Intentional Growth

Many entrepreneurs experience extreme anxiety whenever they think about selling their businesses—to the point where they won’t even pick up the phone or answer an email from a potential buyer. Have you ever stopped to think about why this is? On today’s show, my business partner here at Arkona, Pat Hobby, and I talk about ways to mitigate this anxiety through intelligent and intentional planning. We also discuss why you should be prepared for an out-of-the-blue offer—even when you’re not considering selling—since potential buyers are reaching out to business owners with increasing frequency. Do you want to miss your multimillion-dollar deal? Of course not. But if you have no plan, you’re not going to get what you want out of an unsolicited offer (or even a solicited one!). This isn’t an episode you want to miss if you’ve ever wondered what you need to know to be ready for any outcome, or even if you just want to give your future more choices.   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview Why private equity is raising so much money right now Where investors are looking to commit their capital and how you can capitalize on that What a prepared business owner can do with an out-of-the-blue offer The rise of platform companies becoming involved in M&A When it’s better to buy instead of building from the ground up The spread between intrinsic value and transaction value Why you need to layer in a buyer’s intention when thinking about selling What common risks you need to address to strengthen your valuation The value of understanding what really drives you, especially in terms of life planning Planning creates choices and decreases anxiety Why you do need to build a support network of trusted, knowledgeable advisors before you sign away your company What seller’s favor is and how to protect yourself from it How net proceeds factors into what ends up in your bank account when selling When to disclose your financials to potential buyers and what to include Why an LOI can gaslight you into a poorer deal than expected   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Pat Hobby started his career as an auditor at EY and over the years held various finance positions before launching his own outsourced CFO services company. As one of his clients continued to grow and needed more assistance, he joined the company full-time for more than 20 years. He helped the company grow significantly, do acquisitions and eventually sell it to the employees via an ESOP. Two-and-a-half years later, he led the sale of the company to a PE firm—with tremendous benefit to the employees. Since then, Pat helped co-found Arkona to help change how owners grow and exit their businesses.   Quotes: 06:00  - “There’s a lot of money looking for a place to get a return.” – Pat Hobby 06:43 - “Right now, in the private equity world, it’s easy to raise money.” – Pat Hobby 11:49 - “If you’re positioned properly, you can maximize the results of what you’re trying to accomplish.” – Pat Hobby 17:26 - “It’s human nature. When you don’t understand something, you just ignore it.” – Pat Hobby 21:55 - “A lot of people who had a great success on the financial side of selling their business are still unhappy because they don’t know what’s important to them.” – Pat Hobby 28:00  “Business owners aren’t professional folks selling their businesses.” – Pat Hobby 35:00 - “Most people do it once. It has to be done right.” – Pat Hobby 35:44 - “The ability to negotiate the right deal is not automatic.” – Pat Hobby 41:18 - “Is that extra amount worth it? Is it worth 60 people losing their jobs?” – Pat Hobby 43:00 - “Your kids act up when they feel like they don’t have any control. I believe that about adults.” – Pat Hobby 44:20 - “You can’t see what’s going on all the time unless you do the financials the right way.” – Ryan Tansom 46:32 - “Once you figure out what your strategies are, you have to translate that into your financials.” – Pat Hobby 46:35 - “Financials are the language of business.” – Pat Hobby 57:21 - “It’s critical to understand the process.” – Pat Hobby 61:34 - “So many of the terms and conditions you’ve negotiated can make or break a deal.” – Pat Hobby 63:23 - “Every seller is expected to deliver the buyer a normal quote-unquote working capital, which in most businesses is AR—inventory less payables.” – Pat Hobby 67:16 - “The training that we created was because this is something we wish we had eight years ago.” – Ryan Tansom 67:26 - “The stress of running a business without a plan is just, it just doesn’t need to be that way.” – Ryan Tansom   Links and Resources: Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp! You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

Today’s show is with two ex-Amazon execs who co-founded Foundry Brands—a portfolio brand operating company—sharing everything they know about buying and building the strongest, longest-lasting and most valuable ecommerce brands possible. Kyle Walker and Stefan Haney consider more than 30 variables when they assess the value of a business (and that number is growing as new aspects to business need to be measured), so they can give you a really good feel about how you should be thinking about your business.  Some context: In 2020 there were only five aggregators—private equity firms targeted at Amazon and ecommerce brands—and now there are more than 55. There is no doubt that investors are putting their capital to work in this area because of the enormous opportunities for growth and returns. There is a lot to be learned from Stefan and Kyle in this episode: everything from where investors are placing bets to what they expect to see in ecommerce to what strategies investors like Foundry are planning to use once they buy a company.   