Owner To Owner Podcast

Regional small businesses are at the centre of healthy local economies, both as a supplier of goods or services and as an employer. It's in everyone's interest that these businesses successfully transfer from one owner to another. Owners of regional businesses face additional hurdles when selling their business. In this 3 part owners of regional businesses share their own personal experiences from going through a business sale process.In this 2nd interview (over 2 weeks)  Sandra Kain from #ColesBay in #Tasmania hares her beginning to end story of landing in #ColesBay starting 2 new businesses and then completing the cycle and selling, over a much longer timeframe than she imagined, a bit over 26 years later.  We cover;arriving in 1994, taking on a #supermarket and #takeaway as one #business, and then a few years later, purchasing the #bakery next doorusing the earlier experience of owning a business in #perth but being challenged by the step up to the next levelher motivations for being in businessthe #inspiration she got from her #mother who worked in a little #MilkBar, work alongside  her, and enjoying the interaction with peoplethough I had worked before and it was my own business but this was a large scalethe benefits of good #timing with #Tasmaniantourism opening up and having #international guests coming from everywhere#colesbay being the first town in #Australia to #banplasticbags and working with @PlanetArk#tasmanina as a beautiful #cleanandgreen placehearing the signal that ït's #timetosell - knowing that the average time it would take to #sellyour business was three or four years.kicking off the #sellingprocess and getting nowhere slowly (initially by putting notices on the front of my businesses - just to see who was out there)deciding that after twelve months two years that it was not really going anywherethe challenges for young couples, young baker's in getting #financedealing with #tirekickers and endless #questionsworking alongside #goodpeople #colorfulpeoplethe difficulties in getting good people working for you in #ruralareas and #countryareashoping and then realizing that #children weren't really interested in taking on the businesses - a major turning point in her lifefeeling anxious from then onexperiencing the sense of loss after selling the business  - wandering "what you are going to do tomorrow?"finally selling and becoming farmers #breeding #BeltedGallowaysworking out that working with animals is a lot easier - because they do not answer back!!@kerrcapital Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

#regionalsmallbusinesses are at the centre of healthy #localeconomies, both as a supplier of goods or services and as an employer. It's in everyone's interest that these #businesses successfully transfer from one #owner to another.  #Owners of #regionalbusinesses face additional hurdles when selling their business. In this 3 part series #owners of #regionalbusinesses share their own personal experiences from going through a #businesssale process.This first interview (over 2 weeks) is with Carolyn Fryer from #FishCreek in #SouthGippsland who bought, revitalised, and, eventually, sold the Fish Creek General Store and Newsagency. Over the 2 weeks we cover;her plan of moving back to @FishCreek to #retire having bought a #smallfarmbeing approached by some #local people about purchasing the Fish Creek General Store and Newsagency, which was having a bit of a struggle and looked like it might close which would have been quite devastating for the small town (a nail in the coffin)the devastating impact on rural towns when they lose their general store and their newsagencysaying yes, taking on the challenge thinking it would be "interesting" and that she could "turn it around fairly quickly", offload it, go back to the farmputting off your retirement plansthe 6-year project - 2.5 years to revitalise and 3.5 years to  to sell it  (having assumed 6 months). So I ended up being there for six years - way longer than she had anticipatedthe weight felt and challenges faced by Carolyn when approached by some people who wanted to take over and 'ditch' the grocery and newsagency - as much as she wanted to sell and get out she wouldn't do that to the town, otherwise, I would have defeated the purpose of going in there to maintain this service for the localskeeping staff in the loop and motivated during uncertaintykeeping the business improvements going#stickybeaks regularly commenting "this is a lovely business"her business career and buying and selling businesses in the order of 10 businesses over the yearsher recommended #stepstoselling and the need to allow a lot more time and to be patient@kerrcapital Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

