The SmallBizLady Buzz - Issue 21

Could You Sell Your Business?

For many business owners, selling the business is the goal. But even if it’s not your dream, no entrepreneur should rule it out. When the time comes to sell your company, what will make it attractive to buyers? How can you be sure to get a decent price? The basic answers are to create repeatable systems, a strong team, accurate financials and long term contracts and consistent repeat business. Above all, you must make sure that the company doesn’t depend too much on the business owner.

Building a business with the mindset that you will sell one day, will make you run your operations more efficiently. You must maintain a clean financials, current tax records, and implement better standard operating procedures. Whether you need to rebuild your business right now, or you want to actually sell it down the road, you have a lot of preparation to do. If you are pivoting through the pandemic, this is a good opportunity to make better decisions in your business.

There are five things you’ll need to prepare long before the day you decided to sell.

1. Build a Brand, not Just a Business

2. Develop a Signature Product or Service.

3. Develop a Specific Sales Process

4. Hire Sales People

For even more information, read this week’s feature article How to Prepare Your Small Business for Sale.

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How to Prepare Your Small Business for Sale

There is a lot of reason why business owners sell their business. Some of them are retiring and no longer want to run their business. Or some have been in a tight situation, and they need money. While a few soloprenuers have grown their business to the size, they can no longer manage it on their own.

The thing is selling your small business may or may not in your list today. But if ever you need to, you want to make sure you are getting the maximum price. Whether you are selling your business or thinking of it as an exit strategy, you must prepare your small business for sale. Continue Reading....

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Get back to doing what you love

Proven helps you organize your hiring, letting you post job listings to multiple job boards with one click on your smartphone. You can also sort through dozens of application responses in minutes; categorize applicants into "yes," "no" and "maybe" buckets; and note when you follow up with a candidate. It’s a good fit for companies that have sporadic hiring and needs to save time on hiring.

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How to Build a Business that Can Run Without You 

Check out this week’s Solo Podcast: How to Build a Business that Can Run Without You

Running a company that is owner-dependent can be detrimental to your brand’s progress but working towards increased autonomy can result in more empowerment for both you and your employees as well as increased longevity for your brand. Creating a self-sustaining business is the dream for many entrepreneurs, and it is a powerful goal to aim towards. I discuss why your ultimate goal as an entrepreneur should be to build your company to run without your immediate influence as a leader.

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Excited to be participating in CNBC’s, First in Business Worldwide, small business event, Small Business Playbook: The Path Forward, which will take place on today, August 12th from 1-4pm ET.

This virtual summit will gather the most trusted and inspirational voices in business to deliver the resources small business owners need to survive today’s crisis and provide a path forward for the future. Led by CNBC anchors and reporters, the summit will offer audience members practical and interactive seminars on specific issues vital to small business owners in a COVID-19 environment.

Featured speakers will include Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operations Officer, Facebook, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Vayner Media, and Andrew Zimmern, James Beard Award-winning Chef and Host, MSNBC’s “What’s Eating America”;

My session at 2pm is Embracing Uncertainty – Building Business Resilience, Sponsored by Principal?

This session will highlight three key ways that small businesses have adapted in a tumultuous business environment. Attendees will leave the session with a roadmap to help get their business better suited to weather the storm, whether it be COVID-19 or another unforeseen circumstance.

Amy Friedrich, President, U.S. Insurance Solutions, Principal Financial Group

Melinda Emerson, SmallBizLady, Author, Fix Your Business, Small Business Expert

Moderator: David Dodson, Lecturer in Management, Stanford University

Content from the conference will be made available throughout CNBC’s programming and CNBC Digital. Join the conversations on social media using #CNBCSmallBiz. Check out the full line up, and register to attend here.

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Melinda F. Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an internationally renowned keynote speaker on small business development, marketing and social selling. Melinda is also the president of the Quintessence Group, an award-winning marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA, serving Fortune 500 brands who target small business market. LinkedIn named her a Top Voice for 2019 in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In addition to being a former NY Times columnist, she is frequently quoted by media organizations including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News. She is the host of #Smallbizchat LIVE and The SmallBizChat Podcast. A prolific writer, Melinda has published more than 5000 articles on her blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com. Her small business advice is widely read reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, 2nd Edition. Her latest book is Fix Your Business, a 90 Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business.