A really tough HOW Question for this week’s show with Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter, who are both business partners and business coaches of Maximum Value Partners www.maximumvp.com is How do I know when to overhaul my business?

As cohosts of the weekly Dirty Secrets of Small Business radio shows and podcasts, they tackle many tough HOW Questions and this week’s one is no different in having them dig deep to offer insights on how small business owners can navigate the challenging obstacles of making their businesses successful.

When does having trouble with your business turn into a total overhaul or a even closing the doors for good? It is rare that the business the owner started day one is the same business years later. All businesses go through transition, change and evolution. These changes don’t always mean growth and don’t always mean devastation either. But, if you are at the point of continually losing money or not making much money at all, you have to ask yourself: Why am I doing this and why isn’t it any fun for me to run this business anymore?

As business coaches, Jack and Adam focus on the scary six-letter word: PROFIT, are you making any money? Too many business owners cannot answer this question. They will quickly say “yes” or “no” but when we ask them how they know they are or are not making a profit they usually respond by saying “there is money in the bank” or “we are paying taxes.” While those might be signs that your business is profitable, it may not in fact be the case.

One of the Dirty Secrets of Small Business we’ve learned over the years is that most small business owners don’t understand or use their financial statements. If you don’t use financials statements to guide you and don’t know where your cash flow is coming from, how can you really chart the course for success or even know that it is time to make some significant changes or perhaps close the business down and walk away?

MVP helps business owners recalibrate and overhaul their businesses by focusing on the 7 Keys to Success. Keep things simple, starting with know what your main role is as the owner, which can be boiled down to three words: Plan, Direct and Control.

To learn more about how to know if it is time to overhaul your business turn to the March 27 podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or at http://maximumvp.com/dirty-secrets-small-business-radio-show-podcast/

Do you have any How Questions of your own to email to Jack and Adam? Do it by sending your questions to radio@maximumvp.com or submit a question on their web site at http://maximumvp.com/how/.

If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches.

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Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter business partners and business coaches of Maximum Value Partners www.maximumvp.com and cohosts of the weekly Dirty Secrets of Small Business radio show and podcasts discuss the topic of how do you incorporate faith into your business life.

Adam referenced the 2016 movie Hacksaw Ridge where the main character enlisted to fight in World War II but did not want to carry a gun or kill anyone due to his strong religious beliefs. The movie brings out the concept of being true to your beliefs, your values and your virtues while also navigating the world around you.

In today’s business world, people are often suspicious of anyone who leads with announcing their religious orientation. According to Adam, it’s sometimes seen that you are like a TV evangelist. If you are leading with your religious announcement could it be that you are deflecting something else in your background or business? Or are you just being comfortable sharing your beliefs? The old adage is not to talk about politics or religion and you need to be politically correct to hide your feelings and your beliefs. Is that really the best way to interact in a business setting?

How do you incorporate faith in your business without losing business and how do you not take it personally if the reaction is not the positive response you wanted? Jack says you have to put things into perspective and learn how to digest the feedback. Sometimes you just might have to spit out the feedback and move on. If you are part of a small company you can rarely ignore it. The intent from the person giving the feedback is not usually meant to upset someone. It may be that the comment happened in a wave of emotion or was said in an incorrect way… “I really didn’t mean to say it that way.” It may be too late to try and rewind or correct it at that point.

Even if you don’t like how someone is saying something to you…focus on what they are saying rather than on how they deliver it to you. The seventh key of the 7 Keys to Success http://maximumvp.com/7-keys-to-success/ is about presenting, which is important in one-to-one communications between you the small business owner and your employee, vendor or client.

To learn more about being your true self in business and presenting effectively turn to the March 20 podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or at http://maximumvp.com/dirty-secrets-small-business-radio-show-podcast/

Do you have any How Questions of your own to email to Jack and Adam? Do it by sending your questions to radio@maximumvp.com or submit a question on their web site at http://maximumvp.com/how/.

If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches.

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Whether you are starting out with a new business or have had your own small business for several years, you can learn a great deal by tuning into Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter have been helping small businesses with all of the challenging how questions for over 15 years with their own business, (having owned and operated over 20 small companies) as coaches for Maximum Value Partners (MVP) www.maximumvp.com. Now with their weekly radio show, Dirty Secrets of Small Business, as cohosts, they tackle the issues small business owners face day in and day out. They get business owners unstuck from the state of how!

In this week’s show there are four segments!

Segment one is a common myth of small businesses- All business owners are independently wealthy! Jack and Adam debunk this myth that all owners are draining the bank account and rolling around in cash!

Segment two is the dirty secret of the week- Most family businesses are total mess! Family businesses have their own definition of normal and which staff member has what responsibility based on the relatives (who are also part of the staff) and their relationships.

Other non-family run businesses operate as a “meritocracy:” people doing well based on their own actions versus the family name driving their position in the business. Many people feel that if you are sleeping with the boss you will have an advantage. Well that is very true!

Segment three is the How Come this or that exists? – How come state governments are not taking care of roads, the city’s bridges, flooding waterways and all the disrepair by saying that there is no money? To Adam, it’s like someone saying; “I don’t have time for that.” It is blowing off the real issue and the work needed to find a solution.