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview The “cold” way of looking at branding Amazon data points for e-commerce and optimizing conversion What the exceptions to being a brand are The common issues direct to consumer customers face and how to solve them Why you want to be ‘privileged in your partners’ How to build a great portfolio brand operating company The benefits of long-term thinking at all stages of planning How to align your interests with clients and your balance sheet The downside of transaction-based interactions and how to create win-win scenarios instead Learning how to watch the money when you’re still small helps you see where the money goes when you’re growing Why it’s vital you connect with your customers The impact of heavy shopping sales days How to be in stock as efficiently as possible so you see better returns What running a restaurant and operating an ecommerce business have in common Why consolidating is such a challenge and what you can do about it   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation? About the Guest: Stefan Haney spent 16 years at amazon, working the last three years on their details page so he understands how to optimize for conversion and e-commerce shopping. He has a proven track record of launching new technology, delivering business results, mission critical programs, projects, and systems in a variety of industries. Stefan lives in Moscow, ID with his wife and kids. When not shuttling his seven kids to activities, you can often find Stefan adventuring on a bicycle. Kyle Walker is an experienced digital brand builder who  created and helped launch over 10K digital businesses while working at Amazon. He also founded three global multi-billion dollar Amazon programs and helped inform many of the Amazon tools and technology brand owners use today. Today Kyle uses this knowledge in his work with the company he co-founded, Foundry Brands. Kyle lives in Sammamish, WA, with his wife and two sports-obsessed boys. Quotes: 05:47 - “About this time last year, I think there were 5—maybe 7—public aggregator companies, so it’s crazy to think that a year later it was like 55.” – Stefan Haney  11:36 - “The really memorable, powerful brands are engaged in customer connection.” – Stefan Haney 13:04 - “You can always find an exception to what a brand is.” – Kyle Walker 13:31 - “It’s less about the products you sell and more about the cohesion and the connection.” – Kyle Walker 21:15 - “There are a lot of folks who’ve taken the debt capital and try to go big, fast.” – Stefan Haney 22:52 - “We’re going to build for success, build big, be at the front of the pack.” – Stefan Haney 24:09 - “Both of us spent a lot of time at Amazon and there was always this focus on long-term thinking.” – Kyle Walker 26:27 - “What’s the liquidity event?” – Stefan Haney 28:59 - “Will this brand exist in a decade? – Stefan Haney 34:41 - “Amazon is different waters.” – Stefan Haney 36:54 - “How do we preserve the ongoing sustainability of cash flow growth? That is the same. We’ve got to make this business more valuable.” – Stefan Haney 40:24 - “At the end of the day, a business exists because of its ability to win the hearts and minds of customers.” – Kyle Walker 45:26 - “Do you have an end game?” – Stefan Haney 49:36 - “We’re not here to race and to beat. No, we need to find a good fit and help others find a good fit.” – Stefan Haney 52:05 - “Who do you want to trust your brand to?” – Stefan Haney 52:10 - “It’s not a child, it’s not a baby. It was a business and I got what I wanted out of it. But for others, they want to keep looking. ‘I was the origin of that brand and I’m proud of it.’” – Stefan Haney   Links and Resources: Foundry Brands Official Website Stefan Hanley, LinkedIn Kyle Walker, LinkedIn Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

On today’s show, we have author, entrepreneur, and CEO Joel Trammell. We’re going to be talking about what makes an amazing CEO. Joel brings his business expertise on various metrics, hiring techniques, and other measurable tips you can use to foster a healthy and happy business culture. After all, the most successful businesses have the best culture and environment for their teams.Not only does Joel talk about what it takes to be a good CEO, he also talks about how you can hire the next CEO when you’re ready to pass on the torch. Joel teaches leaders how to make their company great and he does so as a chairman at iGrafx and as the CEO of a business management software system called Khorus. Joel focuses on how to build up companies from within. He’s written a book called The CEO Tightrope, which talks about how he took two companies and built them up to a nine-figure acquisition from the foundation up. We’ll navigate the fives responsibilities a CEO can’t delegate and how to offload the rest of the responsibilities to the right staff, including an argument for using micro-training to ensure maximum retention and job success. CEO is a highly skilled and nuanced role, and directly impacts your success. Since you can’t perform every role in your company as it scales, you’ll be forced to make a tough call between working on your business or in it, and a strong CEO is the right solution to help you position your company for growth. If you’re still playing as part of the orchestra, who is conducting?   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview How to effectively get rid of your anxiety about the future by hiring the right people When you need a ‘real’ CEO and what they’re responsible for The five things a CEO can’t delegate How the best CEOs hire rockstar executives in every position, even if they’ve never actually held the role Why—as the owners of a business—you shouldn’t know every single deal your company is doing How to give up the right roles—and at the right time—as your business scales and enters different stages of complexity Why decision making is the “grease that skids the wheels” and enables exponential growth What micro-training is and why it can increase your percentage of long-term employees When you need to address your operating models and why it’s contingent on number of employees Why every employee should know what decisions they can make, and make them quickly The importance of clearly detailing what good performance is and making a playbook for it for your staff How small choices (like jeans vs. suits) feed into the overall culture of your company Valuable tips on goal setting, coaching and accountability—starting with you The difference between holding people accountable and objective reality   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Joel Trammell is a chairman at iGrafx where he teaches leaders how to make their companies great. As the CEO of Khorus, a business management software system for CEOs, he continues his work building strong companies from within. He has taken two companies from founding to nine-figure acquisitions by Fortune 500 companies and turned his experience into a book called The CEO Tightrope, which helps owners navigate the CEO position. Joel is also co-founder and managing partner of the private equity firm Lone Rock Technology Group and Chair Emeritus of the Austin Technology Council.   