We would strongly encourage listening to Part One which is Episode 102 if you’re at all thinking that a sale to insiders could be a possibility and you have yet to do so…Today in Part Two we want to review some common mistakes that we would counsel against …#1 – Selling too much stock too soon#2 – Including too many employees in the key employees group #3 – Including employees in the key employees group who don’t like each other#4 – Communicating with the Insiders 

In the work we do, we are agnostic as to how an owner exits. We want to help the owner, or owners, first clarify and establish their financial and values-based goals for exit and then identify and plan for the exit route that will best attain their goals.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com============================================“We want you to help you build a business that is sellable and exitsuccessfully on your own terms and conditions.” - Pat Ennis============================================👇Subscribe To The Channel By Clicking Below!👇CHECK OUT THESE TOP TRENDING PLAYLISTS NOW! ExitReadiness Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej2xh-2-WXwKKQHbad2sQfD-Live Events: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej3Y4QRGndGPt-InMssUD7pq============================================About Pat:With decades of experience in financial services, for-profit and non-profit leadership and management, along with the founding of ELP in 2010, Pat has extensive knowledge and understanding of the many challenges faced by business owners. His knowledge base, experience, and training results in a goals-based, comprehensive approach for business owners’ who are intent on building transferable business value and exiting their business responsibly and successfully.Technical knowledge is evidenced by the professional certifications of Certified Exit Planner (CExP®), Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy (CAP®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Having pursued much training, along with years of ministry experience, Pat is also particularly proficient in meeting facilitation and the "soft skills" needed for clarifying and establishing owner goals and values, and managing a team of advisors in designing and implementing a plan.Past employment includes Fidelity Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Sentinel Wealth Management. Additional employment information is available in Pat's LinkedIn Profile.Pat has also served on various non-profit boards including Advisors in Philanthropy DC, Peacemaker Ministries, Montgomery County Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Razoo Foundation. He and his wife Charlotte have three children, live in Montgomery Village, MD, and are members of Covenant Life Church.About Walter: Walter H. Deyhle, CPA, ABV, CFF, MAFF, CExP™, CEPA is a partner and the director of GRF CPAs & Advisors Tax and Exit Planning consulting division. Mr. Deyhle addresses particularly complex issues with clients concerning investments, and estate and gift taxes with a specific concentration helping business owners transition their business.Walter holds the CExP™ designation from the Business Enterprise Institute and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He has been involved in the business valuation process for approximately 15 years utilizing his expertise for mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and reorganizations. He has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 1995 and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts since 1993, and is a former member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Business Valuation/Litigation Support Committee. Walter received the designation of Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) from the AICPA, has an M.S. in Taxation from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. ============================================CONNECT WITH PAT AND WALTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUmJP3Fm4rYbRAQhYQkpgExitReadiness Blog: https://ennislp.com/read-our-blogFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/exitreadinessInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennislp/Pat’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Walter’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/Website: Ennislp.com#PatEnnis #WalterDeyhle #ExitReadiness============================================Learn more about Pat and Walter: https://ennislp.com/about

It’s not unusual for us to hear from clients or prospective clients that they want to “test the waters” in selling their business. In other words, take it to market “as is” and see what happens.This is one of the areas, where the phrase “I don’t know what I don’t know” can result in a bad idea…In his book, The Art of Selling Your Business, John Warrillow says, “you don’t want to put your business on the market unless you’re fully committed to seeing it through…”A book we’d highly recommend by the way.And that’s what we want to discuss today, Testing the Waters Is A Bad Idea.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com============================================“We want you to help you build a business that is sellable and exitsuccessfully on your own terms and conditions.” - Pat Ennis============================================👇Subscribe To The Channel By Clicking Below!👇CHECK OUT THESE TOP TRENDING PLAYLISTS NOW! ExitReadiness Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej2xh-2-WXwKKQHbad2sQfD-Live Events: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej3Y4QRGndGPt-InMssUD7pq============================================About Pat:With decades of experience in financial services, for-profit and non-profit leadership and management, along with the founding of ELP in 2010, Pat has extensive knowledge and understanding of the many challenges faced by business owners. His knowledge base, experience, and training results in a goals-based, comprehensive approach for business owners’ who are intent on building transferable business value and exiting their business responsibly and successfully.Technical knowledge is evidenced by the professional certifications of Certified Exit Planner (CExP®), Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy (CAP®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Having pursued much training, along with years of ministry experience, Pat is also particularly proficient in meeting facilitation and the "soft skills" needed for clarifying and establishing owner goals and values, and managing a team of advisors in designing and implementing a plan.Past employment includes Fidelity Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Sentinel Wealth Management. Additional employment information is available in Pat's LinkedIn Profile.Pat has also served on various non-profit boards including Advisors in Philanthropy DC, Peacemaker Ministries, Montgomery County Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Razoo Foundation. He and his wife Charlotte have three children, live in Montgomery Village, MD, and are members of Covenant Life Church.About Walter: Walter H. Deyhle, CPA, ABV, CFF, MAFF, CExP™, CEPA is a partner and the director of GRF CPAs & Advisors Tax and Exit Planning consulting division. Mr. Deyhle addresses particularly complex issues with clients concerning investments, and estate and gift taxes with a specific concentration helping business owners transition their business.Walter holds the CExP™ designation from the Business Enterprise Institute and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He has been involved in the business valuation process for approximately 15 years utilizing his expertise for mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and reorganizations. He has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 1995 and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts since 1993, and is a former member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Business Valuation/Litigation Support Committee. Walter received the designation of Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) from the AICPA, has an M.S. in Taxation from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. ============================================CONNECT WITH PAT AND WALTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUmJP3Fm4rYbRAQhYQkpgExitReadiness Blog: https://ennislp.com/read-our-blogFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/exitreadinessInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennislp/Pat’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Walter’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/Website: Ennislp.com#PatEnnis #WalterDeyhle #ExitReadiness============================================Learn more about Pat and Walter: https://ennislp.com/about

