by theEmother | Apr 10, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business book club, business ideas & thinking, Finish Unfinished Business, so you think you're in business, the business model
The more I talk to business owners, the more I realise that many of them don’t actually know how they make their money!
Let me rephrase that… they don’t really know how their customers/ clients have found them and why they keep coming back.
Do you find that bizarre?
Initially, my answer would also be yes. But I’ve come to realise that doing so is a work-ON-business exercise. Not one that is done on a day-to-day basis. Of course, if you don’t give yourself work-ON-business time, how are you ever going to discover what your market is telling you?
Time to set aside Friday work-ON-business afternoons I think.
What about you?
by theEmother | Apr 2, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Buy a Mother of a Business, Consultant EXIT Options, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, the business model
Are you a Consultant?
Are you currently working as an independent practitioner?
Is this how you see the rest of your working life playing out?
Have you given any thought to your Exit Strategy?
Have you even wondered whether you could have one?
Are you saying to yourself “what have I got to sell anyway?”
Time we had a chat…
I’m currently working with “colleagues” developing different business models that will enable a fair and equitable option for Consultants.
Especially those who understand they have value in what they do, in what they’ve done but have NO idea how to extract it post them, other than a potential trade sale, which will not glean much if it’s solely reliant on the one person, as you know!
Happy to explore the options, as appropriate… you just need to contact me.
by theEmother | Mar 21, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, MEinc, so you think you're in business, the business model
Today I had lunch with a friend of mine who is 9 months into a start-up. Man is she stressed. Jumping around from one activity to another and not doing any of them particularly well.
So we had the old “start with the end in mind” or as I like to say (thanks to Seth Godin) “start the journey before you see the end” chat, taking her back to basics (not that she’d ever been introduced to the basics!).
Using the eMyth as the base, we discussed the 4 departments that make up a business and her role within each of those areas. As with any start-up, this business owners organisational chart looks like the one pictured. No wonder she’s stressed!
The sooner she can spend some of her hard-made money on support, the sooner she can do the stuff she’s really good at, which in her case is the first two ie Marketing and Sales.
Getting the base right, from the outset, definitely helps management of the stress levels…
by theEmother | Mar 13, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, women in business case studies
Business Life-Cycle
This time last year, the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) conducted the first national survey of female business owners, featuring results from some 3000 women. I thought it opportune to revisit their findings as I suspect not too much has changed in 12 months…
- Women own almost 40% of small businesses in Australia
- there are more than 700,000 female-owned businesses
- Women’s superannuation funds and income are lower
- 24% of female business owners work 41-50 hours per week, 20% work up to 70 hours
- 76% work Saturdays, 64% work Sundays
- 17% have a turnover of $100,000-$250,000 per year
- 71% are running their first business
- 70% are providing a service
- 52% do not pay themselves a market wage
- 62% used social media in their business, mainly Facebook
- 57% work with their spouse
- 79% do not sell online
- 47% work from home
- 42% start with less than $5000
and my guess is that a large percentage of them are not building an asset to sell, nor are they considering an exit strategy.
Think I might address each one of these over the coming weeks as it seems we have a lot of work to do…
by theEmother | Feb 19, 2013 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Buy a Mother of a Business, EXIT execution, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, the business model
It happened again today.
I’m at a meeting with one of my trusted colleagues and she advises that a close connection of hers has money to spend and then proceeds to supply the shopping list! Quite specific? Yes. Makes it much easier to know, when one fits criteria, who to call doesn’t it!
This is just another in a growing list of interested parties in, what appears to be, an increasing reemerging trend of growth through acquisition.
Many more businesses are realising that in order to grow quickly (over a year for example), buying another business is probably the quickest option. Sure, it presents its own challenges but… the difference to the numbers in a very short time frame is well worth the effort.
The same applies to first time buyers as well. If you want to walk straight into a revenue producing position from Day 1 then buying an already established business is the most likely way of doing so.
You know how they say when talking home renovation “live in it for 12 months first before you renovate, so you really know how you want your home to work”… buying a business is no different. Work in it for 12 months to really get a handle on how it works an d then look at rolling out your grand plans.
Whether you’re looking to acquire or buy, no matter, determine your shopping list and then talk to the people who have the relationship with the seller. That’s as hard as it needs to be…
