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30 Days to ETA | Day #13 – ETA Risk Mitigation

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If you’ve been reading along in this 30 Days to ETA series, you know that in the Day #12 post I discussed how your ETA Metrics/KPIs allow you to establish a scoreboard for your journey to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (You can read the previous post by CLICKING HERE). In today’s 30 Days to ETA post, a wise person once told me, “Somebody else’s experience is a far better teacher than your own.” I wish I had listened to that advice. If I had understood the vital role of a business risk assessment in the purchase of a business, I might have avoided making the single biggest mistake of my business career… Enjoy!

An Expensive Education

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a business. It appeared, by all standards, to be a very good opportunity for me. So like any prudent business person, I began gathering intelligence on the business and conducting due diligence. I looked at everything in the company — From interviewing employees and customers to looking at the financial statements. I went through this business with a fine-tooth comb attempting to leave no stone unturned. I also thought I was being prudent by seeking counsel from my ETA Professional Team of attorneys, CPAs, and other professional advisers.

It was during this due diligence phase that I can remember asking myself, “Do I really need to buy this business? Should I really add this much stress to my life?” Like an angel sitting on my shoulder, my conscience warned me over and over against purchasing the company. I began to focus on the pros of buying the business. To my detriment, I ignored the red flags I saw in the list of cons.

Long story short, I came really close to purchasing the company. What seemed like minor discrepancies in the business assessment at the beginning, ended up becoming MAJOR problems at the end. These problems caused lots of harm, lots of grief, and lots of brain damage. Ultimately, I was glad that I had listened to my gut and the risks that appeared in the assessment I conducted. If I hadn’t, I would have bought the company. The excitement for the potential of making more money, though, almost got the better of me, and it nearly cost me years of my business life.

30 Days to ETA - ETA Risk Mitigation

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ETA Risk Mitigation

In 30 Days to ETA, we Entrepreneurs Through Acquisition face risks in many different shapes and sizes. Depending on the industry, harm could befall us in unusual ways. For instance, you could face environmental or weather-related risks. National or global-economic crashes could take the legs out from under the business you’re considering. Changes in employment, political parties, market competition, or the like could also pose risks to businesses.

No matter what business you’re in, each will face risks. And dealing with the risks is what a successful Acquisition Entrepreneur does. More often than not, you’ll deal with the legal implications or ramifications of the risks. Some must comply with OSHA, HIPAA, or the Patriot Act. What about the Equal Opportunity Act or the Labor Standard Act? Regardless, all business owners have to deal with national or state laws that create risks in their companies, so preparation is the best plan for Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.

Before we can manage risk, you must identify the risks and comply with the laws that govern them. The biggest mistake most make is not looking at all of the potential risks involved with buying a company, and the risks you ignore have to do with legal risks. Most of see the upside, but rarely see the full potential of the devastation of the downside. You must be aware of all of the various types of potential risks, and you must follow the laws that govern the risks. As an attorney friend of mine says over and over, “Ignorance is not an excuse not to obey the law.” We definitely have our hands full.

The great ETA Alfred E. Neuman said it best…

‘What, Me Worry?’

Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear Ventures

Risks Monitoring

So what are we Entrepreneurs Through Acquisition to do with the ETA Risk Mitigation we discover? Whether you’re preparing for a business merger or acquisition, you should sit down with every business you’re considering placing under Letter of Intent (LOI) and do a new risk assessment of the company. The reason I recommend looking early and often is because risks change. The state the business operates in may have issued new employment laws, or a competitor may have opened their doors since the last risk assessment. What if interest rates have changed or new tax laws been issued? With so many different types of risks, where do you start?