The problem that we're going to be discussing today is your business continuing if you are no longer available to run it…- Most business owners would want their business to continue... for at least a period of time... if they were to unexpectedly die or become permanently incapacitated.- But all too often…due to a lack of pre-planning…the business dies when the owner can no longer be available due to one of these situations…impacting negatively the employees, customers, and all stakeholders…but most importantly the owner’s spouse and/or family.- When it comes to exit planning, if it’s important to you that the business indeed continues if you don’t for reason…this really is the first area to focus on.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

If you’ve been a regular listener, you’ve heard our consistent exhortation to “start planning now! Because it takes longer than you think to get ready for a successful exit -- if you wait to begin planning until you’re quote ‘ready to exit’ then you and your business won’t be ready!” You’ve heard us say these things so many times your response might be something like, “OK start planning today, I get it, enough already!"Or perhaps you’ve had this thought, ”That sounds self-serving, get started planning today and, that’s fair it can sound self-serving but it’s probably the most important thing we say in any of these episodes"So, we’re going to highlight today some clear reasons why it’s wise to start planning sooner rather than later today’s topic isWhy Do I Need To Start Planning Now???Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

An issue that is important but often overlooked by business owners when preparing their business for a sale is working capital with owners we’ve worked with there has been at least confusion as to how working capital should be considered or treated if not total neglect due to ignorance until the sale is being negotiated. So we want to bring some clarity today to this important but often overlooked planning issue as we discuss Working Capital and Preparing for a Business Sale Negotiation Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

Today we want to talk about how accelerating business value and creating streams of revenue with your intellectual property or IP – this can easily be overlooked by small business owners…or if not overlooked completely, perhaps not prioritized as it should be.Just like many of the topics we discuss, it can be tough to know where to begin and some owners don’t have a clear understanding of what qualifies as IP, let alone how to monetize it creating value and growing revenue. Sometimes owners have extremely valuable IP that their not even aware of.And so our topic today is “Do You Have a Rembrandt In Your Business Attic?”Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In building value, of course a steady increase in revenues is a key driver of value, and increasing revenues always involves some level of marketing strategy. Perhaps your strategy has been word-of-mouth and referrals, or mailers, or email campaigns and you have a website that you also consider to be instrumental in marketing your business. But your website is not creating revenue and you’re just not sure how to make that happen, or perhaps it just seems too complicated, so you haven’t taken any steps to make it happen. And maybe you question whether it’s even worth the time and expense it would take generate any revenue from your site.Well, we want to continue to bring clarity to this issue of websites and marketing strategies…so that’s what we’re going to talk about today.Simplifying Your Website Marketing StrategyWant to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In his book The Boutique, author Greg Alexander describes a Boutique professional services firm as being past the start-up stage but pre-scale. Examples being found in consulting, marketing, advertising, IT, etc. Basically, anyone that sells their expertise, maybe even an accounting or exit planning firm.Greg explains in The Boutique how to start, scale, and sell a professional services firm and he is a very credible source as he has done just that successfully launched, scaled, and then sold his professional services firm for nine figures.In this episode we’re going to focus on growth and scalability with the hopes of having Greg back in the future to discuss exit.Our topic today is Professional Services Firms and Scalability.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

We’re excited to have with us guests Elizabeth Carr Ph.D, and Attorney Cherie Morris.Elizabeth is the founder of Kentlands Psychotherapy which she launched in 2005 after serving six years as a Navy Clinical Psychologist. She continues to see some existing clients…but her role is now mostly one of leadership, administration, mentoring, and supervision of interns.Cherie is a lawyer and now a full-time conflict coach and transformational mediator. She is a student of relationships and has expertise in advising individuals and couples on communication and co-parenting…as well as helping families and small businesses resolve conflict. You can learn more about Cherie at www.Recompose.Us.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In building a sellable business, you also need to “protect the value of your business” and continually manage areas of risk like the one we’re going to talk about today cyber security…This is an area of risk management that we highlight at least annually because it’s so important and relevant. And if you’ve listened to any of the past episodes on the topic you’ve heard us mention the following statistics… 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses.60% of small businesses that are attacked go out of business within six months.66% are concerned about cyber security risk.While 47% say they have no understanding of how to protect themselves against attacks.We want to help you build a business that can eventually be sold or transferred for maximum value --- and clearly if you experience a cyber attack…the chances of that happening are significantly reduced…And today we are going to discuss how a cyber attack could negatively impact your business reputation…Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

