He has been in valuation since 2000, started his own valuation company in 2010, aged 31, helping clients with raising capital, estate planning, and mergers & acquisitions. From no people in 2010 to the current 25 FTEs. (Bharat Kanodia)

In this episode, I interview Bharat Kanodia, the Founder and Chief Appraiser at Veristrat based in San Francisco, USA, helping clients with raising capital, estate planning, and mergers & acquisitions. Bharat has been in valuation since 2000 and has valued assets in real estate, industrial, personal property, and financial assets.

With his extensive experience in valuation, he started his own valuation company in 2010. It was self-funded and was a tough start. He started with zero people and by 2013, he got 35 employees. Unfortunately, during the first six months of the pandemic, he had to let go of some of his employees and a few months later got some of them back to the company with a total of 25 FTEs now.

Bharat says that two things make the business very sellable: "One, you need a consistent cash flow, you set up a business model, which makes your customers or your clients pay you on a monthly or a quarterly basis. And two, you need to set up systems and processes so that you can service those clients and customers on autopilot."

This Cast Covers:

• The company provides services to people who want to know the worth of something such as buying a business or selling a business.
• A valuation firm helps clients to raise their capital and to know the worth of an estate they will be inheriting so they can pay appropriate taxes on them.
• Had a rough time during the first six months of the pandemic which resulted in letting go of some of the employees.
• Why every small business owner should have a marketing strategy that works for their current clients, increasing the chance for faster growth.
• Overcoming challenges in the business by doing something you don't normally do.
• Navigating the ups and downs that come with an entrepreneurial journey.
• The importance of trying something new just to save the business and the people behind it from crushing.
• Dealing with the stress of the changes such as when one of the biggest clients suddenly quit.
• The importance for every small business owner to learn how good habits influence the growth of a business and that everyone in the team must cultivate good habits.
• Two things that make the business very sellable: One, you need consistent cash flow, you set up a business model and two, you need to set up systems and processes so that you can service those clients on autopilot.

Additional Resources:

• Veristrat
• What's It Worth
• What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School By Mark H. McCormack
• TEDx SHORTS

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Quotes:

"Success is basically when my business comes to a point where I don't have to worry about the business running itself." —Bharat Kanodia

"Marketing is just figuring out a way to stay on top of people's minds who are important to your business." —Bharat Kanodia

"If you don't toot your own horn, nobody else will." —Bharat Kanodia

"People with bad habits in your team are going to corrupt the entire system." —Bharat Kanodia

"You need to have consistent cash flow and you need to set up systems and processes so that you can service those clients on autopilot." —Bharat Kanodia

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Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com. License: CC by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0