Business Risk Assessment – 6 Steps

  1. Consult outside counsel – Start with a good insurance agent who works to protect you from risk on a daily basis. Then, talk to your attorney, CPA, and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ to identify and forecast potential risks.
  2. Seek internal advice – Rally your family and your team, and perform a S.W.O.T. analysis. Identify Strengths, look for Weaknesses, find Opportunities, and guard against Threats.
  3. Weigh probability – Rank your identified risks in order of how likely they are to occur. Start with the most likely. Finish with the least likely.
  4. Predict harm – If your greatest risk is not harmful to the company, don’t devote countless time and energy to it. Instead, manage the risks most likely to cause harm.
  5. Address the risk – Don’t ignore any of the risks. Use your rankings and predictions to decide which ones need immediate attention, but don’t turn a blind eye to any risks.
  6. Monitor for changes – Shoot for yearly risk reviews to keep up with legal, economic, or political changes.

How ETA Risk Mitigation Effects M&A?

So how does ETA Risk Mitigation assessment and resulting management apply to our Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition journey? It’s not rocket science. Any potential buyer will be looking closely at the business you’re investing’s risk management process to see if they understand the risks in their business and to see if they’re prepared to handle the effects of those risks. Acquisition Entrepreneurs will want to look at the company’s risk management track record to see if they’ve prepared for and battled the risks successfully.

Put yourself in the seller’s perspective. The last thing their buyers want to do is come and purchase a business with holes in their risk management shield. If a buyer realizes they haven’t paid their workers’ compensation insurance or employee payroll taxes, they might (will?) walk away from the company. Entrepreneurs Through Acquisition haven’t spent all of their time and effort looking to acquire a business in hopes of selling it for millions only to see holes in its foundation before they actually purchase it. If you ignore parts of the business’s risk assessment, you will most likely lose significant interest in the future of the business (you will have exposed vulnerability).

So friends, now is the time to conduct ETA Risk Mitigation via an assessment of the business. Prepare yourself. Compare the company. Buy it and make millions!

Sam Palazzolo

30 Days to ETA | Day #12 – ETA Metrics/KPIs

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If you’ve been reading this 30 Days to ETA series, you know that in the Day #11 post I discussed how your ETA Entity Formation is an important structural item on your journey to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (You can read the previous post by CLICKING HERE). In today’s 30 Days to ETA post, as an Accountant I want to look at two of my favorite things in the business world – facts and figures in the form of ETA Metrics/KPIs. We’re going to deal with the financial reports your future business needs to provide to not only lead the organization successfully, but allow interested buyers to see how great a business you have. Remember our end-game when it comes to Acquisition Entrepreneurship, that in order to make a business sellable we have to provide buyers with accurate financial reports that show our historical growth, our current financial status, and our business’s potential growth in the future…. Enjoy!

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Fact and Figures Drive Success

In our Mergers & Acquisitions business at Tip of the Spear Ventures, we’re often asked how ETA Metrics/KPIs can allow you to identify/acquire the perfect business. While perfection might be elusive, finding a nice business shouldn’t be if you stick to our ETA Metrics/KPIs formula. At Tip of the Spear Ventures, this method has yielded unbelievable success. The ETA Metrics/KPIs method will also not turn away potential buyers when it comes time to sell your business because a buyer can’t take figures scribbled on a napkin to the bank. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should tell a story of the business, regardless of formal system utilized and say, “Is this a viable business for me to buy? Is this business going to be profitable for me a couple of years from now?” Ironic right? These are the same questions you’ll ask when looking to conduct your mergers & acquisitions search for the right business to purchase!

Liars might figure, but figures never lie!

Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear Ventures

Show Growth + Current Status with ETA Metrics/KPIs

So what types of financial reports show buyers and banks the health and wealth of your business? Or how do you personally figure out how well your company is doing at any given time?

This is where our business management systems come into play. You’ll need to have a basic financial management system in place that allows you to compile facts and figures on a daily basis. Whether you use QuickBooks, Quicken, Sage, Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets, or an outsourced bookkeeper/accounting firm, the accounting system you use needs to be able to compile at least two different financial reports – The Balance Sheet and Operating Statement

1. The Balance Sheet

Your CPA has most likely asked you to print your company’s balance sheet at the end of each year so that they can begin preparing your taxes. But what does it show? Very simply, the balance sheet tracks your company’s assets and liabilities. It provides banks, buyers, or tax advisers a picture of what you own and what you owe.