Today we’re going to hear from a gentleman who has indeed exited on his own terms and conditions with the successful implementation of an ESOP or Employee Stock Ownership Plan.We occasionally have Keith Apton of the Capitol ESOP Group on to review the pros and cons and inter-workings of an ESOP…and we’d suggest that anyone interested in ESOPs go back and listen to those episodes…but today our guest is right now experiencing an ESOP as a selling owner.Todays’ topic is “A Successful ESOP Story” and our guest is Kris DenBesten, the past owner of Vermeer Southeast Sales and Service…which was a 2nd generation family business established in 1967 until the family sold to an ESOP three years ago…Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In building a sellable or transferable business a key value driver is a next level management team – a management team that can take your business to the next level of growth.And, deciding on the right plans to incentivize those key employees to grow the company as well as stay with the company requires careful and thoughtful planning.A very common question business owners face is when and if to award equity in their business to these key employees.For start-ups with an established goal of exit within a period of time with the sale of the business…a key strategy could be awarding equity or options for equity at launch…but for other small businesses the decision may not be so easy…And that’s our topic today… My Employees Want Equity…What Should I Do?  Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

If you’ve listened in before, you know that we mostly cover topics of interest to owners who want to accelerate and protect the value of their business and then exit it…which often results in a third party sale.Today we are going to discuss some considerations on the buy-side or when someone is interested in buying a business…And, actually, buying a business, or having an acquisition strategy, may be part of your strategy for growth and building value…We’re going to talk about why a business owner would consider growing through acquisition…common pitfalls on the buy-side M&A process…and how a transaction intermediary can be helpful in the process…So that’s our topic today…Buy-Side ConsiderationsAnd our guest is Laurie Barkman of Stony Hill AdvisorsWant to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In building sellable or transferable value…there are key drivers of business value such as financial performance, a growth strategy, recurring revenue, a diversified customer base and strong systems and processes. And the right technology solutions are foundational to having strong and repeatable systems and processes.But it can be real tough to know what tech solutions are right for your business when there is an endless list of options, and possibly even tougher to get them implemented once purchased.So that’s our topic today… Improving Processes with The Right TechnologyWant to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In five words, Sir Richard Branson summed up his leadership credo in a Forbes interview: "Listen more than you talk."According to Branson, if you want to be a great leader, it’s more important to be a great listener than a great speaker because "nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak."And, working with small business owners we have found Sir Richard’s exhortation to have proven results.The most successful business owners we work with the owners who realize consistent growth and profitability, build sellable value, and have happy employees and customers excel at listening.They listen as much, if not more, than they talk, they understand “they don’t know what they don’t know” and how that can hurt their business in both the short and long-term, and so, they listen and seek to understand their employees, customers, suppliers, vendors and the advice provided by consultants and advisors.We see it over and over and think it’s essential to building a sellable business and exiting on your own terms and conditions…So out topic today is The Importance of Listening Skills in Building the Value of Your BusinessWant to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

One of our key value adds to client engagements is identifying and testing business owner assumptions pertaining to the exit of their business. Wrong assumptions can result in an unsuccessful or even bad exit. Assumptions about timing, potential owners and buyers, business value, and many other issues can result in a bad exit. And because owners don’t know what they don’t know they need help identifying their assumptions how those assumptions can negatively impact their eventual exit…and that is a big part of our job, which is why our topic today is Wrong Assumptions Resulting in Bad ExitsWant to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

In 2021, Walter and I both participated as Speakers in an impactful virtual exit planning conference 10X Live – The Exit Plan Summit, founded and hosted by today’s guest Scott Duke…Having built 11 companies, Scott is a lifetime entrepreneur. From hot dog carts to radio stations and multi-location sports facilities. Currently, Scott is the owner of OpnRoad, an M&A advisory firm servicing the construction sector. He is also the founder of Welstand Business Brokers and the managing broker of a chain of property management companies in BC, Canada. You can find Scott on his YouTube channel - The Happy Dealmaker - at the annual exit plan industry conference he founded - 10XLIVE - or on LinkedIn @thehappydealmaker.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

Today’s goal is to help you understand the importance of IRS Tax Form 8594 in preparing for sale of your business to a third party…It might serve to first review the different types of transactions:- Stock sale- Asset sale-Stock sale taxed like an asset sale (338)(h)(10) election.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

If you’ve listened in at any time in the past, you’ve heard us mention the certainty that all business owners will stop being business owners at some point, and so there is no better time to begin planning for the inevitable than the present. The earlier you begin planning, the more options you will have for a successful exit.However, like any strategic plan, it can be tough to know how and where to begin. So that’s our topic for today’s discussion: An Exit Planning Checklist for 2022.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

We are not at all experts on programming, coding or coding language.So we know what it’s like to be in a conversation with one or more tech folks when they start with the tech jargon as if we know what they’re talking about stuff like Electronic Data Interchange, Code-Free Interface, and a lot of times its acronyms like ETLs, APIs, CSVs…Well we can tend to do the same thing can’t we with terms like GRATs, ESOPs and of course EBITDA, we can wrongly assume that owners know what these things mean.So today, we’re going to define a term or phrase that we that we use often that not all owners are familiar with and yet is very important to understand in building a business that’s sellable and then successfully exiting, Quality of Earnings.The topic today is Due Diligence and Quality of Earnings Analysis Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com

