Obe-Wan-Toby

It’s a cold February morning earlier this year. Kathy and I are walking the dogs along the tram track to the beach.

I’ve just come back from a three day mastermind group in Cork and I’m telling her about the events and discussions.

Kathy’s particularly interested in what Toby Swallow, one of the attendees, does. So, we walk and chat about how Toby works, his beliefs, and the men he helps. And I explain how we managed to nail his proposition into four key words “health, fitness and longevity mentor”.

As we walk down onto the beach, we both stop talking. The sound and sight of the waves crashing onto the beach are breathtaking.

After a few minutes of silence, Kathy asks “Does Toby work with women?”

“I don’t know”, I say. “I think he does, but his target market is 40 to 50-year-old men. Why do you ask?”

“I think I’d like to work with him”, Kathy says.

“Why?”

I tear up as she starts to tell me how unhappy she is with her health and how worried she is about the future if she doesn’t do something.

Eventually we’re both crying. Thank heavens no-one walks past as we blubber in the freezing cold on the beach.

Kathy’s crying because she’s so worried about her health. I’m crying because I hadn’t realised just how unhappy and worried she was. I know, typical bloody man.

Anyhow, fast forward 6 months and halfway into her programme with Toby: Kathy is 20kg lighter. Her VO2 max (one of the best measures of overall fitness and longevity) is now superior for her age.

The doctor has taken her off her blood pressure medication as it’s now back to normal (she was once hospitalised with it). Most importantly, she’s regained her confidence and her joie de vivre.

I’m so proud of the work she’s put in and what she’s achieved and so happy for her.

But this didn’t come without cost.

It cost nearly ￡10k to work with Toby. Kathy’s changed nearly every facet of how we live. To get the results she’s got takes dedication, commitment, sacrifice, and trust.

The thing is, I thought I knew a lot about the drivers of health, fitness and longevity. I’ve been reading about it for years. But I’m an amateur.

Don’t get me wrong, I have better knowledge than most. Probably better knowledge than 99% of the population. But I’ve only scratched the surface. And my knowledge is incomplete and just wrong in some cases.

The reality is I don’t have the time, passion or commitment to go into the weeds and deeply understand the science, and what drives long-lasting, life-changing results.

Toby does. And that’s what makes him a master of his craft. That, together with his desire to help his clients, his ability to hold them to account, and his no-nonsense attitude to bull shit, makes him unique in his field. (I know firsthand as I stared working with him a month ago).

The same holds true when it comes to our businesses. We know a lot about them. We know how to make great products. We know how to solve our clients’ problems.

But we don’t know what really drives the value of a business, what really makes a business sellable, and what will get prospective buyers queuing at our door begging to buy our business.

Which is understandable as most of us have never sold a business. And most of us will only ever sell one business in our lives.

If you want to make sure you can exit your business for the price you want, when you want (whether next year or in 10 years), then you need a business exit mentor like Toby. And this is your lucky day because that’s my specialist area ??.

There are 3 ways to get my help:

1. Subscribe to this newsletter or my value growth emails
2. Get a copy of my book “The Business Exit Blueprint ”.
3. Get my hands on help developing your exit strategy and implementing my “Built for Exit“ operating system in your business. First step to do that is to message me and we’ll chat. (I promise not to try to sell you anything unless you specifically ask me to).

Over to you.

Richard.