Quotes: 07:50 -  “Nobody has really thought about the challenge of being CEO, particularly as it becomes a real job and scales in an organization.” – Joel Trammell 08:29 - “A lot of the CEO job happens in your head.” – Joel Trammell 09:12 - “You need to hand that responsibility off to somebody who focuses on that all day, every day.” – Joel Trammell 10:50 - “From zero to 25 employees, there’s not much of a CEO job.” – Joel Trammell 13:24 - “Ultimate authority still rests with a board of directors.” – Joel Trammell 14:25 - “A lot of people become entrepreneurs because they don’t play well with others.” – Joel Trammell 15:10 - “A CEO doing the job right, doesn’t walk in and just start mandating decisions no one agrees with.” – Joel Trammell 15:15 - “If you really understand the CEO role, you can put the right people in that role and still have ultimate control of that business.” – Joel Trammell 18:05 - “Business is a community. You want to make an attractive community that people want to join, but people can leave the community if things aren’t appropriate to them.” – Joel Trammell 19:10 - “You want to be in a situation where decisions are being made at the right level of the organization. The better you are at that, the faster your organization will run.” – Joel Trammell 24:20 - “No matter what you do, you’re never going to know more about finance than someone who went to school for finance, trained for finance, spent twenty years in finance. That’s not the role.” – Joel Trammell 24:56 - “When you hear ‘holding somebody accountable’, what you should hear is ‘holding people to objective reality.’” – Joel Trammell 29:26 - “If you don’t think you can wake up every day and think first about the people and the organization and how to make them more productive, if your first thought is ‘I like flying airplanes,’ you’re probably not cut out to be the CEO. And that’s okay.” – Joel Flammell 30:00 - “A lot of people think they have to be CEO to not give up control.” – Joel Flammell 32:07 - “It very rarely works out the first time with hiring a CEO.” – Ryan Tansom 35:52 - “You need to micro-train everybody you hire.” – Joel Trammell 38:32 - “You ought to have a six-month view of cash in your business, under at least three different scenarios: What if we sell nothing? What if we sell 50% of what we think we’re going to sell? What if we sell 75%?” – Joel Trammell 40:27 - “The CEO job, done correctly, you should be spending 80% of your time doing what I call ‘managing the future’— anticipating problems, seeing where there are issues, trying to avoid the potholes — and only 20% of your time dealing with the issues of the day or playing whack-a-mole in the organization.” – Joel Trimmell 43:50 - “When you find somebody who's the right person, who has that neurotic desire to excel and be great at what they do, you use money to keep them. You don't use money to incent them.” – Joel Trammell 47:11 - “Your strategy should boil down to a one-page sheet.” – Joel Trammell 54:20 - “How have you made your employees better in the past year?” – Joel Trammell   Links and Resources: Joel Trammell official website The CEO Tightrope by Joel Trammell Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

In part two of our two-part series, Dave Hoeffel shares the mental and emotional impact of business ownership and what it took for him to get out of a vicious cycle to achieve the vision he had for his business and life… and why he decided to sell to private equity at the end of 2020.   We dive into the value of having proper knowledge of how entrepreneurship works, the benefits of a mentor, KPIs, the repercussions of not understanding your financials (normalized EBITDA, working capital, and more), and how to create a relationship with your business that can change your life and create a better future. More importantly, we’re going to address a topic not often discussed by business owners: anxiety and how to deal with it. What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview   Why going through the Arkona Intentional Growth™ Boot Camp and knowing what he wanted from the business allowed Dave to quickly vet the out-of-the-blue offer and decide to sell How a banana led Dave to realize he needed a better handle on his chaos Making money isn’t a linear trip How, despite losing money, Dave had a positive normalized EBITDA The true value of long-term, dedicated and loyal employees, even as they approach orpass retirement age How a different management structure spurred fresh growth in his business When not to follow your metrics to the T How solving problems for the long-term and holding people accountable creates wealth The dramatic value EOS© (Traction) brought to Dave’s business and how it transformedhis team How to shift your perspective so you can imagine, and therefore build, a better life What not identifying and monitoring your top KPIs costs you When you should start the hiring process—whether or not you have the capital ready Why business owners take out loans for personal items like boats instead of using cashthey have saved up The best reasons to join a peer group and what you can expect to achieve after How to measure talent to help you decide on succession plans for employees Why it’s crucial that you and those you get advice from understand working capital When and why you need to be open to self-improvement and change in order to achieveyour goals   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Dave Hoeffel is part of the Polytek Development Corporation and the founder and former owner of Endurance Technologies.   