This week, we received a letter from a listener asking us to help encourage her husband to begin planning for their exit from their business. And joining us to discuss this critical issue is friend and Attorney Stuart Sorkin. Stuart is the founder of The Business and Legal Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in the financial and legal protection of business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs throughout the United States and overseas. He works with startups to mid-size business owners to integrate their personal estate planning goals with goals for growth, succession or exit. Stuart is the co-author of “Expensive Mistakes When Buying and Selling Companies...and How to Avoid Them in Your Deals” which we highly recommend and he has more than 30 years of experience in legal work pertaining to business transactions and exits so he’s a perfect guest for today’s topic.Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com============================================“We want you to help you build a business that is sellable and exitsuccessfully on your own terms and conditions.” - Pat Ennis============================================👇Subscribe To The Channel By Clicking Below!👇CHECK OUT THESE TOP TRENDING PLAYLISTS NOW! ExitReadiness Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej2xh-2-WXwKKQHbad2sQfD-Live Events: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej3Y4QRGndGPt-InMssUD7pq============================================About Pat:With decades of experience in financial services, for-profit and non-profit leadership and management, along with the founding of ELP in 2010, Pat has extensive knowledge and understanding of the many challenges faced by business owners. His knowledge base, experience, and training results in a goals-based, comprehensive approach for business owners’ who are intent on building transferable business value and exiting their business responsibly and successfully.Technical knowledge is evidenced by the professional certifications of Certified Exit Planner (CExP®), Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy (CAP®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Having pursued much training, along with years of ministry experience, Pat is also particularly proficient in meeting facilitation and the "soft skills" needed for clarifying and establishing owner goals and values, and managing a team of advisors in designing and implementing a plan.Past employment includes Fidelity Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Sentinel Wealth Management. Additional employment information is available in Pat's LinkedIn Profile.Pat has also served on various non-profit boards including Advisors in Philanthropy DC, Peacemaker Ministries, Montgomery County Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Razoo Foundation. He and his wife Charlotte have three children, live in Montgomery Village, MD, and are members of Covenant Life Church.About Walter: Walter H. Deyhle, CPA, ABV, CFF, MAFF, CExP™, CEPA is a partner and the director of GRF CPAs & Advisors Tax and Exit Planning consulting division. Mr. Deyhle addresses particularly complex issues with clients concerning investments, and estate and gift taxes with a specific concentration helping business owners transition their business.Walter holds the CExP™ designation from the Business Enterprise Institute and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He has been involved in the business valuation process for approximately 15 years utilizing his expertise for mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and reorganizations. He has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 1995 and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts since 1993, and is a former member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Business Valuation/Litigation Support Committee. Walter received the designation of Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) from the AICPA, has an M.S. in Taxation from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. ============================================CONNECT WITH PAT AND WALTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUmJP3Fm4rYbRAQhYQkpgExitReadiness Blog: https://ennislp.com/read-our-blogFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/exitreadinessInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennislp/Pat’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Walter’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/Website: Ennislp.com#PatEnnis #WalterDeyhle #ExitReadiness============================================Learn more about Pat and Walter: https://ennislp.com/about

Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com============================================“We want you to help you build a business that is sellable and exitsuccessfully on your own terms and conditions.” - Pat Ennis============================================👇Subscribe To The Channel By Clicking Below!👇CHECK OUT THESE TOP TRENDING PLAYLISTS NOW! ExitReadiness Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej2xh-2-WXwKKQHbad2sQfD-Live Events: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej3Y4QRGndGPt-InMssUD7pq============================================About Pat:With decades of experience in financial services, for-profit and non-profit leadership and management, along with the founding of ELP in 2010, Pat has extensive knowledge and understanding of the many challenges faced by business owners. His knowledge base, experience, and training results in a goals-based, comprehensive approach for business owners’ who are intent on building transferable business value and exiting their business responsibly and successfully.Technical knowledge is evidenced by the professional certifications of Certified Exit Planner (CExP®), Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy (CAP®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Having pursued much training, along with years of ministry experience, Pat is also particularly proficient in meeting facilitation and the "soft skills" needed for clarifying and establishing owner goals and values, and managing a team of advisors in designing and implementing a plan.Past employment includes Fidelity Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Sentinel Wealth Management. Additional employment information is available in Pat's LinkedIn Profile.Pat has also served on various non-profit boards including Advisors in Philanthropy DC, Peacemaker Ministries, Montgomery County Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Razoo Foundation. He and his wife Charlotte have three children, live in Montgomery Village, MD, and are members of Covenant Life Church.About Walter: Walter H. Deyhle, CPA, ABV, CFF, MAFF, CExP™, CEPA is a partner and the director of GRF CPAs & Advisors Tax and Exit Planning consulting division. Mr. Deyhle addresses particularly complex issues with clients concerning investments, and estate and gift taxes with a specific concentration helping business owners transition their business.Walter holds the CExP™ designation from the Business Enterprise Institute and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He has been involved in the business valuation process for approximately 15 years utilizing his expertise for mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and reorganizations. He has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 1995 and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts since 1993, and is a former member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Business Valuation/Litigation Support Committee. Walter received the designation of Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) from the AICPA, has an M.S. in Taxation from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. ============================================CONNECT WITH PAT AND WALTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUmJP3Fm4rYbRAQhYQkpgExitReadiness Blog: https://ennislp.com/read-our-blogFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/exitreadinessInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennislp/Pat’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Walter’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/Website: Ennislp.com#PatEnnis #WalterDeyhle #ExitReadiness============================================Learn more about Pat and Walter: https://ennislp.com/about

