This article highlights the pivotal role of advisors in guiding business owners’ ventures and encourages them to advocate for entrepreneurs to adopt an investor-centric perspective. By encouraging business owners to view their ventures through the eyes of outside investors, advisors facilitate objectivity, long-term value creation and the identification of strengths and weaknesses. Access to capital (if desired), strategic alignment and accountability are also benefits, ultimately positioning businesses for sustained growth and resilience. Ready for Next's “See Your Business Through the Eyes of an Investor” assessment tool is a practical step for owners to gain insights into their ventures' investor appeal, underscoring the advisor's role in helping an owner succeed.

This is Sean Hutchinson’s personal chronicles the journey of receiving the CEPA designation in 2008, highlighting the challenges and triumphs faced by early adopters in the field of exit planning. Despite initial excitement, the concept of the "exit plan" faced resistance from business owners, prompting the development of innovative strategies like the Value Acceleration Methodology. Through perseverance and collaboration, the CEPA community has grown to 5000 members, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of this specialized profession.

Human capital is a crucial driver of business value. By advocating leadership and culture as pivotal contributors to transferable enterprise value, professionals can benefit their business owner clients. Understanding the impact of leadership and culture on business value is imperative in client discussions, where emphasizing the potential positive or negative influences on their business's worth is essential. Learn more in this article.

Performative allyship is especially insidious because it can be incredibly difficult to identify and address. The kind of workplace engaged in this performance is almost certainly seeing high rates of attrition from underrepresented employees who feel powerless to do anything about the unfair and unequal treatment they experience. Learn about the difference between good and bad allyship, why your people care and why you should too.

From being ostracized or penalized because of success or achievements, to being told their ambition is annoying or makes superiors look bad, women are actively being punished for expressing interest in and pursuing success.

Whether you’re a diehard fan of new year’s resolutions or you’d prefer to ditch the resolutions in favor of something less rigid, there is something to be said about the power of strategic planning, specifically the act of setting goals, at the beginning of a new year. Much like wayfinding, goals are the signposts helping us navigate through uncharted or difficult territory. They’re how we can step back and take stock of our progress and determine what remains to be done.

It feels so good when you have a great conversation. But what makes it great? Is it the person, topic, location or some other key feature?

In her book You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters, Kate Murphy argues conversations are best for all parties when each person feels truly heard. This requires truly listening. Learn more.

For those interested in excelling in complex environments, RFN team member John Lazar recommends Jennifer Garvey Berger’s book, Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps – How to Thrive in Complexity.

At Ready for Next we often discuss VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This book challenges us to consider mind traps and how our instincts may be outdated and lead us right into one.

Your 2022 goals mattered at the beginning of the year. Do they now?

While writing down goals is an important step in achieving them, so is regular review. If it’s been a while since you looked at your 2022 goals, there is no time like now to see how you are doing.

A pit crew demonstrates teamwork in a unique and very visual way. Ranging from a handful to a couple dozen people with a single purpose. It brings together multiple people with specialized skills and one shared goal.

Learn how your team can achieve similar purpose.

This webinar was originally presented through the Exit Planning Institute in April 2022 by Ready for Next team members Sean Hutchinson and Rob Johannigman.

Remember the early days in your career when you went to job interviews and you were so keen on impressing the potential employer that you didn’t stop to think if they were right for you?

New client engagements can sometimes feel the same. You want to impress the owner and are so confident you can bring value to their business that you blow past yellow lights. You head straight to the solution without knowing what all the issues are.

Empowering conversations and good client relationships should be mutually beneficial. You both have a voice in determining if you should engage in working together.

It is important to remember the client is the only one who can decide they have a need for your services. You may be the exact person with the exact right solution at the exact right time, and if the client doesn’t think they have a problem requiring you and your solution, then it doesn’t matter.

At RFN, we’re proponents of making the most of smart ideas. We’re resolute in our belief that thought leaders are life-long learners, committed not only to improving themselves but to sharing valuable resources with anyone who may benefit.

Enjoy this book review.

Think of the process as “know, like and trust.”

This webinar was originally presented through the Exit Planning Institute in August 2021 by Sean Hutchinson.

There are many critical junctions for an owner on their business’s evolution. As a professional advisor, it is critical for you to understand where they are to be able to offer them the most impactful advice.

Sean Hutchinson will share the Ready for Next approach to understanding where a client is and how to quickly identify their needs, understand what you can offer and how to move them forward.

There is currently a bull market for exit planning. This webinar will help position you to provide immediate value to your business owner clients no matter where they are in their journey.

Sean Hutchinson appeared on the Poised for Exit podcast with host Julie Keyes to talk about what motivates business owners.

Building trust with a client is not just about questioning effectively, it is also about asking quality questions.

Humans are social animals. We tend to reflect what is presented to us. We move in the direction of our conversations.