Segment four is the small business success story that is chronicled from one of their MVP clients. This week, Adam talks about one of their clients who needed to have the company run smoothly and grow when they are away from the business to take a vacation. The goal is to not to have pending disasters become reality six months down the road just because of your time away earlier in the year.

To learn more about all of these segments and how to take time away from your business, turn to the March 13 podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or at http://maximumvp.com/dirty-secrets-small-business-radio-show-podcast/

Do you have any How Questions of your own to email to Jack and Adam? Do it by sending your questions to radio@maximumvp.com or submit a question on their web site at http://maximumvp.com/how/.

If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches.

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How do I create a profit plan? How do I handle this contract? How do I make something happen? How do I make more money? There are endless “How Questions” every day with small business owners.

Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter have been helping small businesses with all of the thorny how questions for over 15 years with their own business, as coaches for Maximum Value Partners www.maximumvp.com. Now with their weekly radio show, Dirty Secrets of Small Business, as cohosts, they tackle the how questions along with this week’s topic on How to Plan Your Business. They get business owners unstuck from the state of how!

Jack and Adam provide the clarity and insight for business owners who are always thinking about business to relax a little. Business owners need to plan and also get the fun back into their business by addressing the how questions. Sometimes it just takes getting away from the business and looking at things from a different perspective.

In many situations, business owners feel out of control because they are always thinking about the business and trying to handle everything. What they can control is how to react to tough situations and how to be a boss. There is really no school on how to be a boss. Often times, according to Adam, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” Sometimes it takes outside coaches to bring things into perspective and using MVP’s 7 Keys to Success http://maximumvp.com/7-keys-to-success/ to get the business on a track that can be managed for profitability.

In this week’s show, Jack and Adam cover the all too often problem that small businesses just don’t plan for the future or even for the next quarter. “We hear the excuse time and time again, that the business owner is too busy to set aside time to plan,” said Jack.

Adam advised that everyone in the listening audience turn their calendars two months ahead and pick two days to go offsite with the key people on their team to have a planning session. Take the time to go to a hotel and also pick a place that has a nice restaurant to be able to have a good session with your people and then a good dinner.

This is the time to get everyone on the same page and plan how the business can grow, handle challenges and keep current with new technologies and advancements in the marketplace.

To learn more about how to go about planning for your company and getting everyone on the same page, go to the March 6 podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or at http://maximumvp.com/dirty-secrets-small-business-radio-show-podcast/

Do you have any How Questions of your own to email to Jack and Adam? Do it by sending your questions to radio@maximumvp.com or submit a question on their website at http://maximumvp.com/how/.

If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches.

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Jack Mencini and Adam Sonnhalter cohosts of Dirty Secrets of Small Business and business coaches with Maximum Value Partners www.maximumvp.com discuss the details on how they advise their clients of how to go about buying a company. And, more importantly, buying a company the right way.

“So many people would like to buy a company and dream about it but they think it costs too much money,” said Adam. “It is amazing there are opportunities out there to buy a company. It often doesn’t mean writing a big check.”

Jack has purchased and turned around numerous companies and he knows a thing or two about the process to buy a company. But… How do you buy it right?

As you go through the process of looking for that company to buy, an important cleansing palate questions to ask yourself is: If someone just gave it to you, handed you this company; would you take it? Is this the company for you and your dreams?

“Well, no one is going to give you a company right out, but if you structure it correctly, you can get it for minimal money down. You need to turn over rocks and look for the deals. Most people don’t have realistic targets but once you do… it becomes fun,” said Jack.

There is a lot to really looking for that company and you need to buy it right. Both Jack and Adam strongly advise that you don’t put too much up front by tapping into every resource. Red flags should be going up if you are tapping every one of your resources and asking friends and family for money to buy this business.

It comes down to the philosophy of buying it right again. You need to focus not only on the price, but the terms you can negotiate. Terms could go over a period of time where the company is making profit. In this structure, you are able to meet the terms with very little stress on your part because you are using your skills and talents to make the business profitable.

It is also key to understand which is more important to the seller, price or terms? Do they need the money sooner or later. If they just want to step away from the day-to-day operations, they may be able to wait over time for the total payment of the company.

The first step is to have a non-binding letter of intent when you go into a conversation that you are serious about buying the company from the current business owner. This takes the company off the market and allows you, the interested party, to have the serious conversations and ask the questions from the current owner as part of your due diligence process. Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and engage people who own the companies.

To learn more about how to go about buying a company, finding companies to buy and more insights on small businesses access the February 27th podcast and all the Dirty Secrets of Small Business podcasts on iTunes or at http://maximumvp.com/dirty-secrets-small-business-radio-show-podcast/

Do you have any How Questions of your own to email to Jack and Adam? Do it by sending your questions to radio@maximumvp.com or submit a question on their web site at http://maximumvp.com/how/.

If you have a success story or a question you would like to share, email or call (radio@maximumvp.com or 877-849-0670). You can also call in during the show each week at noon (EST) – 1:00 pm on WINT 1330 AM, call 440-946-9468 to ask your question to the Maximum Value Partners’ coaches.

The post How do you go about buying a company the right way? appeared first on Maximum Value Partners.

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