For an entrepreneur, retirement isn’t always an easy thing to accept. Stan Glawe had been working since the age of four, and when it was time to retire, at the age of 75, he faced some struggles. What’s life like after retirement, for someone who’s been working all of his life? Listen in to Stan’s insightful thoughts right here!
Key Takeaways:
[1:50] What does Stan do to ‘survive’ retirement?
[3:55] Stan thinks he’s annoying his friends.
[7:30] For entrepreneurs, it’s very hard to give up that piece of identity; give up that ‘work.’
[8:10] How did Stan make a healthy transition out of that identity?
[10:00] Stan lost a very important part of his identity. He was unhappy when he retired.
[10:40] For the longest time, Stan didn’t really understand what was wrong.
[12:15] Stan’s wife really helped him through the process. He took a vacation to Africa!
[14:25] Stan discusses the kind of knowledge he learned from his wife.
[16:00] Does Stan have any concerns about money, now that he’s retired?
[18:45] Why set the alarm every morning?
[19:50] Although he still feels lost, Stan doesn’t feel as lost as he was when he first retired.
[22:30] Stan can say this: He’s satisfied in knowing the business he built will carry on.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Dr. Bill Kotonias is a dentist, entrepreneur, and mentor for several up & coming entrepreneurs. On this week’s episode, we discover how Dr. Bill helps dentists, who are fresh out of school, acquire their own practice. Dr. Bill explains his process, and the steps he takes, from turning a dentist in debt, into an entrepreneur and business partner.
Key Takeaways:
[:50] Why do so few people end up entrepreneurs?
[1:40] Todd has known Dr. Bill for over 20 years.
[3:10] This lifestyle that Dr. Bill has created, does it only apply to dentists?
[6:50] Let’s talk about the basics. How does Dr. Bill find opportunities?
[10:35] Why should you hire someone fresh out of college?
[12:30] After year two, Dr. Bill’s entrepreneurs have some skin in the game, and they’re less likely to quit.
[17:50] When a business has reached year ten, that’s when Dr. Bill buys out.
[21:05] So far, Dr. Bill has bought 18 practices.
[22:45] In the dentist industry, what is the customer turnover rate from acquiring a new practice?
[24:40] When do dentists typically think about selling their business? What age range do they tend to be?
[26:25] Todd does a quick recap of how Dr. Bill finds opportunities and purchases them.
[28:50] Let’s talk numbers. How much is a single-owner practice that has 2,000 patients worth?
[36:30] On average, how much profit does Dr. Bill see, at the end of the day?
[41:25] What happens to the staff when a transition is taking place?
[42:55] Final thoughts from Dr. Bill? What makes this industry work so well is finding the right entrepreneur and the right opportunity.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Dr. Bill: 612-751-3078
Jon Austin is the senior partner of J Austin & Associates, a communications consultancy company founded in 2006. Jon has expertise in media relations, issue management, corporate reputation, and crisis communications planning and response. In a nutshell, Jon is the person companies call when they’re having a reputation problem. For this week’s topic, Jon discusses how to reduce the negative impact on your brand image, when something bad happens to your company.
Key Takeaways:
[1:00] Jon is the person to call when things hit the fan.
[1:25] How did Jon get into crisis management?
[5:40] What are some of the subtle differences between public relations, and crisis communications?
[8:55] What happens if a business wants to open a production plant in a nice neighborhood? You call Jon.
[11:30] It’s a challenge to educate and persuade the community towards why a company needs to set up shop in their backyard. Oftentimes, it helps stimulate economic growth.
[12:00] Executives in the C-suite position are usually the ones reaching out to Jon.
[15:05] In light of the recent Wells Fargo scandal, what steps would Jon take to help ease tension?
[18:20] It’s both good and bad, that social media has become so prominent in the last few years. It’s good, because you know someone’s listening. It’s bad, because misinformation can spread like wildfire.
[25:00] In Jon’s experience, most business owners and executives stay up late worrying about how to do the right thing. Mistakes just sometimes happen.
[30:50] What kind of mistakes does Jon see in his industry?
[38:05] Jon talks about how Tylenol recovered from their scandal in the 80’s.
[40:25] What should business owners keep in mind, when handling a crisis?
[43:50] Don’t wait too long to tell your side of the story.
[46:20] It’s important to be upfront with your employees, when drastic changes are happening within the company.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Most people would not recommend their real estate agent or even re-use him/her ever again. Why? The clients typically had three common issues: The agent was no longer in the business, the client was not happy with the quality of service they received, or after closing the deal, the agent completely disappeared. Well, this week’s guest, Marty Siegel, has been in the real estate industry for 28 years and 90% of his leads come from referrals, repeat customers, and children of those customers. What is the secret to his success?
