Monthly Archives: October 2018

How Not To Lead Like Hue Jackson

October 26, 2018Uncategorizeddirty-secrets-of-small

In This Episode

Being in Cleveland, we have a lot of sports talk. This time of year we have lots of football talk. Specifically Cleveland Browns football. When things don’t go well everyone wants changes and has opinions on why things aren’t going well.

Some of the smartest and successful people I know have an uncanny ability to learn from other people’s mistakes. This is key as it saves them from having to make all those mistakes themselves. In tonight’s show we share some lessons of what not to do as a leader of your business based on the leadership of the Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson.

Anyone who knows my partner Jack Mencini knows that Jack is not fond of Hue, but we thought it would be good to try to take some positives out of a not so great situation. Here are a few of the leadership lessons we shared in tonight’s show:

Instill Confidence: few things are more important as a leader than to instill confidence in other people. Unfortunately Hue does a lot of things that damage people’s confidence in him, not the least of which is his incessant habit of talking in platitudes and cliches. If you listen to or read the transcripts from Hue’s interviews you’ll be confused trying to figure out what he’s trying to say. This is part of a bigger problem in terms of Hue’s overall communication style and ability (at least what he’s demonstrated publicly). A big part of what should be communicated is problems identified and then potential solutions.
Better Not To Say It Than Say The Wrong Thing: one subtle part of communication that is lacking for Hue is his ability to not say something. It often appears that he’s just speaking from the hip and not being as conscious as he should be of not saying the wrong thing. He’d do well to just simply skip questions vs. say these wrong things. He has to realize that he doesn’t need to have all the answers, but instead needs to articulate the next steps.
Don’t Rely On Your Title: if I have to hear Hue tell us one more time that he is the “Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns” I think I’m going to puke! This is a very sensitive trump card that you as the leader better use very sparingly. Things like “hey I’m the boss so do what I say” or something similar.
Praise in Public and Correct/Criticize in Private: nobody appreciates being called out in public. When I screw up I usually know that I screwed up. You don’t need to scream it from the rooftops, not if you want to get the best out of me and my loyalty and best effort. A little humility goes a long way as a leader as well so don’t always be touting your own abilities to the detriment of the team around you.

There’s a lot of other good stuff in tonight’s show and at the end of the day we can all learn something from Hue’s shortcomings. Here’s to hoping even Hue learns from his own leadership mistakes and rights this Cleveland Browns ship!

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Good to Great by Jim Collins (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_to_Great)
Peter Principle (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle)
Bill Belichick (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Belichick)
ESPN Survey Ranking 118 Coaches in North American Four Major Sports (https://dawgpounddaily.com/2018/10/19/cleveland-browns-hue-jackson-worst-coach-major-sports/)

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Do You Know Where All Your $ Is Hiding In Your Business?

October 18, 2018Uncategorizeddirty-secrets-of-small

In This Episode

We have found that most owners don’t have a good handle on exactly how much money they are taking out of their business. It’s not that they don’t care. It’s more a factor of there being so many ways people get value out of there business. Some things have been going on for so long that many owners simply forget about them or simply take them for granted.

One of the exercises we go through with many of our business coaching clients is helping them get a sense for the value of their company. One of the most common ways a potential buyer will value your company has to do with placing a multiple on something known as “owner discretionary cash flow”. I know that sounds like a fancy pants word but the idea is to capture all the cash that the owner has control of and to show the true ability for the business to generate cash.

The starting point to figure these things out is your Profit & Loss statement (“P&L). You want to start at the bottom line (i.e. net income) and add back cash items that are outside the normal operations of the business. Some categories to consider looking into for these add backs include:

Owner as Employee Expenses: for the owner this includes things like salary, employment taxes, healthcare, 401k and/or other retirement accounts.
“Personal” Stuff: when you own a business there are often blurry lines between what’s considered a business vs. personal expense. Some examples would include things like cell phones, vehicle leases, dinner/lunch, gas, rent and travel. Many owners have never personally paid a bill for Verizon because the company has always covered their cell phone bill.
Professional Services: chances are there are some professional services you have engaged to help you grow and get better as a business owner that are outside of the basic requirements like having an accountant file your taxes. Perhaps you’ve brought in a consultant or coach to help with a project or to do some training.

In addition to all of these P&L items, you’ll also want to look at your Balance Sheet to see what other things might be paid for but aren’t showing up as expenses on the P&L. This could include things like auto loans and distributions to cover tax payments or to simply take additional funds out of the business. There are also “non-cash” things like credit card points and airline miles and hotel points. Lots of stuff to consider here but certainly worthwhile to help reinforce for you exactly why you continue to do what you do when running your business!

The post Do You Know Where All Your $ Is Hiding In Your Business? appeared first on Maximum Value Partners.

The post Do You Know Where All Your $ Is Hiding In Your Business? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.

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How Do I Present To An Investor?

October 12, 2018Uncategorizeddirty-secrets-of-small

In This Episode

Many people are surprised that most business owners have never had to present their business before. Whether it be to a financing source (e.g. investor or banker), their team, or to anyone else. We have found that most owners simply put their heads down and grind out at the work of their business.

If you’re around long enough, at some point you’re going to be faced with the situation where you have to present your company to an outsider. Heck, it may even be a potential buyer of your business. Do you really want your first real presentation to be to the person who might buy your business?

We spent time on tonight’s show going through different things to focus on if you want to knock that presentation out of the park. The best starting point is our 7 Keys to Success in terms of what things you should cover (with the 7th Key being the actual presentation itself). A couple of particularly important:

Organization (key #4): be sure to include your team in these presentations. One fo the things that gives potential investors or buyers comfort is to see how there is a good team behind the owner.
Marketing (key #3): in this area you want to focus and understand your competition and your customers (as well as potential customers and target markets)
Profit Plan (key #2): this has to do with your numbers. On this item in particular it’s key that the owner has familiarity with, and preferably command of, the financials. The banker/investor/buyer of the business is betting on you as the owner and not your CPA or someone else who you might currently be the one heading up your numbers.

When it comes down to it, a good presentation can make up for a lot of other shortcomings in your business. Even if you don’t have answers to some tough questions, the fact that you can address those questions and explain why you don’t have good answers right now builds confidence in those folks who are grading your presentation. But in this case instead of gold stars you’ll be getting investments.