#regionalsmallbusinesses are at the centre of healthy #localeconomies, both as a supplier of goods or services and as an employer. It's in everyone's interest that these #businesses  successfully transfer from one #owner to another.  #Owners of #regionalbusinesses face additional hurdles when selling their business. In this 3 part series #owners of #regionalbusinesses share their own personal experiences from going through a #businesssale process.This first interview (over 2 weeks) is with Carolyn Fryer from #FishCreek in #SouthGippsland who bought, revitalised, and, eventually, sold the Fish Creek General Store and Newsagency. Over the 2 weeks we cover;her plan of moving back to @FishCreek to #retire having bought a #smallfarmbeing approached by some #local people about purchasing the Fish Creek General Store and Newsagency, which was having a bit of a struggle and looked like it might close which would have been quite devastating for the small town (a nail in the coffin)the devastating impact on rural towns when they lose their general store and their newsagencysaying yes, taking on the challenge thinking it would be "interesting" and that she could "turn it around fairly quickly", offload it, go back to the farmputting off your retirement plansthe 6-year project - 2.5 years to revitalise and 3.5 years to sell it  (having assumed 6 months). So I ended up being there for six years - way longer than she had anticipatedthe weight felt and challenges faced by Carolyn when approached by some people who wanted to take over and 'ditch' the grocery and newsagency - as much as she wanted to sell and get out she wouldn't do that to the town, otherwise, I would have defeated the purpose of going in there to maintain this service for the localskeeping staff in the loop and motivated during uncertaintykeeping the business improvements going#stickybeaks regularly commenting "this is a lovely business"her business career and buying and selling businesses in the order of 10 businesses over the yearsher recommended #stepstoselling and the need to allow a lot more time and to be patient@kerrcapital Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@BrucePeterson is the #founder and #owner of @GrandeExperiences and @TheLume . Bruce has built a hugely successful #globalbusiness, leading and pioneering a whole new way for #art and #culture to be viewed around the world. His companies create very large multi-sensory #digital #immersiveexperiences that have now been exhibited in about 190 cities around the world, six continents and 32 languages. At a recent count about 17 million visitors have passed through.  He did this by backing himself and from the position of an 'outsider' to the #traditionalartsindustry. We talk about;the #businessmodel - conceptualising, designing, and then creating a large cultural experiences to license to #museums and #galleries around the worldsynchronizing all the #humansenses together and touching people emotionally in art and culture, perhaps like, they haven't been touched before.owning a museum on #LeonardoDaVinci in #Romethe steps to creating the business;changing direction involvedmaking a bold movepacking up the family and going to live in Italytaking that opportunity to bring the first exhibition of #LeonardodaVinci's #machineinventions from #Italy to #Melbournelearning about the Italian way of doing business#culture and #businessthe story of #Leonardo that really hadn't been toldcreating a #globalcompany with a #higherpurpose - #educating it's audiences#storytelling as a foundation of successstarting out as a #PEteacher and making the transition from teaching to the #pharmaceuticalindustrynot wanting to #workforthemanhis main philosophies;having great people as #employees in the right positions so they can then go and do what they need to doalways look at the down side first, the upside will take care of itself#selfbelief#determinationseeking out advice and not pretending I have the answers to everythingyou don't have to have an original ideahis upbringing in #LatrobeValleybeing #Australian and working with an Italian icon, Leonardo da Vinci, and the question - why is an Australian doing this?being free of the all the internal politics of #curators, #boards, #donors, and #governments, and cutting through all the crap to get to the heart of what's important in my industry#digitaltechnology#greatart #greatartists#culturalevents #naturewww.kerrcapital.com.au www.smallbusinessbanter.com  Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@MikeFinger from @exitoasis has been a #businessowner and #businessbroker. He's had 4 successful business sales of his own and now coaches owners to help them build more sellable businesses. Mike is based in the US and in the discussion we cover;why owners need to 'learn to leave' their business more successfully.the different perspective Mike can bring from being able to sit on all sides of the table i.e he's, sold, and brokered small business sales, and seen the pluses and minuses in each of those chairscreating the freedom for the business owner to make the choice when they're readythe downside for owners in the existing #businessbroking model for selling businesseshow the #businessbroking industry is compensated based on complexity;The reason most small business owners fail to sell is because of something simpleWhy owners really want to sell – because "I've got these 3 problems in the business and I'm just tired of dealing with them."Why you can’t sell unless we solve that problemThe irony that comes when that problem starts to get solved - the owner starts to fall back in love with their business. “Hey, this isn't so bad. I'm actually making some money. Hey, this isn't so bad. I don't have to be