In detail, the balance sheet provides the following information about your company:

  1. Net worth – Accomplished by subtracting your liabilities from your assets.
  2. Debt to income ratio – Calculated by looking at the amount of money you’ve borrowed compared to the assets that can be used to pay off that debt.
  3. Cash equivalency – A quick ratio test can show how much cash your company has coming in to offset its upcoming expenses.
  4. Collection periods – A collection test can calculate how long it takes your company’s accounts receivables to turn into cash collections.

2. The Operating Statement

Inevitably, your company will have to produce an operating statement for lenders, buyers, and CPAs in addition to a balance sheet upon the sale of your company. You may recognize this financial report by its more common name, the Profit and Loss statement, or the P&L. While the balance sheet details your company’s assets and liabilities, the operating statement details your company’s income and expenses. Think long-term figures for the balance sheet versus short-term figures for the P&L.

In detail, the operating statement can provide the following information about your company:

  1. Profitability – Derived from the profit margin ratio comparing the net profits (income earned after expenses but before taxes) to your gross sales income. E.g. – If you sell $1,000 in a month with a net income of $100, your profitability is 10%.
  2. Return on Investment – Calculated ratio that compares the net profit of your company to your company’s net worth. E.g. – If your company’s net worth is $1,000,000, and it’s earning $100,000, your return on investment is 10%.
  3. Inventory Valuation – Technically, the value of your inventory is how much you paid for it. To determine if you have too little or too much inventory at any given time, you need to figure up an end-inventory value ratio. E.g. – If you paid $100,000 for your current inventory, and your monthly sales are $50,000, you have a 2:1 ratio. In other words, your inventory is two times greater than your sales.

The Importance of KPIs

While a financial management software or company can easily compile a Balance Sheet or an Operating Statement from your company’s bank ledgers and bills, you, as a business owner, will have to compile the last type of financial reports a potential buyer will need.

You will have to identify the Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, that show how successful your business is currently and how successful it can be in the future. Once identified, you will then use the indicators to analyze and predict future income and expenses in a quantifiable financial report.

The difficult part of KPIs is that every business has different performance indicators. For example, dentists can predict income by pointing to the number of patients scheduled each week or the number of patients pre-scheduled for the upcoming year. KPIs aren’t just important for tracking income. They identify upcoming expenses, growth pains, risks, rewards, and opportunities. Essentially, KPIs paint a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your business.

KPI Financial Reports – Now What?

Once you predict your future income and expenses, your company’s strengths and weaknesses will show up. Obviously, you’re going to know what you like about your company and what you don’t like about your company. That’s what your buyer is looking for, too. He’s going to hire attorneys, CPAs, and people like me to tear your business apart to find its strengths and weaknesses. So you might as well use your KPIs to analyze your business before they do. Here’s what you can do:

  • Consult with your advisers to identify what data a buyer needs to see.
  • Create a system that produces, compiles, arranges, and presents that data in financial reports.
  • Analyze the financial reports from a buyer’s perspective.
  • Make the necessary changes to your business.

SUMMARY

So we’ve identified the compilations of ETA Metrics/KPIs and financial reports you will want to see when you’re interested in purchasing a company. By having quantifiable, printable financial reports that show your company’s historical growth, current success, and future potential, you’re probably going to have increased confidence as you pursue your Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition strategy.

Before buying your company, though, you can use their Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement, and KPIs to get a better grasp on the business. You can use those financial reports to compare the company’s strengths and to identify their weaknesses. If you start doing that now, your ETA business’s value is going to shoot through the roof. You might be able to sell your company earlier than you expected, or you could sit back and reap the rewards of your hard work before you reach sale time (You may also save yourself significant time with a business that you shouldn’t purchase in the first place!)

