Monthly Archives: September 2016

There’s No “Off Switch” On Your Brain to Stop Thinking About Your Business



img_1669My spouse or significant other isn’t involved in my business…this is a common myth that many small business owners feel is the truth because their significant other doesn’t go to the office or place of business with them everyday. The fact is that the most important person in your life is influencing your business decisions even if they aren’t physically in the office. This week, Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter of Maximum Value Partners (MVP) http://maximumvp.com debunk this myth and explain that the spouse is in a very influential position as they are living and sleeping with the owner and have access to the owner that no one else does. The results of the business impact their livelihood as much as anyone else.

As it is important to communicate clearly with your employees it is equally important to find ways to communicate clearly with your spouse about what is going on in the business aside from what has been deposited in the bank. Your spouse cares about you and truly cares about your wins and worries with the business.

Dirty Secret

In this week’s show, Jack and Adam also cover the dirty secret that even if you don’t realize it, as a business owner, there’s no “off switch” on your brain to stop thinking about your business. There are times that even if you aren’t in the work environment your thoughts go to your business. You could be at a restaurant having great service from the wait staff and thinking, wow this is a really great employee… I wonder how the restaurant owner does it to find a great employee like that? How can I find other great employees for my business? And then your thoughts are off to the races and it may be your dinner companions have to nudge you back to reality.

“It’s important that you realize there are times you need to put the work thought switch on pause or realize that there needs to be time when you need a break from the constant thoughts of your business,” said Adam. If you have experienced this constant thought process about your small business and would like to share your insights with Jack and Adam on how you effectively manage it, call 877-849-0670 or email radio@maximumvp.com

How Come?

Tune in to hear Jack’s How Come? when he talks about:
How come there are so many good questions to ponder that could have life changing consequences? One question to ponder is that if you had one opportunity to be different what would you change about yourself? Change is hard for everyone and especially those with small businesses. There are problems in small business and we tend to move it aside rather than addressing them. Trying to make one change or many changes is often difficult but small victories build on significant change both in personal lives and for businesses that need to change to make their operations more profitable.

Every week, tune into DirtySecretsofSmallBusiness.com to catch up on a small business success story highlighting an experience from one of Maximum Value Partners’ clients. You can also catch up on all the podcasts and learn more about how to be a productive and successful business owner and if running a small business is really right for you!

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Most of Your Team Will Disappoint You Eventually



img_1685A myth that many small business owners buy into is that they should be very active in social media. This week, Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter of Maximum Value Partners (MVP) hhtp://maximumvp.com debunk this myth about social media total involvement with down to earth common sense. So often every marketing person you talk to will say that not participating in social media is no longer an option. Adam would agree that from this standpoint that many of the social media sites have been around for a while and the concept of being totally involved seems to have stuck. According to an article from Emily Copp, there are over 3 billion internet users and over 2 billion have active social media accounts. People often view social media as free marketing and it is if you also consider your time involvement to be free too!

According to Jack, “like any other pat of you marketing plan, you should have a schedule in place to focus on social media platforms that make the most sense for your business starting with where do your targeted customers gravitate towards. There are only so many hours in a day and if you can designate a trusted person on your team to be the social media guru for your business, that is certainly a good way to go.”

Dirty Secret of the Week

In this week’s show, Jack and Adam also cover the dirty secret that most of your team will disappoint you eventually. Whether it is because they are not as engaged as they should be or their level of helping you grow the business has diminished or their growth and talent have leveled off…it is somewhat inevitable that some of your team will become disappointing as the years go by. In this topic, they also emphasized the philosophy that not having close friends or family members as your employees sometime makes it easier to deal with the eventual or possible disappointment from individuals on your team. If you have experienced this disappointment and would like to share your insights with Jack and Adam, call 877-849-0670 or email radio@maximumvp.com

How Come?

Tune in to hear Jack’s How Come? when he talks about:
How come it’s getting harder to define a technology company? Jack digs into the conundrum that every company utilizing some form of technology to make their business better or more state-of-the-art seems to tack on the description of being a superior technology company. Jack also discusses: How does technology affect you, your products and your market? How does technology help my small business make it happen on purpose?

Every week, tune into DirtySecretsofSmallBusiness.com to catch up on a small business success story highlighting an experience from one of Maximum Value Partners’ clients. You can also catch up on all the podcasts and learn more about how to be a productive and successful business owner and if running a small business is really right for you!

The post Most of Your Team Will Disappoint You Eventually appeared first on Maximum Value Partners.

The post Most of Your Team Will Disappoint You Eventually appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.


You Don’t Need Money to Buy a Company



2016-07-13IMG_1418-opt6This week, Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter of Maximum Value Partners (MVP) cover the common myth that customers only care about low prices. There is an old adage when you are looking for services or products that you can have it quick, cheap or right… you just have to pick two of the three. 

