Archives for August 2021

How to Prepare for Fast Growth with a Vivid Vision®

August 27, 2021 by admin

Young, ambitious entrepreneurs want a lot of different things, from more press to a better corporate culture, to amazing employees. Underneath it all, though, they all want one thing most of all: to make more money.

Who doesn’t? It’s a universal desire and one that can be achieved! But, to get there, they have to prepare for fast growth. The most important thing, though, is that they’ll never get there without a detailed vision of their future.

That’s where a Vivid Vision® comes in.

First, Know What a Vivid Vision® Is

A Vivid Vision® is a detailed, three to four-page document that lays out a clear, logical vision of what your company will look like in three years.

“A Vivid Vision® is essentially the plan for the future of your company. It’s one that has to be big and ambitious and filled with piles and piles of hope for your company.” – Cameron Herold

When it’s completed, it’s meant to be woven into your company’s culture, guiding your employees’ decision-making and giving all involved clear goals to strive for.

Second, Begin Writing It

Usually, creating a Vivid Vision® is a very involved process that can take as long as six months to get right. Often, young entrepreneurs benefit from help from a mentor or someone else from the business to help them through. Even without one, though, you can still write a great Vivid Vision® on your own. Regardless of how much experience you have writing Vivid Visions®, having one, no matter how rough it is, prepares you far more for fast growth than not having one at all!

Here are some tips to get you started:

It’s important not to get caught up in the ‘how’ of things. Instead, dream big and worry about the ‘how’ later
You’ll need to be free of the day-to-day worries of running your business. You need the freedom to visualize your future
Get out of your office and go somewhere inspiring where you can let your mind wander, such as a hammock in your backyard, or the beach, or the woods, etc
Turn off your computer. No matter how much willpower you have, the temptation of email or web surfing will be a distraction
Get out of your comfort zone, think outside the box—choose whatever cliché works for you. Just be creative, even outlandish. You’ll be amazed at what you can come up with. It’s a sure-fire way to create a fun, dynamic vision you and your employees will love to strive for.

Third, Make it Stand Out

A good Vivid Vision® not only prepares you for fast growth, but it also causes that growth as well! The more your Vivid Vision® stands out, the more growth it will bring you.

Often, the Vivid Visions® that stand out most share a few common traits. They forgo all the mind-numbing doublespeak and restrictive, creativity-killing metrics and get right to the heart of the exercise.

What’s the heart, you may ask. That’s simple: What is really possible for my company?

The possibilities for growth are endless when you know the value of a Vivid Vision®, and the preparation it gives you when that fast growth comes is invaluable. Do you want a successful fast-growing company? Then write a Vivid Vision®!

How do you prepare for fast growth? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Another 7 Ways to Increase the Value of Your Company

August 20, 2021 by admin

What’s your business’ value?

Do you want to know how to drastically increase the amount a buyer will pay you?

Here are 7 things your company can work on so that you can do exactly that!

Create a Predictable Cash Flow

Think of revenue and cash flow as the starting point for any buyer. A steady stream of predictable, recurring revenue is ideal. Buyers will pay more for companies with a projected cash flow.

According to Colorado Biz, these are three ways you can effectively improve cash flow predictability:

Automating cash flow by automating accounts receivable software
Improve forecasting of income and expenses
Implementing flexible installment plans for your customers

Make it Scalable

Setup systems that easily help scale without needing more people will definitely increase the value of your company. For a valuable, successful business, efficiency is key.

The easier you can add new customers (like with setup systems that help scale), the more attractive your company will look to a buyer.

Improve Your Company’s Goodwill

Name recognition, customer awareness, and good PR go a long way when attracting a high-paying buyer to your company. Launch a good PR campaign a year out from when the sales process begins to boost goodwill within the marketplace. You won’t regret it!

High Net Promoter Score customer ratings also help drive increased purchase prices of businesses, so make sure you are taking the time to get reviews and ratings from clients/customers.

Learn Its Value

Knowledge has power! Get several independent valuations by reputable firms so that you have a rough idea of what your company might sell for. This is the knowledge that you need to have if you want to sell your company for a lot of money.

Consider additional parts of the company that evaluators may not see and what actions you might be able to take ahead of time to increase the company’s value in 12 months. Small acquisitions and drastic overhead cuts are a great place to start.

Make Things Transparent

Buyers don’t like surprises, so make sure that you operate above board and be prepared to show the value that they might not see right away and explain information that they might question.

“Except for the very occasional surprise party, nobody likes feeling blindsided. In the corporate world, surprises can have especially unfortunate consequences. Sharing information within the organization makes for more stable operations.” – Forbes

Show Your Growth Potential

Documented growth shows that the company’s future is solid, if not predictable. Show your buyers that your company has a ton of upside! Consider acquisition opportunities, additional product lines, untapped markets, sales funnel projections, PR that’s about to come, etc. Basically, anything you can share about your company’s growth potential will add value.

Find a Trustworthy and Fantastic M&A Firm

M&A Firms are a dime a dozen. However, finding one that can create a multiple-bid buyer market for you is what drives up your company’s selling price.

Take the time to research good M&A firms and invest in the best! It’s worth it if you want to sell your company for its highest value.

Your company can be sold for more than you think, but only if you put the work into it!

Have you had any experiences with buying or selling a company? How was it? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

7 Ways to Increase the Value of Your Company When It’s Time to Sell

August 13, 2021 by admin

If you want to increase the value of your privately held company, it’s not just about your profits. While profitability is critical, there are other factors that can elevate your company’s value when it comes time to sell.

So, what are they?