Sam Palazzolo

30 Days to ETA | Day #11 – ETA Entity Formation

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If you’ve been reading this 30 Days to ETA series, you know that in the Day #10 post I stressed the importance of creating an ETA Culture (You can read the previous post by CLICKING HERE). In today’s 30 Days to ETA post, we’re going to discuss how choosing the right type of business entity at a company’s creation can effect its liability and its ability to sell when it comes time (i.e., ETA Entity Formation). Many people believe that in business exit planning, the idea of preparing a business to sell, occurs just prior to the owner’s desired exit time. This couldn’t be further from the reality of what should happen. Acquisition Entrepreneurs know that in their Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition journey that the time to prepare their future company for sale is at the onset, not as you’re contemplating your exit. Some of the planning we business owners need to do should be done five to ten years before the sale ever occurs, so starting at the beginning with the end in mind should make sense… Enjoy!

30 Days to ETA - ETA Entity Formation

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ETA Entity Formation – 4 Types of Business Entities

If you’re starting up a business now or if you’re already in business, choosing the right type of business entity matters a great deal. I’ll provide you with a list of the types of business entities you can create. To know which entity is best for your company, though, you’ll want to consult your own professional team that includes a good attorney, a seasoned financial planner, and a strong CPA.

Here are the four basic types of business entities:

  • C Corporations
  • S Corporations, a.k.a. Sub-Chapter S Corporations
  • Partnerships
  • Limited Liability Companies, a.k.a. LLCs

There’s actually a fifth type of business, but it’s not an official business entity, so I didn’t include it in my list. If you don’t form your company as a C Corp, an S Corp, a Partnership, or an LLC, then you’re operating a sole proprietorship by default. While it’s a business, it’s not a type of business entity for our purposes here in your Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition roadmap.

With so many ETA Entity Formation options available, identifying the proper formation at the beginning of your Mergers & Acquisitions strategy is the best decision you can make!

Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear Ventures

Which ETA Entity Formation is Right?

Each type of business entity has advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, business owners choose to operate as an entity for one, or several, of the following reasons:

  • Personal Liability Protection – Operating your business under a corporate veil will protect your personal assets should your business run into problems. Additionally, running a company as an entity can reduce personal exposure to risk and act as a hedge of protection over and above what business insurance can provide.
  • Transference of Stock or Membership Interest – Within C Corps or S Corps, you can divide stock, move stock or transfer stock among owners or investors with some limitations. You can even give certain types of stock to employees. In an LLC, members (the owners) can re-arrange, divide, re-allocate, or transfer membership interests.
  • Flexibility – Vital to entrepreneurs, business entities allow owners to manage their companies as they see fit. They have flexibility over the ownership structure that allows the company to move and flow as individual owners’ circumstances do.
  • Tax Reduction Strategies – With the help of a professional CPA, business owners can take advantage of tax-free fringe benefits available to business entities. They can also prevent double taxation issues or plan how much they’ll pay in taxes by operating as an entity and by getting help from an accountant.

Documents Business Entities Should Have

Let’s say you’ve talked to your team of professionals. With everyone’s help, you’ve decided that you’re operating under the right type of business entity. Well, you’re not off the hook yet. No. You’ll need some documents for added personal and business protection. Here’s where a good attorney can help you.

A popular document within partnerships and corporations with multiple owners is a Partnership Agreement or an Operating Agreement. This document addresses how your company will deal with owner disagreements. It specifies who will fill which role and how the company will be managed. Additionally, it outlines how and where the company will handle lawsuits. Written with vast detail or in relatively simple terms, the agreement protects business owners should crisis ensue.

Additionally, many lawyers will recommend that their business owner clients draw-up a Buy-Sell Agreement. Whether you have multiple owners or majority and minority shareholders, you’re all working toward the eventual sale of the company. With this type of document, you can dictate how the company will be sold, for what minimum price it will sell, and under what arrangement it will sell. This agreement can also address what happens to the company in the event of an owner’s death or disability. While not required by law, if you’re building a company to sell it, the very title of the Buy-Sell Agreement seems to recommend its use.

