Hot Ones for $70M. Buyers are interested, but not at that price. Business owners thinking about eventually selling their own businesses could learn some important lessons from the company’s challenges.

BuzzFeed’s experience isn’t unique to big online businesses. According to data from business brokers, only 20–30% of businesses that go to market end up selling. The number one reason that sales fall through is that the business owner has unrealistic expectations of the value of their business. Often a business owner has heard of others selling a business for some multiple of revenues and assumes he can sell his business for a similar valuation. Often those rumored multiples are exaggerated, and every business is unique.

The challenges BuzzFeed faces in selling First We Feast are very similar to those faced by small business owners looking to sell the business they have nurtured and grown. How much a buyer is willing to pay is based on how much cash they think the business will generate in the future and how much risk there is in those forecasts. The three biggest issues facing First We Feast are the same three issues many family businesses face when looking to exit:

– Reliance on the owner and key employees

– Limited growth potential

– Reliability of financial forecasts

It may be too late for BuzzFeed to fix all the issues impacting how much they can get for First They Feast, but it’s not too late for small business owners to take steps to give potential buyers more confidence in the cash generating potential of their businesses. Value Catalysts like myself can help identify the issues that will hurt your valuation and can work with your team to address them one by one. It takes time (typically at least a couple of years) and focus, but the investment is worth it, often dramatically improving how much cash the business generates month after month and significantly increasing the value realized when you are ready to exit.

Let me know if you’d like to talk about how your business can create more value.

Read my full analysis of the BuzzFeed/First We Feast challenges here.

Do you own your business or does your business own you?

It’s essential for business owners to focus on creating independence from your business long before you plan to exit. The keys to achieving this are humility, hiring, and handing-off. Are you ready to celebrate your independence day?

Read the full article here.