there every day.”The key to all = Ownable is Sellable. Create a business that gives the owner of the flexibility to make either choice.How too many owners think that selling their business is their worst-case scenario.They think that's their my fallback, that's my safety net when they're not aware that best stats available show that 80 percent of small businesses will never sell.3 key questions Mike ask’s owners to work out how well progressed they are to selling;Are your results desirable?Can I buy or duplicate your results?And can you document your results?When your retirement plan is based on the sale of your businessHis dislike of the term #exitplanningHis preference for small business owners giving themselves choicesBeing into a business for years and years and then woking up one morning, and I just I don't want to do this anymoreFeeling toasted - looking in the mirror and seeing a piece of toast looking backMike’s most important pieces of advice;Not leaving things too late to get started on getting prepared to sellSet a half an hour a month, make a lunch date with your future self every month, and spend that half an hour learning about selling a business. Learning about what this topic means. If you're lucky enough to do it, it's the single biggest financial transaction you're ever going to have, how about spending half an hour month learning about it?The magic of the space that occurs right after you sell a business. It is magical, what happens there. You've got this massive thing that consumed your life for so long. You get a successful completion of that effort. You get rewarded for that effort and you get this open landscape in front of you of opportunity. I love that space. I'm talking a little bit about the money, but I'm mostly talking about that freedom to clear your brain. I carry ownership pretty heavily, right? It was always on my mind. It was always in my head. So to be set free from that, that's a fabulous thing.www.kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

AnnieWoollard from footprintsontheglobe is a TeachSDGs ( United Nations sustainabledevelopmentgoals ) Ambassador. She's a lifelong #educator, and now also a  #globaleducator on the Teach Sustainable Development Goals. Her teaching world changed after discovering the  #SDGs while teaching in a school in Melbourne. From there everything became about #globaleducation. We talk about;the origins and importance of the #SDGs which follow on from the @#Millenniumgoalsthe 17 amazing goals that make up the #unitednations #SDGs - covering #education #lifeunderwater #lifeonlandthe #2030 target date and what the objectives area wonderful campaign at the moment called the www.worldstodolist.org who are asking everyone in small steps or large steps to take them on board to work towards making a better planet, a better and more #sustainableenvironment for everyone, a more equitable worldwhy it's important whether you are an individual, a #school, a #notforprofit, a #smallbusiness, a large corporation to take these on in some small way, and to work togetherhow surprisingly everyone is often already doing something already - they just didn't have it mapped already to a goalhow it all started for Annie by resigning from her teaching job, which she really loved, to launch @FOTG in 2019 to deliver greater #globalimpactbecoming a Teach Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador and promote the global goals wherever she wentthe up's and down's of starting your own business - the leap of faith, when the easy option would have been to stay teaching where she was very happy and just roll in, roll outextending into educating businesses, #NFPs, #NGOs and government organizations about the #SDGswhy young students are the futurewhat makes up contemporary education  - #designthinking, and 21st-century skills of #problemsolving, and #innovation, and #questioning and #reasoning - that's how they're learning at the moment. So they are willing to step up and have a go and try different things, and it's completely different style of educationhow the world of #sustainability and #climatechange and #climateaction is really becoming at the forefront of people's mindswhy people need to work out what they can do to help make our planet a better place for everyoneSDGs' Sustainable Development goals in #smallbusinesshow #businessowners can become a part of this more easily - starting with something they think is interesting and resonatesthe wwwglobalgoals.org  website and the many ideas and resources out there for businesses, for schools, for corporationsthe "start small and build on" approach to avoid being overwhelmedthe major projects Annie is involved with at wwwtake3.org where she is designing and facilitating aa young leaders programs and #ProjectBlue involving a couple of hundred students (10 to 12-year-olds)  on what makes a leader all through the lens of #plasticpollution and #oceanconservation. The students were all engaged to do waste audit and to complete a 14-day challenge that aimed to change their behavior in some way, and then taking it further, by telling people, 3 people,  what you're doing so then they would tell 3 people - the ripple effecthow #covid has told us or taught us is that the world is just truly connected - what happens on one side of the world affects the other side of the world, and we're foolish. If we think we're sitting in our own little silo, and it doesn't affect us, and it does. So we do need to work together to see if we can get these goals achieved by 2030www.footprintsontheglobe.com.auwww.kerrcapital.com.au Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@MikeWilliams is #CEO of @ExitValueAdvisors and we talk about how to #value a #smallbusiness. He's valued thousands in his time! Valuations are only opinions, they are highly contentious and are part art and part science. We try to break the topic down to help #owners better understand when they should get a valuation and how to interpret the result.   