Want to learn more? Go to: ennislp.com============================================“We want you to help you build a business that is sellable and exitsuccessfully on your own terms and conditions.” - Pat Ennis============================================👇Subscribe To The Channel By Clicking Below!👇CHECK OUT THESE TOP TRENDING PLAYLISTS NOW! ExitReadiness Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej2xh-2-WXwKKQHbad2sQfD-Live Events: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLENXepxD6Ej3Y4QRGndGPt-InMssUD7pq============================================About Pat:With decades of experience in financial services, for-profit and non-profit leadership and management, along with the founding of ELP in 2010, Pat has extensive knowledge and understanding of the many challenges faced by business owners. His knowledge base, experience, and training results in a goals-based, comprehensive approach for business owners’ who are intent on building transferable business value and exiting their business responsibly and successfully.Technical knowledge is evidenced by the professional certifications of Certified Exit Planner (CExP®), Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy (CAP®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) Having pursued much training, along with years of ministry experience, Pat is also particularly proficient in meeting facilitation and the "soft skills" needed for clarifying and establishing owner goals and values, and managing a team of advisors in designing and implementing a plan.Past employment includes Fidelity Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Sentinel Wealth Management. Additional employment information is available in Pat's LinkedIn Profile.Pat has also served on various non-profit boards including Advisors in Philanthropy DC, Peacemaker Ministries, Montgomery County Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Razoo Foundation. He and his wife Charlotte have three children, live in Montgomery Village, MD, and are members of Covenant Life Church.About Walter: Walter H. Deyhle, CPA, ABV, CFF, MAFF, CExP™, CEPA is a partner and the director of GRF CPAs & Advisors Tax and Exit Planning consulting division. Mr. Deyhle addresses particularly complex issues with clients concerning investments, and estate and gift taxes with a specific concentration helping business owners transition their business.Walter holds the CExP™ designation from the Business Enterprise Institute and the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation from the Exit Planning Institute. He has been involved in the business valuation process for approximately 15 years utilizing his expertise for mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and reorganizations. He has been a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers since 1995 and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts since 1993, and is a former member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Business Valuation/Litigation Support Committee. Walter received the designation of Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) from the AICPA, has an M.S. in Taxation from American University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. ============================================CONNECT WITH PAT AND WALTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUmJP3Fm4rYbRAQhYQkpgExitReadiness Blog: https://ennislp.com/read-our-blogFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/exitreadinessInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ennislp/Pat’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Walter’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/Website: Ennislp.com#PatEnnis #WalterDeyhle #ExitReadiness============================================Learn more about Pat and Walter: https://ennislp.com/about

A key value driver for a business that will be sellable for a higher multiple is improving the sustainability of future cash flows with strong operating systems…systems that increase efficiency, effectiveness and consistency in all aspects of business operations…and there’s nothing more important these days when it comes to having the right systems in place…than having the right technology in place….everything from the right network to the right phone systems…And we have found that it can be intimidating and confusing for small business owners to know what to do and when to do it…and we’re going to remove some of the mystery and confusion with today’s topic and conversation…Improving Profitability & Efficiency with The Right TechnologyAnd our guest is Scott Hobbs, President and Founder of Comtech Systems here in Montgomery County MD…ComTech Systems Inc. is a full-service provider of IT solutions including: Managed IT Solutions: Voice Solutions: Cloud Solutions: Custom ITVirtual CIO ServicesThey specialize in legal, HVAC, medical, and financial businesses but can serve any small business or non-profit.Scott is a Montgomery County, MD native and founded Comtech in 1985 with his brother Dennis. They started as a phone system provider and have grown to provide a comprehensive suite of IT and Voice Solutions for many clients in VA, MD and Wash DC.

A fairly significant percentage of the business owners we talk to and work with, have some level of interest in potentially selling their business to insiders key employees who have helped build the business. Co-owners who also work in the business or perhaps children who work in the business.Planning a sale to insiders is not without risk including issues like "are the insiders willing AND capable?" or tax and legal considerations.We have learned that owners often assume that a transfer to insiders would be much easier to make happen than a sale to a third party…And that couldn’t be further from the truth as there are many potential pitfalls to plan for such as what we’re going to discuss today…Today’s topic is the Legal and Tax Considerations When Structuring an Insider Sale And our guest today is Mark Schweighofer, Tax Attorney at the law firm Stein Sperling in Rockville MDMark has extensive experience with international tax matters and assists both domestic and foreign clients in structuring their affairs with sensitivity to U.S. income tax considerations. He represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service on complex tax controversy issues in myriad areas, including partnership and corporate income tax examinations, employment taxes and personal income tax matters. Mark especially enjoys working with clients transitioning their businesses. He is a frequent speaker on issues surrounding the selling and monetizing of such assets

One of the areas we certainly don’t have expertise in, but our business owner clients continually struggle with is creating and executing on a marketing plan. And they find including the marketing piece…and more specifically digital marketing…in their long-term plan for growth difficult…because it just seems to change…or need to change often…So we are going to talk about marketing and creating a plan that’s indeed executable again today…we’ve regularly had marketing pros on the podcast and will continue to as it’s so important and constantly changing.So that’s our topic today… Improving Your Marketing Strategy in the Midst of Rapid ChangeAnd our guest is Tobin Lehman who is the Founder and Owner of New North…Tobin is an author and the founder of New North, an award-winning digital marketing agency dedicated to helping B2B technology firms grow. He has over two decades of working with brands like Southern States, Pfizer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kimberly Clark, and a host of others, and has earned an industry reputation for taking the mystery out of marketing with clear strategies and real results.

