Wisdom From The Sale Of Six Businesses

Laura Gisborne has started nine companies and sold six of them, including The Art of Wine, the subject of this week’s episode. The Art of Wine is a tasting room with a subscription-based wine club division. With a little more than $1MM in annual revenue, The Art of Wine was still a relatively small business, but when the lease came up for renewal Gisborne reasoned it was the perfect time to look for a new owner.

Gisborne channeled her experience from six exits into the sale of The Art of Wine, and in this episode you’ll learn how to:

• Attract a steady flow of inbound offers for your business
• Pick your number (hint: it may be lower than you think)
• Ensure a competitor does not get their hands on your private information while marketing your business
• Use your location to attract a buyer
• Use the buyer’s ego to your advantage
• Build systems to you-proof your company

Gisborne could sell her business in part because of the time she had invested in creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), something you’ll work on in the Hub & Spoke module of The Value Builder System?. Start Module 1 right now for free.

Click to Tweet: Ep. 84 of Built To Sell Radio, Wisdom From The Sale Of Six Businesses.

Are You the Entrepreneur’s Obi-Wan Kenobi?

If you advise business owners on driving up the value of their company, we want to talk. Our network of Certified Value Builders? from around the world is a group of seasoned advisors who guide owners through building the value of their company. Each year, we certify only a small group of professional advisors. If you are a sage advisor owners turn to for advice, we should talk. Apply to be one of our next advisors here.

Do You Know An Entrepreneur With A Story To Tell?

We’re constantly on the prowl for interesting stories from owners who have sold their businesses. We look for owners who have sold a business that was generating $1 million or more in revenue, who are willing to share their story candidly with our community. Forbes ranked Built to Sell Radio one of their top 10 podcasts for entrepreneurs and we have more than 100,000 downloads, so your story will get shared with a great community of like-minded owners. Nominate yourself or someone you know today.

To hear the entire episode on iTunes, click here and don’t forget to subscribe! You can also find us on Stitcher , Soundcloud, or anywhere podcasts are found!

At Built to Sell we’re all about shifting the balance of power from the buyer to the seller. If you support our mission, please write a review on iTunes—and if you have any comments or questions you can find us on Twitter and Facebook. Tune in every Wednesday for another episode of #BuiltToSell Radio with John Warrillow. 

About Laura Gisborne

Laura Gisborne is a highly successful business expert with over 20 years’ experience. From structuring and selling small boutique businesses to owning a multi-million dollar wine and real estate empire, Gisborne has owned nine businesses, her first when she was only 23 years old. Gisborne is an internationally recognized speaker and serves as a business consultant for business leaders and entrepreneurs in a wide range of industries. The innovative business model of her company, Legacy Leaders Global, exemplifies that companies can be both profitable and purposeful. Through her initiatives, thousands of women and children are receiving regular contributions in multiple countries across five continents. She has served as a Guardian Ad Litem for foster children through CASA, Parent Education Coordinator for Family Outreach, and a board member for Habitat for Humanity and the Sedona School District. She is currently a board member of the New Peaks Foundation and serves as an advisor to the Pachamama Alliance. Gisborne is the author of “Stop the Spinning—Move from Surviving to Thriving” and “Limitless Women” and has been featured as a guest expert on both CBS and ABC, as well as on the national hit show “The List.” Learn more about her work at www.Lauragisborne.com.

This Tiny Factor May Have A Big Impact On The Sale of Your Company

Your company’s value is driven by hard facts like growth rate and product differentiation but it may be the intangibles that get anyone to take a look at your business in the first place.

Do You Want An All-Cash Offer?

Most sellers want to be paid all of their money up front, and most buyers want to avoid paying anything up front. For example, when Eric Weiner wanted out of All Occasion Transportation he found a buyer and agreed to accept half of his money in a five-year consulting contract, which sounded great in theory.

Built to Sell: 8 Things That Drive The Value of Your Company

[FREE WEBINAR]

Why would one company be worth two or three times more than a similar company in the same industry?John has discovered that there are eight factors that actually impact your company’s value more than the industry you’re in.

During this informative and engaging talk, you’ll learn how to:

• Increase your score on each of the eight drivers of company value
• Maximize your company’s overall value
• Find strategic buyers for your business
• Structure your business to maximize its value
• Accelerate the pace of positive word-of-mouth for your business using the same technique as companies like Eventbrite, Intuit, Google and Apple
• Boost your company’s cash flow in the same way Harley Davidson finances its business
• Differentiate your business using the same methodology Warren Buffet looks for in the companies he invests in
• Minimize your company’s reliance on your personal involvement using some of the strategies Tim Ferriss used to reduce the time he spent in this business to just four hours a week.

Register for this free webinar here.