Our discussion covers a lot of ground including;Mike's core philosophy - information is power if you know what your business is worth, not just when you're selling but along the waythe typical questions that can spark the need for a valuation;" What's my business worth?"" Someone has offered me this. Should I take it?"the shock owners experience when they realise "Oh, right. Okay, it's not worth what I thought it was. We better do a business plan."why valuations are actually a tool to help people make decisionsthe difference between discretionary non-discretionary valuationshow valuation is one of the few areas in business where you combine the profitability of the business with the balance sheet of the business and some measure of riskwhy Banks rarely look for valuations anymore, they used to - for small, micro-business, they look at the other assetswhat's a #multipleof earnings and why the typical range is between 1 and 5what are the characteristics that determnine your Multiple - size, margins, systems (ie the extent to which the business can run independent of the owner)how do you assess if a business is commercially viable (i.e. does it generate sufficient profit or cash flow to pay the owner of market wage, are all of the other transactions that going on in the business at arm's length and is their rent being paid on an office or a facility at market rates?)the importance of using #marketwages in a valuationwhy really highly valuable businesses can articulate a real key vision and mission, and say why customers or clients buy off themthe value and power of getting that regular perspective through a valuation on your business - it's an external perspective and a prompt tp to say "Okay, I can work on those sorts of things. That's more concrete."why valuations are simply a  well (or not) laid out opinion - they certainly are not gospelhow tax-driven accounting reports need to be adjusted to better reflect the real return or profit or surplus in a business the lack of quality data on past valuations Mike's parting advice is to always get another opinion other than your own Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@amyphillips from www.horizonmg.com.au is a #HumanResources specialist.Amy worked in HR for over a decade before taking over the Horizon Management Group, a #familybusiness her parents had started over 30 years ago, in 2018. At @horizonmg she works with clients to help them manage their people for the benefit of the people and for the business. Our real focus is on giving managers the skills to be able to manage their people well. We talk about;the importance of managing people who are in many cases the most important asset an owner has in their businesswhy people can be the most important asset in a business if they are the right peoplehow to get the right peoplehow do we then #manage, and #measure, and review their #performance and give them #feedbackhow to #motivate and #engage them to deliver on what they need to be doinghow to ensure they enjoy what they're doing, so they keep on coming back and delivering that for your business and get that personal #satisfaction from their role as wellrecognising that  rewarding for performance is not just about monetary things, it's about the need of recognition which every human being requires, whether we want to admit it or notthe costs of getting HR wrong and the benefits of actually investing some time and energy in managing that performance and satisfaction of their staff#productivitywhy HR as a business function often gets de-prioritised by more of those burning day to day issueswhen and how you might #outsource #HRwhy even when you outsource you are still responsible for it and making sure that it fits within what we're trying to achieve as an organizationthe move from #fulltimemployees to #subcontractor or #freelancer versus and the implicationswhy finding good people is currently a real challenge#hybridteamsthe complexities of managing staff with pandemic fuelled,  changing #businessgoals beyond the  basics people want to know where they're going ;what is the vision of the organization is and where that individual fits into achieving itGiving them some clear expectations and guidelines as to how you want somebody to behave. So that can be as simple as a position description and defining some company values or behaviors and they don't have to be over-engineeredthe Gallup research that found only about half of all workers strongly indicate that they know what's expected of them at work Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@HarryKras from the @fbrc is an expert in #familybusiness. He's a self-described ordinary guy who has a passion for working with families in business together and has done now for well over 30 years.He started his professional life as an #accountant but now considers himself a #forwardlooking #reformedaccountant and #facilitator. He's been a long-term user of the @Mindshop (an International Consulting Group) #platform and #methodology.A routine #estateplanning exercise brought him to working exclusively with #familybusinesses, after a realisation that great #technicaladvice wasn't enough because there was so much going on below the surface in most #familybusinesses.  