Our topic today is “When You Start Making A Big Decision, First Talk with The People Involved”Our guest is Sam Klaidman of Middlesex Consulting.Sam has a has a BS in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering and has held positions as an Experimental Physicist, missile test engineer, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Master Scheduler, VP Manufacturing, VP Customer Service, and is currently the Founder and Principal Adviser at Middlesex Consulting. At Middlesex Consulting Sam works with organizations that help equipment owners maintain their equipment and maximize their equipment uptime.Sam has consulted with Fortune 500 companies like GE, Pfizer, Corning, and Honeywell as well as many small and midsize businesses in a broad range of industries. Many of his SMB clients are privately held and still controlled by members of the founding family.

There are not many absolutes when it comes to owning a business but one thing is absolutely certai all business owners will stop being business owners at some point 100%. We want to help you exit successfully on your own terms and conditions with the information and resources we provide here on this podcast.We want to review the differences of each method and when one method should be used over the other in building your business and then planning to exit…

Our guest is Tim Meinhardt who leads a team of OKR experts in serving enterprises of all sizes from start-ups to publically-traded companies Tim is the President and CEO of Atruity, one of the world and leading providers of enterprise OKR implementations. Currently, Atruity is directly involved in facilitating OKR programs with organizations with a combined annual revenue exceeding 7+ billion dollars. He speaks globally about Objectives and Key Results and has a podcast the OKRs and A Podcast where he interviews and discusses OKRs with thought leaders and OKR experts from around the world. Tim has been consulting for a long time over 17 years and has acted as CEO, COO and CFO for several organizations.

Chris Tully is founder and President of Sales Growth Advisors, a sales consulting firm focused on growing its customers’ top line revenue utilizing strategies proven across 30 years of corporate sales leadership roles. Sales Growth Advisors provides its clients with a comprehensive sales strategy, an integrated sales process, and an effective sales execution plan. As a fractional VP of Sales, Chris helps businesses achieve breakthrough sales growth, discipline, and accountability.

Our guest is our friend Afreen Husain of M&T Bank.Afreen specializes in serving business owners with CommercialMortgages, Commercial Lines of Credit, Term Loans as well asDeposit Solutions for Checking and Savings.Her clients include:►Small to Mid-sized businesses►Professional firms such as Accounting and Law Firms andMedical & Dental Practices►Construction Industry and Specialty Contractors►Commercial Property owners and buyersAnd we know from experience that Afreen has a passion forhelping small businesses grow! Her personal mission is to helpyou make the most of your time and money! Which is always agood thing…

The four exit routes or paths most referred to on this podcast are…1) Sale to a third-party. 2) Sale to insiders. 3) Sale ortransfer to children or family. 4) Sale to an ESOP.Today’s topic really has impact on each of these exit options because to have a sellable or transferable business which is foundational for success in any of the before mentioned exit routes it really helps if the owner has identified and equipped a successor to run the business without the owner so that the business is not too dependent on the owner…Michael Beck is an executive strategist, author and president of Eliciting Excellence, a firm specializing in the assessment, development, and recruiting of successors. He and his team work with leaders who will be taking over the running of a company in order to improve interpersonal skills, strategic thinking, and judgment. Michael's credentials include an MBA in Finance from theWharton School of Business along with degrees in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked both domestically and internationally with a wide range of clients from diverse industries. Eliciting Excellence offers assessments and executive coaching, all designed to help successors succeed and owners get paid.

We talk a lot about strong financial performance as being probably the most key driver in building sellable value.In our last episode we discussed marketing with Liz Johnson and how an impactful strategy can help in growing sales and revenue or the top line of your P&L.Today we’re going to focus more on the bottom-line profitability.Our topic is The 10 Biggest Profit Mistakesand our guest is Michelle Seiler Tucker, Founder & CEO of Seiler Tucker Incorporated.Michelle Seiler Tucker is the Founder and CEO of Seiler Tucker Incorporated. She holds the M&AMI (Mergers & Acquisitions Master Intermediary) title, as well as Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Professional (CM&AP) and Certified Senior Business Analyst (CSBA). Michelle also owns many other businesses in several different industries. And as a 20-year veteran in the M&A industry she has been involved with the sale of over a thousand businesses in almost every vertical.

Business value and growth are key to a successful exit and inthis episode we’re going to discuss how the successful brandingof your business can make a huge impact on your businessgrowth and value.Our topic is Your Guide to Successful Branding and our guestis Liz Johnson, President and Principal Consultant at Mountain ViewMarketing.