Well-Organized Accounting

Don’t put off getting your accounting in order. Be ready at all times so that you can respond quickly when information on it is requested. Buyers will see your company as well-organized and will be more likely to pay a higher price when they don’t anticipate unforeseen surprises.

“Your financial records reflect the results of operations as well as the financial position of your small business or corporation. In other words, they help you understand what’s going on with your business financially.” – PDR

Awesome Employees

Your company’s talent is an asset! Make sure your buyers know that. Employees with strong skills add value, particularly when it comes to the sales team or other key roles that drive revenue, efficiency, or innovation within the company.

Loyalty is also a distinguishing characteristic to promote. Buyers want to know that key employees will stay for the long term. If you have employees like that, don’t be silent about it!

Office Culture that Feels Amazing

Enlist the help of a designer to “stage” your office so that the physical space looks great and feels like an incredible workplace. Freshly painted walls, organized shelves, and attractive wall art all add to your company’s image.

“A good leader needs to go out of their way to create bright, colorful offices for themselves and their employees. Do everything you can to avoid stuffy offices and dreary boardrooms in your workspace.” – Cameron Herold

Strong Branding and Name Recognition

The stronger your company’s brand recognition, the better your selling price is going to be. Roll out a stellar PR strategy 12-18 months prior to the start of the selling process to help show that your company is in a growth mode.

You’ll also want to refresh website content and other communication materials so that they’re relevant and in alignment with the message you are promoting to buyers.

Recurring and Diverse Revenue

All revenue is not equal. Buyers will – and do – pay a premium for booked reoccurring revenue. This means ongoing contracts with customers and a track record of predictable growth.

Diversified revenue is also a must. Broaden your revenue base so no more than 10-15% is based on one single customer.

The Company Runs Without You

Businesses that rely less on the owner go for a much higher selling price. Take steps now to increase your company’s independence and ability to remain productive during an ownership transition.

Inc outlines some steps you can take to grow a company that can run without you. They are:

Stop hovering and answering questions
Take a mini-vacation
Become the grandparent
Delegate the role
Let failure happen
Get rid of anything that can tie you to the company
Let yourself go and announce it
Avoiding getting trapped in the zone of running things

Share an Inspiring Vivid Vision®

When you have a clear vision for your company, ideally a Vivid Vision® document, it will excite and inspire any potential buyers about the company’s future and abundant potential. This will also help with demonstrating the alignment between you and your employees.

When it comes time to sell your company, make sure to ask yourself, “Have I done all these things?” If not, then what are you waiting for? Who doesn’t want to sell their company for the highest possible price?

Do you have any other strategies for increasing your company’s value? Let us know in the comments below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2015 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Why You Need to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone to Create a Great Vivid Vision®

August 6, 2021 by admin

If you’re running a company, you’re the one responsible for creating your company’s Vivid Vision®. The problem with that is, you’ve probably built yourself a nice office, somewhere that’s nice, clean, and comfortable. It’s your perfect workspace… most of the time, but not when you’re writing your Vivid Vision®.

But why?

Comfort Lacks Creativity

To write a Vivid Vision® that is filled with outside-of-the-box ideas, you need to physically be somewhere that makes you think outside of the box.

Your office space is too comfortable. It’s filled with everything you need to get your day-to-day work done, whether that’s your laptop, your favorite books, or pictures of your family when you need a bit of motivation. The problem is, it takes discomfort to think outside of the box enough to create an amazing Vivid Vision®.

You Need to Go Some Place That Inspires You

“The first thing you can do to unlock your creative side is to get into a creative space. By sitting in the same, old office you do all your work in, you’re going to have a much harder time breaking from the serious, logical mindset that’s required to do all your other work.” – Cameron Herold

To write a great Vivid Vision®, get out of the office and go somewhere inspirational. You could write by the ocean, in the forest, or even in a hammock in your backyard! Anywhere that gets you out of the box that is your office.

Your Comfort Zone Holds Unforseen Distractions

New places ooze inspiration and they lack a lot of the distractions that can be detrimental to your Vivid Vision® process. Your office is brimming with distractions — emails, phone calls, people popping their heads in the door. These kinds of interruptions can shatter your flow and drag the Vivid Vision® process out indefinitely.

To visualize your future properly, you need to really focus.

Trying to conduct the visualization exercises that are essential to your Vivid Vision® process in places like your office or a boardroom doesn’t work. It surrounds you with the minutiae of the office environment — the hum of the copier, the murmur of phone conversations, even the white noise of the air conditioner. These sounds can subconsciously lock your brain into rigid, business-first thought patterns that will stifle the creativity it takes to imagine a bright, exciting future in your Vivid Vision®.

You Need to Remove Yourself from the Rational

Going somewhere new and away from the comfort of your day-to-day allows you to remove yourself from rational thought somewhat.

A lot of leaders are decidedly left-brained. They’ve been successful their whole lives using rational, pragmatic thinking. That’s just the kind of thinking that can ruin the Vivid Vision® visualization process.

The idea is to visualize the “where” that you want to take your company without concerning yourself with the “how.” It’s easy to get caught up in the “how” when you’re surrounded by sales charts and spreadsheets. Freeing yourself from the office, in turn, frees your mind from the boundaries of business metrics. You’ll be able to fantasize without letting reality rain on your parade.

Most people complain that they spend too much time in the office anyway. This is the perfect excuse to get out of it! Enjoy the sunshine, breath in the fresh air, and visualize your perfect Vivid Vision®.

Do you have any interesting places you like to go to get inspired? Let us know in the comments below.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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