Has it always been this way that price is the only thing a customer or client really cares about?

If your only competitive advantage is price, you are on a going out of business curve., There has to be more to your service and product offering than just being at the right price. What happens in small business environments requires more than just a fair or low price to get the sale. The small business owner has to demonstrate the attributes of their products and services to convey value and providing a solution to the client’s needs. It comes down to customers really wanting more than just a good price. Knowing how to present your value proposition and being able to be profitable from the sale are keys to success. Jack and Adam coach small business owners to develop the skills to reach their business goals.

In this week’s show, Jack and Adam also cover the dirty secret that you don’t need money to buy a company. There are ways to negotiate a win-win situation for the small business owner and the owner of the company he or she is looking to sell. If you want to learn the ins and outs of how to successfully buy a company with either very little money down or no money down, call Jack and Adam to talk about it at 877-849-0670 or email radio@maximumvp.com

How Come?

Tune in to hear Jack’s How Come? when he talks about:

How come all these journalists want to see Trump’s tax returns?  What value is that? There are bigger issues on trade, war, education and government spending. Why aren’t the journalists asking to address these hard questions?

Taking this week’s how come question and relating it to small business centers around the amount of information employees should know and understand about the owner’s numbers.

“With our clients, we advocate that they share information on their P&L with their employees; to share everything but the information on the individual employee salary amounts on payroll.

“This openness and transparency of discussing sales, revenues, profits and goals with the employees creates an atmosphere of understanding the challenges and excitement of building the small business. In discussing the P&L numbers, the small business owner and the employees both feel part of an organization where they understand how they can help build it on a path for greater success,” said Adam.

Every week, tune into DirtySecretsofSmallBusiness.com to catch up on all the podcasts, hear about their clients’ Success Stories and learn more about how to be a productive and successful business owner and if running a small business is really right for you!

The post You Don’t Need Money to Buy a Company appeared first on Maximum Value Partners.

The post You Don’t Need Money to Buy a Company appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.


Most Small Businesses Are Really Banks



Dirty Secrets of Small Business in the studioThis week, Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter of Maximum Value Partners (MVP) cover the topic and the dirty secret that Most Small Businesses Are Really Banks!

As a small business owner, take a look at your Accounts Receivable on your balance sheet. Are there entries older than 30 or 60 days? Or do they go way, way beyond the normal terms of payment that you discussed when they first became your customer?

“It happens so often with many of our clients,” said Jack, “Our clients experience great growth and they will ask us where all the money is after paying their employees and their other expenses? They will comment: ‘My CPA tells me I’m profitable, but I don’t have any cash’.”

We usually ask them if they understand their financial statements. In most cases, they really don’t – and are surprised to find out that much of their cash is tied up in receivables or inventory. Then comes the difficult realization that they’ve become a bank for many of their customers who aren’t paying in a timely fashion. We coach many of our small business owner clients on how to get out of this situation and avoid getting into it in the future. One simple step all businesses should institute is having new customers fill out a credit application so you can perform a credit check on this potential new customer.

Not many of MVP’s clients initially do this important step because they are too caught up in the excitement of landing the new business. They assume payment will not be an issue. People often get worn down by the collection process, but cash flow is the lifeblood of any healthy small business and business owners need to stay on top of their receivables. If you have had this dilemma, call Jack and Adam to talk about it at 877-849-0670. 

How Come?

Tune in to hear Jack’s How Come? when he talks about:

How come if we learn from our mistakes, why are people so afraid to make a mistake?

In this segment, Jack refers to blogger and writer, Lisbeth Saunders Medlock.

Jack took an excerpt from Medlock’s article in summarizing that mistakes derive meaning from what we desire and what we see as success. ‘In many cases, what I see as important and desirable and being a success will be a failure if the situation or project does not go as I planned.’

Mistakes can be beneficial to inspire others—we all make mistakes and we need to accept that we are flawed. In a work environment, failure can inspire the group to say great things about what you, as a leader, have done and they will be inspired that you, as their leader, can admit that you have made mistakes.

In a family dynamic, grandparents have a war chest of stories of when mom and dad screwed up that the kids love to hear about it… it humanizes their parents. In a workplace, recognizing failure also humanizes the leader in front of the team to show growth and humanity.

How do you make mistakes on purpose? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to keep moving forward and put yourself in an environment to keep achieving and learning.

As the boss, be willing to accept mistakes in your employees who are trying to grow and move forward to help the business and themselves be successful. Your mistakes and theirs will inspire others to own up to it and to share the learnings.

Every week, tune into http://dirtysecretsofsmallbusiness.com to catch up on all the podcasts, hear about their clients’ Success Stories and learn more about how to be a productive and successful business owner and if running a small business is really right for you!

The post Most Small Businesses Are Really Banks appeared first on Maximum Value Partners.

The post Most Small Businesses Are Really Banks appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.