If you have a business that is not a lifestyle business…a business that you want to get value out of eventually for retirement or any other purpose…and/or you want to have as many options for exit as possible…you will need to build your business so that it’s sellable or transferable…That involves key value drivers like strong financial performance, a next level management team, product and service differentiation, and a plan for future growth among other value drivers...And a strategy that you can and should employ is to rightly incentivize your employees who are going to make growth and profitability happen…As an owner, you will want to make sure the goals of your key employees are aligned with your goals for exit and growth…and then incentivize them appropriately to attain those goals…

Not a few times have we’ve mentioned on this podcast how a very high percentage of business owners are miserable within two years of leaving their business…And you might think it would be largely due to how much money they received from the deal…but that isn’t it is it…at least most of the time…It’s a key piece of exit planning that can easily get short-changed or even neglected completely.But not today…as our topic is What Am I Without My Business???And, we have with us an expert in this practice area…someone who is often referred to as “The Seller’s Whisperer”…Denise Logan is an award-winning professional speaker and author of The Seller’s Journey: A Business Fable about Navigating the Emotional Obstacles to Selling Your Business Denise has addressed audiences on three continents about the psychology of business owners and how to make it easier when the time comes to let go. For twenty-years she has been focused on the intersection of work, money, and meaning and how it is reflected in the legacies of today’s business leaders. And, hence, she’s been very successful in shifting the perspectives of both business owners, and their advisors, when needed in order to keep deals from falling apart. And she has a fascinating background which includes building and leading a Washington DC area law firm until she ran off in a motorhome to answer the question, “What do I do with myself now???”

It’s been one year since the Covid Crisis struck and for many, if not most, small business owners, it has felt more like five years in many ways. The nature of the crisis was unprecedented really with unique challenges having to do with working from home virtually and the related security and human resource issues, in addition to reductions in revenue and profitability.It’s been a tough stretch, and continues to be.There were not a few owners who, before the crisis, were hoping and planning to exit their businesses soon. Owners who now are forced have put it off retirement or transitioning out for the foreseeable future. There are others who, again due to the crisis, are more desirous of exiting now than they were prior to the crisis, they simply don’t want to go through another crisis.So today we’re going to have a conversation around Exiting Your Business Post-Covid: What you need to be thinking about regarding your exit plan as we more and more pull out of the crisis and return to some level of normal.

Much of what we do in serving business owners, is helping them avoid costly or even destructive mistakes. Mistakes in how they build the business as well as how they exit…For example, one area often neglected until it’s too late is thework you do in tax planning. It is very easy for a business ownerto make very expensive tax planning mistakes…Not just when they are actually realizing a transaction…but also in how theymanage their tax situation for an eventual transaction… But, tax planning is just one of many areas an owner can makeexpensive mistakes in selling their business to a third party…. andthat’s what we want to discuss today, “Common MistakesBusiness Owners Make”Our guest today is Scott Bushkie of Cornerstone Business Advisors located in Green Bay, Wisconsin Scott is the Managing Partner and Founder of Cornerstone Business Services. With more than 20 years in the M&A industry, he is a recognized leader in the field providing exit sell- and buy-side transitions, along with valuation services in the lower middle market.Scott has successfully executed hundreds of transactions, domestically and internationally. He has also founded the Cornerstone International Alliance, a group of premier firms serving the lower-middle market.

We know that building a sellable or transferable business not only helps an owner enjoy more freedom and control in the business today but it is also foundational for an owner to eventually realize a successful exit from the business and, it doesn’t matter if the sell to a third party, sell to key employees, an ESOP or transfer the business to family and of course to have a businessthat is sellable you need strong financial performance. One strategy that an owner can employ to ensure strong financial performance is implementing the right employee incentive compensation that aligns with the owner’s goals for growth...One of the plans often used to accomplish this is a cash-based incentive plan called Phantom Stock And that’s our topic today… Phantom Stock as an Employee Incentive Plan and we are excited to have with us Paolo Pasicolan of the law firm Miles and Stockbridge Paolo has law expertise in executive compensation, employee benefits, tax, and ERISA litigation and his his clients haveincluded large and small private and public foreign and domestic companies, partnerships, non-profit organizations, governmental entities, churches, plan fiduciaries, and individuals.

Our topic today is Growing Up Through Value Acceleration and we are excited to have with us Scott Snider of The Exit Planning Institute. Scott is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization along with overseeing the company’s operations and chapter development. Since joining EPI, Scott has expanded the organization regionally, nationally, and globally, providing a transformational educational experience to advisors from all specialties across the globe. So Scott is an expert in the Exit Planning industry and we’re excited to have him with us today.

Today we have with us our first “three-peat” guest Elizabeth Mower from The Business Enterprise Institute Elizabeth is the President of BEI and leads the organization in development of resources, information, training and software that enable professionals in a variety of disciplines…like accounting, legal, wealth management, business consultants, etc... to work with business owners to design and implement comprehensive Exit Plans.She is an attorney, and before joining BEI, was in private practice serving clients with Exit Planning, business continuity planning, estate planning, and business transactions. She is an expert on anything technical or process related pertaining to exit planning, but also the overall state of the exitplanning industry as it pertains to both business owners and advisors and that’s today’s topic: Exit Planning in 2021 So today’s discussion should prove helpful to both business owners and advisors as we hear from Elizabeth on her perspective on the year ahead.