ETA Entity Formation Records

So you’ve settled on an ETA Entity Formation type, now what types of records should you keep? In my experience, the following is the short-list of ETA Entity Formation Records you should keep:

  • Selling stock shares
  • Issuing stock shares
  • Loaning the company money
  • Borrowing money from the company
  • Placing the company in debt

From legal issues to meeting minutes, you might want to write down anything that happens as it relates to the company’s operations. Consult books, CPA’s, lawyers, and other advisors out there to figure out what types of records your business needs to keep.

The last thing you want as a business owner is to find yourself destitute, trying to win a legal battle without protection and without documentation. Like I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve gone through legal battles in business. One of the things I’ve learned is that “he-said-she-said” doesn’t cut it a courtroom. Documents that everyone signed before turmoil arose will be what the attorneys and the judge peruse and use. Hearsay doesn’t win cases; evidence does.

SUMMARY

The type of business entity you choose matters. The way you operate the entity and maintain records for the company will also matter. If you are as a part of your ETA in 30 Days journey looking to acquire a business on the road to getting your business ready to sell, you want to make sure that the business entity you ultimately choose is positioned to help you minimize your personal risks and tax liabilities. Not only that, but you want to know which documents you can put in place to make the business’s transition go smoother between you and the buyer or between company owners themselves and the buyer.

Sam Palazzolo

30 Days to ETA | Day #10 – ETA Culture

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In our last post in this 30 Days to ETA series, we discussed your ETA Mission, Vision, & Values (You can read the previous post by CLICKING HERE). Having clarity in the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition strategy is paramount, and nothing signals that more than your identification of where you want to go with your future business. In this post, we’re going to explore the backbone of how you will get to that future destination via ETA Culture. ETA Culture is your business’ values and culture that will shape owner-employee relations. The business that has outstanding values and inviting culture can help bring top dollar at the time you want to eventually sell… Enjoy!

30 Days to ETA - ETA Culture

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The ETA Culture of Helping

I once met with a small business owner as part of our Mergers & Acquisitions initiative at Tip of the Spear Ventures. From all outward appearances and secured financial information received, this was a very successful organization and I was looking forward to meeting with the owner. They employed several technology advancements (rare for a small business), and these served as their differentiators in the market. On top of the entity/individual credentials, the organization was referred to me by a colleague with whom I’d been looking to do a project together with.

It appeared to be great all the way around! Great company doing great work referred to me by a great person. And then I walked into their office. Actually, let me backup and share that I couldn’t get into their office at 7:45am. I come from one of those “To be early is on time, to be on time is to be late” cultures. Our meeting was at 8:00am and I typically show up fifteen minutes early. However, when I got to their office the doors were locked. Located in an urban-sprawl setting, I initially thought this was a security reason (Yes, it was a sketchy part of town!) But surely the owner knew I was arriving and would either be there himself or have alerted his staff. Surely not!

On top of the owner not being ready for my arrival, my colleague was running late. I called him and found out that there was an employee in the building and that he’d have them come unlock the door so as to let me in. They arrived at the door, unlocked it, and looked totally inconvenienced by the whole process/procedure as I stood there without them so much as addressing me (No “Good morning” – No nothing!) I said thank you and asked where we’d be meeting. Their overall lack of hospitality was unbelievable. On top of this one individual who should never be public-facing I found the office in total disarray – Trash cans overflowing, disorganization everywhere you looked, and dirty. The final straw was an etched pillow on a chair in the entryway that said on it, “I’m not always a Bitch… Just kidding, go f—- yourself!”

I left the office. Meeting over. ETA exploration done. The ETA Culture of helping was not present, and neither would I be! Everyone has been to a store/place of business and been shrugged off by an uncaring employee. We’ve all seen the dark side of business customer service and it stems from ETA Culture.