Key Takeaways:
[1:45] 90% of Marty’s leads come from referrals.
[3:25] How many times does Marty reach out to his clients (who have already bought a home from him) in a year? Marty says at least 24 times.
[4:15] Keep in mind, Marty hates answering the phone.
[8:00] How did Marty get started in his career?
[10:00] Since Marty didn’t have a mailing list, he went door-to-door and spoke with his target market directly.
[12:25] So, how does Marty reach out to each one of his clients 24 times a year?
[13:25] The children of Marty’s clients are now calling Marty to help them buy a home.
[16:40] Marty believes in doing the right thing. He doesn’t feel comfortable selling a troubled married couple a home.
[18:10] Marty has a Christmas event every year that he invites his clients to. He discusses what the ‘Trees for Toys’ event is about.
[21:35] Why did Marty leave the company that give him his first real estate job?
[25:30] How did Marty convince his new boss at Coldwell Banker to host a ‘Trees for Toys’ event?
[27:40] Despite making 24 contacts a year with his clients, Marty never asks them for business.
[27:45] Last year, Marty’s event donated 9,000 toys for Toys for Tots.
[31:25] On average, Marty reaches out to his clients around 24 times a year, but that number may increase depending on the amount of children each client has. Without fail, Marty sends a birthday card to each of his client’s children every year.
[31:50] The fact that Marty is consistent every year with his connections is what blows people away.
[32:15] Marty has been so successful at what he does, he now puts on seminars for other agents.
[40:10] Marty shares why he got into real estate.
[42:10] What does Marty think about social media?
[49:25] Remember, attracting valuable clients does not have to be expensive.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Call Marty: 612-670-3839
Email Marty: TCRealtor@aol.com
Gerry Brockman has a masters in finance and has worked everywhere from main-street to wall-street. In this episode, Gerry helps us think through some of our biggest business decisions. There are 4 very important text-book components about evaluating risk and value, which every business owner should have in the back of their mind. Gerry shares some examples that speak to how you can apply these concepts in a real life scenario and help save your business a painful financial headache.
Key Takeaways:
[3:35] How to think about opportunity costs.
[5:15] What are the 4 levels of value creation? Gerry shares simple text-book definitions.
[7:55] How can small businesses evaluate risk?
[9:00] Let's talk about the risk/reward concept.
[12:25] How do you apply these text-book concepts in real-life?
[18:15] Gerry shares an example of how to apply these 4 principles in a real life scenario.
[28:15] The 4 levels of value creation take a lot of the guess work out of important risk/reward situations.
[30:25] Why Gary believes making decisions from the gut is a bad idea.
[31:10] Use these 4 levels as a framework and work from there.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Jackie Schneider is the Chief Revenue Officer at Field Nation and serves on the board of advisors for The Nerdery as well as the board of directors for Anser Innovation. On this week's conversation, Jackie jumps right in on how to properly and effectively structure comp plans. As a leader, you really want to be thinking about comp plans 6 months in advance in order to thoroughly plan out all the variables necessary.
Key Takeaways:
[0:55] Find out more about Field Nation and the work Jackie does for this company.
[3:00] What are some of the downsides of working on a comp plan during the later stages of a company?
[3:35] When is the best time to work on a comp plan and why do you need so much time to prepare for a good comp plan?
[6:30] Jackie shares an example of what makes a good comp plan.
[8:50] How do you properly distribute a comp plan between different employees with different company roles?
[10:35] How much time should you dedicate to a comp plan before making tweaks and adjustments?
[12:05] What else does Jackie look for when trying to accurately fill in a comp plan?
[12:50] Jackie says to keep it simple. She tries to put no more than 3 quotas in her comp plan.
[14:05] How does Jackie plan for unexpected surprises and how does that get incorporated into the comp plan?
[17:00] Jackie discusses employee compensation.
[24:20] How Jackie knows when she has created an unsuccessful comp plan.
[27:40] How would Jackie design a comp plan when the company wants to target a particular zip code?
[34:05] Never pay for activity, pay for results.
[37:55] Jackie explains what she writes in the comp plan when she's crafting it.
[41:30] Jackie usually waits till mid December to roll out the new comp plan.
[45:45] What are some common mistakes that happen in comp plans?
[48:45] Never have sales reps do collections. It just puts them in a lose-lose scenario.
