Be Ready To Sell... Whether You Want To or Not

Of the six D’s we talk about in business continuity planning, divorce probably gets the least amount of attention. But during divorce proceedings, business owners face an average decline in revenue of $4,000-a-month! As a result, nearly one in 20 business owners closes their doors due to the financial brunt of divorce.  To discuss this important topic, we invited Roxanne Coffelt, a CPA who specializes in business valuations during divorce proceedings, to share her thoughts on how spousal business owners can get through this difficult time, while protecting the business and its value. 

The decision to stay and grow your business versus the decision to leave and transition your business often puts a business owner at a crossroads. So rather than face the decision head-on, it gets delayed and ultimately made without much forethought or planning. In this episode, Brian Trzcinski welcomes Sam Mendelsohn of Value Builder to discuss why this decision is so important, why it must be made with sufficient lead time to be successful, and why considering your future personal and financial needs must be a part of the decision-making process. 

In this epidode, Brian Trzcinski is joined by fellow CEPA and financial planning consultant Jarrod DeSantis of MassMutual to discuss the role the business plays in an owner's personal planning picture. They discuss the three "gaps" all business owners should know--their profit, value and wealth gaps--as well as how planning for the business today can impact an owner's financial outlook in the future. 

Mavrek CEO Martin Hanson has been in the business of selling businesses for over 30 years, coordinating thousands of transactions worth billions of dollars. In spite of all those deals, Hanson shares that not once, in all those years, has a business owner who called him actually been ready to sell their business. In this episode, MassMutual's Brian Trzcinski leads a candid conversation, and a wake-up call for business owners who anticipate an exit in the next few years. 

In this episode, MassMutual's Brian Trzcinski welcomes veteran Financial Professional Rick Scruggs, of the firm Financial Designs, to discuss how life insurance can be an important component of not just a business owner's personal protection, but their business protection as well. They will share strategies that can help protect the owner and the business from unexpected and unplanned for circumstances. 

In this episode, Brian Trzcinski welcomes CEO Coach and author Abby Donnelly to discuss key findings from MassMutual's latest research study "Planning for the Unexpected".  This rank conversation includes real stories about business owners who failed to mitigate risk, and the pitfalls associated with ignoring the details in business succession planning.

In this episode, MassMutual's Brian Trzcinski welcomes Laurie Barkman, aka "The Business Transition Sherpa" to discuss some key topics from her book The Business Transition Handbook. Hear Brian and Laurie discuss why business owners view "transition" as a negative term and how an owner's mindset about transition--both positive and negative--can impact their business's value, transferability, and future success.

Potential value is something business owners are very keen on understanding. Taking a strategic approach to growing value can not just benefit the business for today, but also the owner's financial outlook in the future. In this episode, Brian Trzcinski welcomes George Sandmann, Founder and CEO of Growth Drive, to share his insight on how value growth can set the owner up for future success by making the business easier to run and ultimately more likely to sell or transition.

Two words: Family and Business. The two are intrinsically connected, but often operate on divergent planes.  In this episode, MassMutual's Brian Trzcinski welcomes Martha L. Sullivan, a CPA and consultant with The Family Business Consulting Group, to discuss balancing a thriving business while creating a lifetime of liquidity for today and a legacy for the future.

At some point in the lifecycle of a business, an owner must make a crucial decision—one that affects the business, family and employees. Do I stay and reinvest my time, energy and money in taking the business to the next level? Or do I leave and move on to the next stage of my personal and professional life? John Warrillow, author of Built To Sell and Founder of ValueBuilder, joins us to share his thoughts on how business owners can best make this decision and how that decision impacts their exit strategy.