I just went through this process and the clarity it delivers is well worth the effort. The questions can also apply equally well to a potential buyer of or investor in your business. A2E

From Seth Godin
Four questions worth answering.

1. Who is your next customer? (Conceptually, not specifically. Describe his outlook, his tribe, his hopes and dreams and needs and wants...)
2. What is the story he told himself (about the world, about his situation, about his perceptions) before he met you?
3. How do you encounter him in a way that he trusts the story you tell him about what you have to offer?
4. What change are you trying to make in him, his life, or his story?

Start with this before you spend time on tactics, technology or scalability.

If you would like some assistance in answering these questions click here.
 

Here are 2 of the most popular emails I sent out this year:

30 Things to STOP Doing to Yourself
30 Things to START Doing for Yourself

Over the past year I have spoken in great depth with dozens of business owners. There is a growing fear and frustration with not being able to achieve what they know is possible. The clock is ticking and they recognize change is required. Unless you change what you are doing to or for yourself the results will never improve.

If you want to SELL your business there will be change and we can help. 
If you want to BUY a business there will be change and we can help.

When it comes to change  You Are Not Alone 

Eric Gilboord 416-270-2466

Successful business owners prepare their Sales & Marketing programs for the Fall, starting right now. You can do it on your own or with some guidance. 
 
I have an outline template to help you with the preparation of your own Sales & Marketing plan. My gift to you, no strings, just click here and start planning. 
 
This is the same working document we use at Warren BDC as a base to prepare detailed custom plans for our clients and to implement actions from. 

Good luck, and it's ok to call if you have a question or 2.

Cheers, Eric A2E
416-270-2466
eric@warrenbdc.com

PS: Need a gift for your SMB Customers, Dealers, Vendors, VARs or Franchisees.
    10 Reasons to give away copies of my business growth tips book. 
 
From last week:
 8 Rules For Successfully Hiring Marketing Suppliers 
11 Marketing Tips For Reviving Your Business 
11 Tips For Continued Marketing Success 
11 Ways To Get Your Marketing Started
 

This article is from my friend John Warrillow author of BUILT TO SELL one of the Inc. 2010 best books for business owners.

How do you imagine life after selling your business? Are you travelling? Europe maybe? Patagonia, or somewhere nice and warm?

If you’re like most of the business owners I know, you imagine selling your business, having a going-away party, and riding off into the sunset.

Increasingly, it’s not working out that way.

In a shaky economy, with banks shy to lend, the proportion of cash that business owners get when they sell is sinking with the proportion of the sale price put “at risk” in some sort of “earn-out” or “vendor take back” loan is going up.
Recently, I hosted a workshop in Toronto and invited an M&A professional who spoke about the typical deals she is doing these days. She shared the story of one buyer who is acquiring marketing services businesses for as much as ten times earnings before tax. The fine print? They only pay three times earnings upfront and leave the possibility of the other seven in a five-year earn-out.