[49:30] How not to deviate from the comp plan!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Email Jackie: Jackie.Schneider@fieldnation.com
Steve Sapletal is a Merger Integration Leader with over 22 years of experience. He is currently a partner at KPMG where he overseas M&A integration strategy, planning, and execution. In this episode, he discusses with Todd some of the key factors on why a company should bring in an integration team, as well as some of the key mistakes companies make after an acquisition. Transitions are a stressful time for everyone, especially the employees, which is why companies tend to see a drop in productivity when a M&A transaction has been announced. Find out more on how you can ease the transition for everyone on this edition of the podcast.
Key Takeaways:
[1:00] Who is Steve Sapletal?
[3:25] If you're looking for help after you've signed the letter of intent (LOI) it's too late!
[7:25] If you're buying this company, what are you really buying it for? You want to define what the deal drivers are early on.
[10:00] Employees want to know what's going on. It's better to be honest with them than to hide it.
[10:35] Once the announcement has been made, expect productivity to go down by 20-30%.
[11:35] How many people should be in charge of the communication strategy?
[13:50] You want to have a 30-day detailed plan, but be prepared that things will change.
[16:05] After a deal has been closed, Steve and his team do twice a day check-ins for the first 7 days.
[16:50] You want to course-correct as quickly as possible.
[17:45] What is the average amount of time it takes for a company to fully integrate?
[20:35] Steve talks about the different types of integration companies and what they offer.
[25:05] What should a business owner look for in an integration company?
[27:45] Steve talks about some of the common mistakes that can happen.
[32:50] So many people forget about company culture. It's usually grouped under HR, but Steve thinks this is a mistake.
[37:15] A lot of companies will take the wrong people and give them integration responsibilities. If you don't have the right person, you need to hire them.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Jeff Hawkes is the manager of corporate development at Ecolab. He and his team evaluate, analyze, and perform due-diligence as well as offer post-merger integration planning for global M&A transactions. Jeff discusses in this episode his investment methodology, due-diligence procedures, and other key factors towards purchasing a business. Get a behind-the-scenes look on what an M&A manager looks for in a business and how you can set your business up for success.
Key Takeaways:
[1:35] What's the difference between a strategic buyers and a financial buyer?
[6:50] What is EBITDA?
[7:40] How much of an impact does the economy have on the decision-making process?
[9:45] The market is quite hot right now. Jeff believes one of the factors to this are the private equity firms raising capital.
[10:25] What's Jeff's investment/buying methodology?
[15:35] How does Jeff and his team perform proper due diligence on a company?
[16:50] How do you go about measuring company culture?
[19:20] So what drives a purchase price? Jeff lists 3 factors you have to consider.
[22:00] What are some of the things Jeff looks for?
[25:20] How does Jeff react when business owners begin to hold off on key purchases for their company when they're getting ready to sell?
[30:20] Jeff does about 6 weeks' worth of due diligence on a company.
[35:30] What kind of things should a business owner be doing to increase the value of the sale?
[40:10] Don't try to hide or shave the numbers down. Be upfront about it.
[43:55] Why do acquisitions fail?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Eric Nicholson has been in the mergers & acquisitions career field for over 20 years. He has primarily worked one-on-one with business owners looking to sell their businesses and is currently the Managing Director for Green Holcomb Fisher, now owned by BMO Capital Markets. Eric shares a bit of his expertise on how to hire the right investment banker and how to properly come up with an exit strategy long before you retire. Tune in for more great insights from Eric.
Key Takeaways:
[1:20] Who is Eric Nicholson?
[2:05] What is an investment banker and how is that different compared to a business banker?
[3:55] What's the difference between an investment banker and a business broker?
[6:50] How do you pick an investment banker that's right for you?
[10:45] Remember, you can always ask for references!
[11:05] What are some of the biggest mistakes Eric sees in the business? When clients go with an investment banker who says he can get his client the best and highest price.
[11:45] Ask different investment bankers for an evaluation on your business.
[13:05] How do you know when it's the right time to sell?
[14:05] Don't wait too long to sell your business.
[15:05] Selling your business when you're ready to retire is often not the best strategy.
[16:50] You want to start on doing the necessary due diligence and documentation at least a year before you plan to sell your business.
[18:10] Where do you draw the line in putting money into the business versus. not?
[18:50] How is you cutting costs going to play out with potential buyers for the business?
[21:15] What is your business really worth?
[23:35] Anything 15% or greater in EBITDA margins is considered great.
[24:50] What's a good EBITDA pay range?
[29:50] The biggest factor in businesses that did not perform well was when a major customer changed their mind.
[30:20] What are some of the common mistakes business owners make when trying to sell their businesses?
[34:50] What should business owners concentrate on when they're preparing to sell their businesses?
[37:30] Final piece of advice? The sale process can be a lot of fun.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Call Eric: (621) 904-5700