Quotes: 04:48 - “I knew I needed to replace her, but I didn’t want her knowledge to go to somebody else who could leave me. That’s your biggest fear as a business owner.” – Dave Hoeffel 06:32 - “Sometimes traction is run so pure that she doesn’t belong because she isn’t a decision-maker.” – Dave Hoeffel 08:30 - “Life could actually be better than this. How would that be possible?” – Dave Hoeffel 13:23 - “When we solve a problem, we want to solve it forever.” – Dave Hoeffel 15:08 - “Hey, I had a panic attack about this. Is it okay?” – Dave Hoeffel 19:08 - “EOS doesn’t find sales.” – Dave Hoeffel 20:07 - “I started to recognize we were going to be making money. That’s when my mindset changed.” – Dave Hoeffel 23:44 - “Without the capacity to produce the product, we couldn’t keep up.” – Dave Hoeffel 25: 55 - “My perspective early in business—maybe a bad one-was if I reach out to someone else, it shows weakness in my ability to run the company.” – Dave Hoeffel 26:46 -  “Insecure business owners are the most successful, if they fix it.” – Dave Hoeffel 31:05 - “Family businesses, I believe really strongly in them. I believe less strongly in them now than I did 10 years ago.” – Dave Hoeffel 34:21 - “In those early years, my EBITDA was all depreciation, amortization, all those things I can’t spend and are just getting sucked out.” – Dave Hoeffel 43:39 - “Success comes from hard work and suffering and that’s what I believe. I mean, that’s how I got everything.” – Dave Hoeffel 47:54 - “We as entrepreneurs always believe that making a million dollars today is better than getting a million dollars in our checking account because I can do this for 10 years and still sell it.” – Dave Hoeffel 56:00 - “With the numbers they were talking about, my family was good. It put all of it onto who I was as a human being and how I was going to treat others. And that’s what reflection did to me.” – Dave Hoeffel 57:52 - “It came with pain.” – Dave Hoeffel 62:02 - “If you don’t buy me now, I’m not for sale for six months and my number will be bigger and I’m going to take it to auction.” – Dave Hoeffel 65:00 - “What I’ve learned is that you can do it smooth. You can [sell your company] with care for the company and care for the employees.” – Dave Hoeffel 68:15 - “With the end in mind, the next business I buy, I’m going to know if we’re going to sell it or keep it or how [to] transition it to whoever my partners are.” – Dave Hoeffel   Links and Resources: Dave Hoeffel’s official website Email: dave@davehoeffel.com Epoxical Fire video Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

TIn part one of a two-part series, we dive into the growth challenges early entrepreneurs face, including the mindset we have to be prepared to have to be successful. Today’s guest knows all about adapting his mindset to meet his needs. Dave Hoeffel is a local Twin-Cities entrepreneur and founder of Endurance Technologies who sold his company to a private equity firm on New Year’s Eve 2020 for millions of dollars. Dave’s got such an incredible story to share, from surviving a number of crises like the dot-com crash and 9/11 to his company’s building burning down and being on the line for some of the recovery costs. We’ll also touch on the emotional challenges we all experience owning a business we’re trying to grow, while concurrently making progress for the long-term and remaining true to ourselves. This is directly tied to why people get so emotional when they start thinking about exiting their business. Regardless of where you are in the entrepreneurial journey, Dave’s got some fantastic insights to share with you.    What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview When you should sell to a private equity firm and how to coordinate the sale How an early realization of the freedom that comes with entrepreneurship shaped Dave’s outlook for the future Why it’s crucial to diversify, especially in distribution How his family business survived 9/11, even after his banker pulled out What was different in his second partnership that allowed it to continue to this day Dave’s wife’s reaction to finding out she was on the hook if things went wrong in the business What he’s learned from crisis that applies to business How Dave grew his company from $3.5 million in sales to $5 million to $7 million . . . and why he never made any money How understanding financials can help entrepreneurs navigate challenges and their growth need to be more informed about finances if they want to be successful The value of pulling money from the business to support the team How Dave’s business managed to survive the building burning down in a huge fire and the $700,000 fee he suffered because he didn’t have cleaning insurance Why Dave called his competitors to help save his business and what that says about his networks The best deal isn’t always the lowest cost to you When to change your company’s image and focus, and how quickly it can be done   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Dave Hoeffel is a founder, a father and a family business man. Dave is presently doing business development for the Polytek Development Corporation, after having sold the business he founded out of the literal ashes of the old family business to them on New Year's Eve 2020. His over 30 years of business operating experience and subsequent sale of his company, Endurance Technologies, taught him about distribution, transition, rebuilding, and crisis management. When not helping other businesses grow more successfully, Dave devotes his time to his wife, Jenni, and their four children.   Quotes: 11:00 - “All the chips, everyday, on the table.” – Dave Hoeffel 12:55 - “If I could pull all the things I learned in the last five years and apply that back, these were all the right things to do but nobody told us what to do. This was just me and my dad.” – Dave Hoeffel  13:49 - “My dad was always just getting the squeeze and in that business, if you lost a major line, your business was gone. There is no business.” – Dave Hoeffel 19:29 - “That hardened me a bit. Like, all these events go along, just harden you. All these people told me they cared, but they didn’t.” – Dave Hoeffel  22:59 - “Sometimes you don’t know where feelings come from because you bury stuff so deep.” – Dave Hoeffel  24:49 - “We’re supposedly making money and I’ve got no money.” – Dave Hoeffel  27:20 - “I just wasn’t well-educated. I did the books, but I didn’t understand book keeping.” – Dave Hoeffel  32:44 - “I did not have insurance to clean my facility – to clean up the mess. $700,000.” – Dave Hoeffel 36:23 - “It’s really an interesting thing. That corporate philosophy that we have is really important toward how we change going forward.” – Dave Hoeffel  53:30 -  “We brought a huge value-add in custom formulating.” – Dave Hoeffel 54:30 - “We need to do things differently because this customer base isn’t good.” – Dave Hoeffel  63:13 - “My son-in-law just bought a business, and I said, ‘The first thing you need to do is put in a budget for traction.’” – Dave Hoeffel 63:25 - “If I said, ‘Ryan, I’ll buy your business’ and you were going to give it to me for free, but I could never run traction, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t know how to run a company anymore without it.” – Dave Hoeffel   Links and Resources: Epoxical Fire video Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