In our discussion we cover;what defines a family business his definition - more than two or three family members working together in a businesswhile no business is simple, combining business with family and family #values makes for a very complex situation#decisionmaking in commercial business, with no family interests, vs family businesses i.e. employing the best possible person for the job or finding something for a son or my daughter to give them a head starthow each family is unique and each family has its own way of doing thingshow family businesses evolve from wanting to create a livelihood to educating and providing opportunities to increase family wealth, and then kind of slowly dragging family members in family members - giving an opportunity to learn or cheap employees? Getting the kids in to do the odd jobs owner's don't want to dothe numbers - 70% of businesses in Australia are family-owned family business as an enormous employer and creator of jobs wealth within the country (common with most western economies, in India and  lots of #asiancountries)#trust #familyties #familyrelationships and how these can change when a business reaches certain points the need to #professionalise and bring in other outside skillsthe #metaphor with cooking the roast - every family has their own way of doing itthe reality that while each family is unique the #issues are fairly commonaccess to #capital and the three F's #families #friends #fools the perils of the #kitchentable or #familybarbecue - there's no break from it#siblingrivalriesthe issues with #succession - animosity with #sons and #daughters overthe reluctance to airing dirty linen in public or making others aware that there's a situation or an issue going on@familybusinessaustraliadiscussing the #undiscussables.creating a safe environment where they can raise issues and avoiding #ww3@kerrcapital.com.au  Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au 

@SamHemphill co-founded @Meeum which builds #techfluency and #digitalempowerment in #businessowners.@Meeum also works with digital professionals who want to #reskill, or build complementary #skills. Sam studied to be a #highschool #educator and while at #university ran a booking agency and a tour management company. He then got heavily involved in the #musicindustry in #Brisbane as both a #performer and a #manager.  A lot of the work he was doing  was #marketing, getting bands known and #ontheroad. As a byproduct, he got really interested in #webaccessibility which remains a big passion.In our discussion we cover; how #COVID caused a lot of #businesses to have to #godigital even though they may not have wanted to, or may not have considered it to be particularly imperative before thatthe really significant crossover between #webaccessibility, #SEO and user experience #uxhow and why they teach people how to #code #websiteswhy #Knowledgeispowerhis favorite #analogy for explaining why #business should invest in some #diy #digitalfluencyhow having that core understanding of #digital #onlinemarketing etc,  even if you're not going to do it yourself, goes a long way to really helping you run your business  more productivelywhy every business needs a #website (well most businesses)  because you can't just rely on having a #Facebookpagethe secrets of good #SEOwhat #SEO means at a basic level - that people can find you for the #searchterms that you want to be found for#customerjourneymappinghis advice to #takeitslowly but not quit too early, and not chase #tworabbits@CasadeCambioConsulting as a great example of business that benefitted from an investment in better #SEOwhat #websiteplatform should we be on and how to decidethe crossover in many things that are good for the user experience and also good for SEO e.g. like speeding up your website. Your customers love it, so does Googlethe power of owning and controlling your #website and your #email because @facebook and other #socialmediaplatforms can change their #algorithm at any time, and have multiple times.  So don't build your castle on somebody else's landthe power of #backlinks and #content and #PR@www.kerrcapital.com.au     Thanks for listening.  Visit the Owner To Owner Podcast website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show.Search @ownertoownerpodcast on your favourite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes.Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business.michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.auwww.ownertoownerpodcast.com.au