You can feel the difference between exciting companies and those with discontent, unmotivated cultures in ETA due diligence. Know that the companies with happy, motivated cultures have significant value, both today and in the future.

Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear Ventures

ETA Culture and Leadership

I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners over the years, and most of those owners want to talk about money or the problems they’re having with employees. They’ll talk about how to gain more customers and more market share. Yet, I can count on one hand the conversations brought up by business owners about values and culture. Sure, they want to talk about owner-employee relations, and they love to complain about poor employee work ethic or disrespectful employees, rather than asking me how to add value to their team or improve employee morale.

Owners focus on their own grievances rather than how to rectify employee grievances. Oftentimes, those business owners feel they get a bad rap with employees who mistake their drive for greed. They think that all the proprietors care about is money or the next big sale, and the team members hold an unfounded grudge against the owners. Rather than working hard to change employee misconceptions and rebuild owner-employee relations, owners tend to play the victim.

Additionally, those business owners complain about feeling used. A “friend” will call them up and want “free advice.” He’ll pick their brain and secure their professional knowledge and then never talk to them again (or will outreach when the wheels have fallen off the vehicle and they’re in real trouble). That “friend” will ask for discounts just because they went to the same school, and while none of us likes to feel used or abused, Acquisition Entrepreneurs need to know that they shouldn’t feel taken advantage of, and neither should their team members. I’m convinced after working with over 1,000+ leaders in organizations all across the USA and internationally that bad employee problems stem from culture problems, and those stem from leader problems.

Cultivate the E Culture of Kindness

It goes without saying, your people in the business you secure whether it’s from acquisitions or mergers are people — Not objects. We shouldn’t follow the Instagram-narrative that we’re a self-serving culture. Instead, you as an Entrepreneur Through Acquisition should look to cultivate a culture of kindness in our company. What do I mean by kindness? Words like respect, trust, and fairness should lay the groundwork for owner-employee relations. Employees who feel appreciated, valued, well-compensated, and respected will most likely provide respectful and courteous service to your customers. Therefore, I believe that everything in our business blooms out of our values and those values reflect your culture.

3 Rules for ETA Culture Success

While you’re cultivating this harmonious ETA Culture of owner-employee respect and loyalty, as a business owner you should be on your guard against known dangers. I’ve developed three rules for ETA Culture success, and if you don’t guard against them you’ll exhibit poor culture, poor employee relations, and bad leadership.

Rule #1 – Say What You’ll Do & Do What You Say

If you tell customers that you value open communication and employee loyalty, but you do the opposite by scanning through emails on your phone when your customers or team members voice better ideas on how to operate, what good does that do for you? If you’re no willing to say what you’ll do and do what you say, you’re going to lose good team members and customers.

Rule #2 – Get Greedy

I once say a business owner that could care less about their profits or their employees, and it showed all throughout the organization. If you want to be a great Entrepreneur Through Acquisition, get greedy! Let your customers and employees know that you value them and are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them satisfied.

Rule #3 – Get Help

Entrepreneurs Through Acquisition are great at a lot of things, but building company-wide morale may not be one of your particular strengths. Know your strengths, and your weaknesses. My best advice when it comes to weakness management is to off-load the responsibility. In other words, hire someone that has your weakness as a strength of their own.

The ETA Culture Strategy

ETA Culture for owner-employee relationship success exposes your company’s core values. So how do we cultivate or build good culture habits and values within your company? We take care of our employees. Here are some ways you can build-up their morale:

  • Reward the behavior you want to encourage
  • Applaud those who portray the values you want to achieve
  • Promote positive re-enforcement instead of punishment
  • Recognize and increase responsibility
  • Be kind
  • Keep it real up in the ETA field

SUMMARY

You love the idea of being an Entrepreneur Through Acquisition. It’s a complicated landscape to try and navigate. In this post we’ve explored ETA Culture and the rules for success and strategy for making employee-owner relations a success. A company with strong values and a strong culture, one that promotes strong owner-employee relations, will make more money and more reward than a company who has poor values or culture.