What are the biggest challenges all entrepreneurs face? The answer may surprise you. Today’s show focuses on how to build wealth and create fulfillment while avoiding burnout. Austin Brawner — host of The Ecommerce Influence Podcast and founder of the ecommerce entrepreneur’s community, The Coalition — makes a great case for doing fewer things so you can devote your time to what’s going to help you achieve your goals in life. We’ll even get into hiring and working with the right people, fostering an environment of trust and getting people to buy-in to your vision. The clearer that vision is, the easier it is to share with others and get them onboard. Today’s show is going to inspire you to be thoughtful about your freedom and joy and get you excited about mapping your company’s future.    .   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview The biggest challenge all entrepreneurs face How to build wealth and create fulfillment How you structure your business can make you miserable and contribute to burnout Trust is the most limiting factor What sustainability has to do with success and fulfillment What to do when you hit a goal you’ve pushed for and realize it wasn’t a worthy target How much you’re enjoying the journey speaks to how fulfilled you’ll feel when you exit The fallacy that you have to wear all the hats at once and what paradigm to use instead Why you should think about how you operate to better operate your business Partner with people who balance you, not just those whose work style match your own Automate what you can and build a system to bring in new talent to add to your team Why you should market for hiring, as well as sales When hiring, why you should “Trust, but verify” Why Austin uses the Kolbe Score to help find the right fit for roles Get clear on what you value Some of the most unhappy people Austin knew were making a lot of money Be thoughtful about your freedom and joy You’re playing different money games if you’re bootstrapped or getting funding   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Austin Brawner is the host of The Ecommerce Influence Podcast – with over 300 episodes - which focuses on advanced acquisition and retention strategies for the modern marketing executive. He has helped over 597 established ecommerce store owners, marketers, and freelancers unlock massive growth in their businesses while freeing up more time to do what they love through his coaching business and community called THE COALITION   Quotes: 05:55 - “How do you build a business that you love to work in? How do you build a business you can sell in the future? How can you build wealth in your life? And that allows you to build fulfillment in your life at the same time?” – Austin Brawner 06:26 - “Am I fulfilled doing what I’m doing right now? Am I doing the right thing? And am I doing it in a way that I can sustain over the long-term?” – Austin Brawner 09:09 - “As your business grows and you start to see there are different levels and you have to continually level up.” – Austin Brawner  13:00 - “Sustainability is really important to me. I want to be able to do the same thing I’m doing for 10-15 years without burning out. That to me is success.” – Austin Brawner  16:01 - “For me, like many entrepreneurs, freedom is a really, really big driver.” – Austin Brawner  17:10 - “Happiness is definitely not related to revenue.” – Austin Brawner  28:03 -  “They get really good at marketing their product, but they don’t even think about marketing their business to people they want to bring in.” – Austin Brawner 36:55 - “I encourage people to take more time off... They have systems set up so that when he’s out golfing, the business continues to move forward and it’s a good tell for how well organized a business is.” – Austin Brawner 38:07 - “If you’re making more money and you’ve got less freedom . . . what is the point?” – Austin Brawner  47:55 - “If you can be in a position where you can do what you’re doing consistently over time, and be comfortable with the idea of selling it or not selling it, you’re in a wonderful position.” – Austin Brawner   Links and Resources: Ecommerce Influence Podcast Brand Growth Experts Website Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

Today, we’ll be talking with Warren Rustand who has a lengthy career giving advice and running, growing and selling companies. Not only has he helped small, private businesses and taken multi-billion dollar companies public, but he has also worked alongside President Ford. Having successfully survived everything the market and life has thrown at him over decades, Warren drives home the importance of leading yourself before you lead your team. We’ll dive into ways to manage the difficult balance—and sometimes tradeoffs—we make out of our professional and personal lives.  “One’s success is relevant only when measured against one’s own potential.” What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview The value of being prescriptive at all levels, in business and at home What leadership qualities Warren learned from his father, a corporate exec-turned farmer who took over the family business unexpectedly As long as you stay on the road to your vision, you will achieve that vision, no matter how many times we have to swerve left and right Five qualities of a great leader How your achievement stories tell more about you than you think and why you should look at what you count as your achievements Why you need to look at this day if you want to achieve your dreams someday How clarity of vision, certainty of intent and powerful values impact goal setting The incredible benefits of putting a weekly thinking session into your official schedule How to design your life and make hard decisions before they happen When leaders should communicate alignment with their staff and how often they should reinforce the message The five principles of personal greatness: Commit to personal discipline; Live with purpose, every day; Act with intent; Make conscious choices; Have a cause greater than yourself What value journaling brings to your life Why you need to find people who are willing to have difficult conversations with you to help keep you on track and accountable What advocacy versus What advocacy versus inquiry has to do with your listening skills The difference between creating leaders and creating employees How being transparent kept him working alongside a President of the United States at 29 Why you should make a family mission statement and shared vision   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Warren Rustand has created, led, and grown many successful private, public, and not-for-profit entities. Having worked for President Ford, Warren is familiar with high-pressure decisions and has devoted his career to exploring vision, strategy, executive leadership and achievement. After a legacy of strong companies, Warren managed to put all of his experience and hard-earned wisdom into his book, The Leader Within Us. He has also been recognized with many honors and awards, such as: The Visionary Leadership Award, The Distinguished Citizens Award, The 25th Year Achievement Award, The Sports Hall of Fame, The Robbie Award, and Father of the Year Award. Warren is passionate about family, entrepreneurship, public policy and community.   Quotes: 07:27 - “All of us lead in different ways.” – Warren Rustand 14:21 - “If you’re not taking the time to think, the chance of you getting to that clarity of vision, the chances of you getting to what you want to become, are greatly reduced.” – Warren Rustand 17:15 - “There are three days in our lives: yesterday, today and tomorrow.” – Warren Rustand 17:52 - “What do I have to get done this day to make someday possible?” – Warren Rustand 21:10 - “I think the first great quality of a leader is humility, it’s not self-promotion.” – Warren Rustand 21:55 - “I think we’re all called to a higher purpose. And I think that part of the reason why we want to have great strategic thinking every day is to discover that higher purpose. That needs to be our clarity of vision.” – Warren Rustand 24:46 - “Some leaders are rigid, very disciplined, and some of them are more relaxed. And that’s just the nature of their personality and all that’s okay.” – Warren Rustand 39:47 - “Sometimes we need to be vulnerable, honest, and transparent. And we have to be that all the time to gain the trust of people around us.” – Warren Rustand 42:50 - “We need to be leaders in four parts of our lives: Family, business, community and self.” – Warren Rustand 46:18 “We have to predetermine what’s most important in our lives. We can’t wait for the moment and then decide at that moment.” – Warren Rustand   Links and Resources: Warren Rustand Official Website Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

There are few clubs as elite as the Century Club, and today’s guest is going to share what it takes to get there. Vicki TenHaken focused her career on the factors that make companies long-lived and boiled them down to five key things Century Club companies do consistently: Have a clear sense of mission and strong culture Establish core competencies and key strengths Focus on relationships Retain long-term employees Support local communities Today’s episode will overview the most common things companies with longevity do, how you can establish these best practices in your own business and practical advice for encouraging a long-term company. If you’re serious about legacy, this isn’t an episode you want to miss!   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview Why Vicki spent 10 years on her research agenda to find the common practices of companies that are more than 100 years oldWhat participative management is and why you should consider taking it up The main characteristics of companies that make it to the Century Club Statistically significant practices that 100-year-old companies engage in, from Japan to the USA Why a clear sense of mission and a strong culture to go along with that made the top of the list Long-lasting companies take their time making changes and therefore change successfully The “soft stuff” really, really matters—relationships and managing them Companies that stick around see partners, not simply economic exchanges, in vendors, customers, etc. New product or service ideas can come from customers and suppliers you already have The value of employee-centric reward structures, including ESOPS Why it might be time to sponsor a little league team How being environmentally conscious could help your company last longer The importance of building curiosity into your culture What’s different for a family business wanting to maintain control through the generations   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Vicki TenHaken is a seasoned corporate executive who left the business world after 25 years to enter academia. She is presently professor of management at Hope College and has previously worked with companies like GE and Herman Miller. Research on corporate longevity has become her passion as the Century Club companies she studies set the example of doing business for the good of all. Vicki is also author of Lessons from Century Club Companies: Managing for Long-Term Success.   