One of our themes here on the podcast is providing ideas and information that can help a business owner protect the value of their business as well as build the value.One of the key areas for protecting value is your core business tax planning, and a key driver of tax planning for a small business owner is how their business is structured or the entity they choose should they be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.Then, should they have one structure as they launch and growand then a different one when they leave or exit what is typically the best structure in these situations from a tax perspective?So, that’s our topic today, “Protect Business Value with theRight Business Structure”

A buy-sell agreement provides direction to owners and otherstakeholders in situations when the transition of an ownershipinterest in a business is in question -- situations such as… Death or permanent disability Voluntary lifetime exit Involuntary lifetime exit Divorce or bankruptcyFollowing is an example of how it’s supposed to work…Let’s say that ACME Digital Marketing is owned by 4 foundingpartners…Sarah, John, Jim, and Susan. They started their business 20 years ago and did put a B/SAgreement in place and have been diligent in reviewing iteach year. Sarah decides she wants to leave the business and retire atthe end of 2020.o All the current conversations regarding Sarah’s wish toleave are going quite well because the B/S Agreementclearly outlines how that is to happen… including howthe business is to be valued, and the terms of thepayout. Two years ago, Jim suddenly died of a heart attack, and witha stock redemption plan along with the method of valuationand funding clearly described in the Buy-Sell Agreementeverything went very smoothly.So, the purpose of a buy-sell agreement is to address all triggerevents of a transfer of ownership. A primary benefit of having this agreement is to avoid having to make decisions that could lead to disagreements at an inopportune time.

Today we want to discuss something very unfortunate that we see and hear about all too often tragic events that could be easily avoided with the right advanced planning.Because of the work we do in helping owners prepare for their eventual exit. We are often privy to stories of businesses that die when the owner unexpectedly dies or becomes permanently incapacitated.And so this is a planning area that we quite passionate about.Just recently a business owner we know of died suddenly with no plans in place for the business to continue, or a current estate planAnd, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time as it was during COVID.His spouse is lost as to what to do as she was not at all involved in the business. Not only does she have to cope with the tragic unexpected loss of her husband, but she also has to deal with all aspects of the business that she’s completely unfamiliar with Customers and employees are leaving.There is a lot of debt to be liquidated and the business value has tanked the business may have to be shut down with no value.This is an area of planning that we bring up right away in any new exit planning engagement because it can destroy the business quickly impacting all stakeholders. employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, the economy. But most of all it can have a devastating impact on the owner’s spouse and family if they were dependent on the value of the business.So, our topic today is Business Continuity: A Plan for the Unexpected

In building a sellable business, you need to “protect the value of your business” and continually manage areas like the one we’re going to talk about today, cyber security. We’ve discussed the topic here before, and will continue to in the future because it’s so important, and October happens to beCyber Awareness Month which is another good reason to talk about it today.Listen to these statistics gathered from numerous sources regarding Cyber risk:1. 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses.2. 60% of small businesses that are victims of a cyber attackgo out of business within six months.3. 66% of small businesses are concerned or extremelyconcerned about cyber security risk.4. 47% of small businesses say they have no understanding ofhow to protect themselves against cyber attacks.So, our topic today is Protecting Value Through Cyber Risk Management, and our goals today would be to raise awareness of the risks and provide some actions you can take to mitigate the risk.Our guest is Melissa Musser of GRF CPAs and Advisors. Melissa is a principal at GRF CPAs & Advisors with over 15 years of professional experience. Her expertise includes establishing, maintaining and optimizing internal controls, compliance, Enterprise Risk Management(ERM), and cybersecurity programs. She is also the proud recipient of the 2018 AICPA InformationManagement and Technology Assurance (IMTA) Standing Ovation award.

We’ve both seen situations where a business owner has done all they can in executing strategic and operational plans to grow their business organically, only to experience continued stagnation in both sales and profit And, they may have a financial exit goal that is going to require a much larger valuation and sale price. So, they begin to wonder if growing thru acquisition could makesense Some of the common reasons they might consider an acquisitionmight include.1. A need to increase revenue2. A goal of expansion in a declining market3. Declining market share4. They need to add new talent or stabilize the financials5. Or maybe they need to expand their customer baseThey may remain confident, based on research, in their market – and taken all reasonable steps to reduce expenses to improve the bottom line. So, with their goals for growth and increasing business value being greater than what they’re realizing, they begin to wonder if external growth through acquisition makes the most sense.So, our topic today is something we talked about before. Growing Your Business Through Acquisitionand, our guest is Carl Allen of Dealmaker Wealth Society. Carl Allen is an entrepreneur, investor and corporate dealmaker In his nearly 30-year career, Carl has analyzed thousands ofbusinesses big and small in 17 different countries across nearly every business sector…and has worked on more than 330 transactions worth close to $48 billion. Carl first earned his reputation during his 16 years on Wall Street working for Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard, Forrester andGartner.

This week, Joe Ennis talks to Walter and Corby about how to build value through podcasts and content creationLearn more about Podcasts By Joe: https://www.podcastsbyjoe.com/