laurie barkman

Sometimes, what’s difficult in moving on is not about whether you do it or not, it’s about how you will do it and with whom you are doing it.

In this episode of The Disruptive Successor show, Jonathan welcomes Laurie Barkman, CEO, and Founder of SmallDotBig, who works to help business owners add value to their businesses and successions. Laurie will be sharing her story and advice to business owners who are planning their exits and successions along the way.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Introducing Laurie Barkman
• Exits and successions are as important as building and running
• Laurie's point of view on diversity
• Ins and outs of family boards
• Opening up to outside advisory boards
• Digging deep into strategic planning
• To sell or to transfer

QUOTES

Laurie - Surround yourself with equally skilled people to plan your exit:

“It's important for them to realize that they'll want to have the same kind of talent around them on the sell side or to the transaction side, whatever that exit is for them and their succession.”

Laurie - Diversity of thought, not the surface only:

“How I like to describe it, Jonathan is a diversity of thought, and people's experiences and perspectives is what makes us diverse, I don't really look at us on the surface and say, This is a diverse board.”

Laurie - Sell the business or transfer to the family:

“Selling versus the family is tricky for a lot of the reasons we mentioned, maybe we want junior to have it but Junior, again, doesn't have the skills, either Junior is not interested, they don't have the skills, or it's a time sensitivity, where we just can't wait that long to see what happens.”

Connect with Laurie and learn more about her work:

• About Laurie
• About SmallDotBig
• SmallDotBig.com

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe, review and share with a friend who would benefit from the message. If you’re interested in picking up a copy of Jonathan Goldhill’s book, Disruptive Successor, go to the website at www.DisruptiveSuccessor.com

If you were to decide you were ready to exit out of your business today, do you know what it is worth? Have you had a professional evaluation done? If you have not you should look to have one done. In fact, since my interview with Laurie, I decided to follow her advice and start that process just to know and have an understanding. 

Our guest today is Laurie Barkman. She is a business transition sherpa and is the founder of SmallDotBig where she advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses. She is also a partner at a boutique M&A firm and hosts the Succession Stories Podcast. Laurie’s experience as a CEO of a privately held company that was acquired inspired what she does today.   

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:

• Schedule a free consultation with Laurie: www.MeetLaurieBarkman.com
• Connect with Laurie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriebarkman/ 
• If you are ready to franchise your business or take it to the next level: CLICK HERE.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Laurie Barkman is a business a business transition sherpa. She’s the Founder of SmallDotBig, where she advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses. Additionally, she is a Partner with Stony Hill Advisors, a boutique M&A firm specializing in the lower middle market. Laurie also hosts the  Succession Stories Podcast, where she sits down with industry experts to uncover best practices to grow their businesses, and develop transition strategies and leadership for the future. Her experience as a CEO of a privately held company that was acquired, inspired what she does today.

ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:
This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/ or by calling Big Sky Franchise Team at: 855-824-4759. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• A lifetime of learning and micro-pivots 
• Developing CEO Dreams and an entrepreneurial spirit 
• Owning a business vs being a business owner
• Mountain climbers, craftspeople, and freedom fighters
• The 8 types of Entrepreneurship
• Working as a mergers and acquisitions advisor 
• The business model canvas
• The best way to learn about business is to run one
• What is your Return On Time?
• Being an entrepreneur can be lonely
• Deep thoughts on Tandem Talks 

QUOTES

Laurie: "If someone wants to own a business or do they want to be a business owner, I think that's where the conversation could start. What's the difference between the two? Well, one might look at it as a lifestyle. I want to have my own business, I want to be a business owner because ultimately, it's gonna give me the lifestyle that I want to live."

Laurie: "Freedom fighters, they too really value control. All three archetypes do. But the freedom fighter most of all, is the one who probably will say I am a business owner, and they will probably own that business for 20 years or longer."

Laurie: "In my story, I thought I couldn't be an entrepreneur because I didn't have the big idea. And as I have been in business so many years now, looking back 25+ years later, here I am saying I'm an entrepreneur. Well, how so? I think there are others who explore other paths. Another big path are people who are buying companies. They are acquiring businesses. They're getting an SBA loan from the government, or they're getting a loan from friends and family." 

Laurie: "For people who are really interested in exploring other options and think starting your own thing from scratch is the way to get there, I'll say to them, 'hey think again.' The other thing I would say about this notion of I can't start a business unless it's new and you know this crazy technology, I'd say, 'let's think about that, let's unpack that' and point to all kinds of examples of the type of entrepreneur that we call an Imitator. It's not negative, it's just a descriptor."

Laurie: "The number one thing is to be clear about who you are, why you're doing what you're doing, and who are you doing it for."

Laurie: "For an entrepreneur starting from scratch, what do we need to do? What is step one? Well with the students, we say, do competitive research in this space. Understand the ocean you're swimming in, the lake, the pond, the puddle, where are you stepping in, where are you swimming in." 

Craig: "Go do something, go learn. Because I say the best way to learn about business is to run one. Not like theorize, like do the canvas but don't do the canvas for six years. Do the canvas, take your time, like build it out nice, but then go learn and make the micro adjustments that we're talking about." 

Laurie: "I think that's the other side to really know from the economics in your household what do you really need to be doing because you may not truly be ready from a budget standpoint to go all in. So this test and learn, side hustle is a great way to fare that out and see if one, you would enjoy it and two, if you're seeing the market demand that you need."

You can find out more about Laurie in the links below: 

• Website: https://smalldotbig.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriebarkman/
• Business Model Canvas (Creator: Alex Osterwalder):

https://interaction.net.au/articles/business-model-canvas-template/

• 8 Types of Entrepreneurship: https://youtu.be/ceFheMe1YB4 
• Succession Stories Podcast: www.successionstories.com

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Be sure to visit our website at https://www.tandemconsulting.co/.