Quotes: 4:36 - “Every company I’ve ever worked for was over 100 years old.” – Vicki TenHaken 09:31 - “Talk about learning something! Try teaching an executive MBA class on change management to people who are trying to manage their company from communism to capitalism!” – Vicki TenHaken 14:35 - “Obviously you wouldn’t be in a business that’s around 100 years old if you hadn’t done something right.” – Vicki TenHaken 21:25 - “They tended to look at profit as the result of doing what they do and doing it well. One CEO said, ‘We see profit as the fuel for our organizational engine, not our destination.’” – Vicki TenHaken 23:17 - “The difference was how the old companies managed them over time and they were very clear about investing in those competencies over time.” – Vicki TenHaken 24:23 -  “They wouldn’t still be here if they hadn’t found a way to change appropriately.” – Vicki TenHaken 30:10 - “It was because of that trust built that was built and that true partnership that they’re willing to exchange strategies and information and technologies, and then all of them are successful over time.” – Vicki TenHaken 34:25 - “There are so many benefits that come with having long-term employees, especially if you invest in their continued growth and development.” – Vicki TenHaken 40:40 - “One thing they all have in common is that they tend to be financially conservative and they are slow to take on debt.” – Vicki TenHaken 48:00 - “It comes back to the culture. It’s built into the culture that curiosity, openness to new ideas, and not being afraid to try new things, and even to fail.” – Vicki TenHaken   Links and Resources: Lessons From Century Club Companies: Managing for Long-Term Success, by Vicki TenHaken Vicki’s blog, “How 100-Year-Old-Companies Survive” Email: CenturyClubCompanies@gmail.com Email: TenHaken@hope.edu Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

Do you know how much money you are wasting on inefficiencies inside your customer base? On today’s show, we’re learning all about the Customer Profitability Framework and what you can do—today—to make a real impact on your bottom line while also increasing the value of your business. If you don’t understand your customer profit curve or how to reduce your margin leakage, we’ve got the show for you today. Our guest is David Aasen—the customer profitability master—who has been the CFO of multiple private businesses, as well as private equity firms. Learn from specific case examples like the table story, which explains how 20% of our customers drive more than 150% of our profits, and the discount story, where David walks us through the real impact of 'harmless' customer discounts. This episode is a bit more on the tactical side, but the real-world examples drive the essential points home so anyone from a C-suite exec to a three-time founder will appreciate how these metrics impact your bottom line.   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview How to drive profitable growth and reduce margin leakage What the Customer Profitability Framework is and why you should be using it You can think customer are profitable that are actually costing you money How customer profitability can be as much as 3x off what the owner thinks Inefficient processes are like an anchor holding your ship back Why you should rethink how you’re assigning costs Who you should be giving discounts and price concessions to versus the ROI on those price discounts How to find where your margin is leaking The importance of getting real data to understand your efficiencies and risks Why you should track the time of anyone who has impact on clients or customers What business owners can learn from lawyers when it comes to charging clients The power of context to bring an idea into focus Why lower customer complexity has real dollar value for your company Averages are misleading and you need to be calibrating for each client for success   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: David Aasen – the customer profitability master – has been a CFO of multiple private businesses as well as Private Equity firms. At 23, David was hired as a CFO for a $50 million global company. That experience shaped the trajectory of his career. He went from guessing what to do to developing exceptional technical skills and a stellar, well-stocked tool kit of operational finance best practices (top 10%) that demonstrates a mastery of his craft. David speaks the language of owners and value creation. His Customer Profitability Framework is well-known for helping owners find inefficiencies in services and costs of their customers. Under his financial leadership, Northern Metal increased revenue 2X and EBITDA 3X in 7 years; Norcraft increased revenue 3X and EBITDA 4X in 5 years.    Quotes: 05:45 - “What are the biggest opportunities to drive profitable growth and my expression of reducing margin leakage.” – David Aasen 06:45 - “Think of a business as a portfolio of it’s customers. It’s really that simple.” – David Aasen 11:23 - “The top 20% could be driving 150-200% of the company’s EBITDA.” – David Aasen 13:22 - “That is how I define complexity, is by profit variation by customer.” – David Aasen 15:00 -  “For complex businesses, averages are misleading.” – David Aasen 18:02 - “If they haven’t looked at these items before, their initial gains are typically much larger because it’s like an anchor. They’re dragging it and they don’t really know it. They haven’t really looked at quality before” – David Aasen 18:30 - “They didn’t even know how much free stuff they were giving away.” – David Aasen 21:51 - “Your listeners are leaving a lot of money on the table. And so this approach helps them to know who winning and losing customers are and where margins are leaking.” – David Aasen 24:27 - “Get an ROI on price discounts. You want to give them to those customers that are most profitable. Certainly not to the customers who are unprofitable.” – David Aasen 25:52 - “That’s the holy grail of metrics – measuring EBITDA percentage by customer. When you have that, that really is (what I consider to be) the best barometer as to how we’re doing, from a customer’s standpoint.” – David Aasen 26:58 - “We’re not aiming to be precise here, we just want to be directionally correct.” – David Aasen 31:30 -  “The 70% in the middle don’t matter.” – David Aasen 46:38 - “They increased their hit rate from 17% to 33% just by being smarter, by calibrating certain things.” – David Aasen 49:44 - “Now we just need a common definition of success. That’s what this is all about.”  – David Aasen 53:10 - “If you want to buy business, you go through this process and you say ‘where do we think it will be at the front end for EBITDA percentage, loss or gain, and what can we do to manage that differently?’” – David Aasen 61:55 - “The most profitable customers are typically going to have the best metrics.” – David Aasen 64:01 - “It’s not always what you see, it’s what’s missing.” – David Aasen 64:28 - “Look at data that’s missing, not just what’s in front of you.” – David Aasen   Links and Resources: Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.