Sam Palazzolo

30 Days to ETA | Day #9 – ETA Mission, Vision, & Values

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If you are following this 30 Days to ETA series, you have built your business plan and hired the team to drive your long-term goals. In our last post, I stressed the importance of leading yourself (You can read the previous post by CLICKING HERE). One of the aspects of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition that I find most rewarding is finding/aligning with a culture that resonates. The foundation for that culture is the ETA Mission, Vision, & Values that you profess to and the business you’re looking to acquire says they already have/stand for. So in this post, we’ll explore exactly that… Enjoy!

30 Days to ETA Mission Vision Values

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The Light at the End of the Tunnel

The best definition of a vision statement comes from Wikipedia: “A vision statement is a company’s roadmap, indicating both what the company wants to become and guiding transformational initiatives by setting a defined direction for the company’s growth.” Since your business plan is the roadmap needed to get to your end destination (Selling your business that you’re about to acquire), I propose that the vision is the original reason you’re getting into business. The vision is the inspiration, or the big picture, that keeps you going when you inevitably get distracted (and you will get distracted along the way!) 

Bill Gates had one of the clearest vision statements or business goals I’ve seen. In an email to employees on Microsoft’s 40th anniversary, he wrote, “Early on, Paul Allen and I set the goal of a computer on every desk and in every home. It was a bold idea and a lot of people thought we were out of our minds to imagine it was possible.” Gates had a big picture in mind, and made it happen. Today, it seems like we do have at least one computer in every home and every office. Whether it’s a laptop, a desktop, a smartphone, a computerized appliance, or the like, computers are everywhere.

ETA Mission, Vision, & Values are the cornerstones of a successful business. They need to be strategically planned and aligned during execution for success!

Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear Ventures

Business Vision Statement Purpose

If you’ve created a business plan to prepare to acquire your future company, why do you need to stop and put your vision into words? Ultimately, keeping the “big picture” in mind inspires you and motivates your future team members. Here’s what a vision statement does:

  1. Gives the company direction
  2. Focuses the company’s future
  3. Directs decision-making
  4. Provides team alignment
  5. Allows for business evolution
  6. Shapes strategy
  7. Measures achievement

Sharing Your ETA Mission, Vision & Values

One of the hardest things Entrepreneurs Through Acquisition can be asked to do in 30 Days to ETA is sharing their ETA Mission, Vision, & Values to motivate and inspire them. I recommend using the funnel approach to keep your ETA Mission, Vision, & Values in front of your field of vision (See what I did there?) With meetings scheduled, you can systematically look backward at what you’ve accomplished or missed regarding your ETA Mission, Vision, & Values. Then, look forward to see where you are going and what you need to do regarding your ETA Mission, Vision, & Values to ensure that you get there.

Rules for Sharing Your Business Vision Statement

There are several rules, or best practices, I’d ask you to keep in mind as a part of your ETA in 30 Days journey. If the adage is rules are made to be broken, you’ll want to break these quickly/often and modify accordingly:

  1. Don’t give up control of your vision
  2. Listen to constructive team input
  3. Check egos at the door
  4. Be willing to modify your team
  5. Prepare to overcome reluctance

SUMMARY

So what’s your ETA Mission, Vision, & Values as an Acquisition Entrepreneur? Do you have a big picture Mergers & Acquisitions vision in mind? What do you want the merger or acquisition to look like? In the future, if you want to sell your business for “lots of money,” how much money is that? How old do you want to be when you sell? What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? Go ahead and paint that picture. Add in the details. Make it clear.

Your organizational mission, vision and values are integral to your business plan. Without a big picture in mind, you can’t keep your business focused on reaching its goals. You’ll spend a lot of time in the weeds, so make sure you know the layout before you begin your journey.

Sam Palazzolo