If you’ve ever had doubts about how far you can go in life and in business because of how you started, this episode for you. Today’s guest is Dan Martell. Dan is the best-known name in SaaS, but did you know he was notorious in other ways before that? His message is clear: You can be and do anything if you put in the work. Today’s show follows Dan through his early years and how he got started in business — including all of his failures and missteps — and ends in a great discussion on mentorship and networking. Find out how to use buybacks to your benefit and recognize if you’re wasting energy on projects keeping you from achieving your full potential. He is open and frank about his past, his healing, and his results. He’ll back up the claim that even not-great companies can do 50% ROE and explain why every dollar you take out of your business is actually seven — and what you should do instead of taking the money out. There are quite a few takeaways from today’s episode. One of the biggest ones is, once you’ve shifted your mindset away from annual income, toward long-term value creation, then it’s time to try to buy back your time. If you want a valuable company in 3 - 5 years, what is your time worth, in order to get you there? But then after that, where are you going to invest (in your business) in order to grow the value of your company? All of these questions can be answered in two different places: Dan Martell’s YouTube channel(if you want SaaS -specific answers), and our training at ARKONA.io (if you are a business owners or entrepreneur who wants to educate yourself on how to grow the value of their company with the end in mind).   What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview Why Dan recommends more entrepreneurs reinvest their equity Spend time building your networks and picking the right mentors to help you along your journey How Dan overcame depression and anxiety after selling Spirit and what he advises other entrepreneurs Why you should be blissfully dissatisfied How to effectively use buybacks When you should hire a new role versus when you need to look at your calendar to see what roles you’re doing inefficiently What upper-limiting beliefs are and how to overcome them to achieve your true potential The importance of knowing where your genius lies and spending your time there Why you need to be aware of the type of energy you’re breathing into your team How your valuation might not be what you think it is because of value detractors It’s okay to stop just “doing” things and start thinking deeply about why and the end goal The two metrics that matter: customer retention and expansion revenue   Are You Growing The Value of Your Business Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get YourIntentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board. Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business? Do you know what you want from your business long term and why? Do you know what your company is worth? Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers? Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?   About the Guest: Dan Martell might be the best-known name in SaaS. Not only does he run the biggest YouTube channel for SaaS entrepreneurs in the world, but he has also successfully exited three companies and advises industry giants. After making his first million at 27, he was named Top Entrepreneur in New Brunswick and the top angel investor Canada-wide in 2012. He knows his stuff and is passionate about sharing his hard-won insights with every entrepreneur, no matter their background.   Quotes: 18:41 - “Entrepreneurship is my sport” – Dan Martell 19:21 - “Great business people know exactly what knobs to turn to get an outcome. And their hit rate is a hundred out of a hundred, meaning that every move is effective.” – Dan Martell 19:54 - “I call it ‘just in case’ versus ‘just in time’ — a lot of people consume information to learn about the potential future. I like to learn as I'm dealing with struggles and challenges today.” – Dan Martell 23:50 - “That ability to learn how to communicate that the economy of words, the storytelling, the, um, the understanding, their desires and how do you take what they shared.” – Dan Martell 24:26 - “Get around people that have done it before, reverse engineer what they're doing, build a good advisory board.” – Dan Martell 27:38 - “Humans need purpose and they need meaning.” – Dan Martell 29:20 - “The things we create do not make our identity.” – Dan Martell 30:37 - “On paper, they're wealthy and in their lives, they're poor.” – Dan Martell 31:06 - “Once you accumulate some level of wealth, you need to learn how to redistribute it into your life to allow you to do more.” – Dan Martell 34:53 - “You have to look at revenue and capital from your business as opportunity to buy time out of your calendar.” – Dan Martell 40:25 -  “Not only is it better for your mental health, but better for the business to use the buyback principle strategy that I teach, because it inherently will create a business it's valuable because it's not going to be dependent on you.” – Dan Martell 49:11 - “Outcomes are 100% a byproduct of you, your mindset, your decisions, your prioritizations, your strategies, your confidence, all this stuff.” – Dan Martell   Links and Resources: Instagram: @danmartell LinkedIn: Dan Martell YouTube: Dan Martell Twitter: @danmartell Dan Martell official website Mastering Your Cash Flow Digital Course ARKONA Boot Camp Reach out to me if you have questions about the boot camp!   You can also reach out to me via email at rtansom@arkona.io, or on my LinkedIn.