From Transition to Transaction: Avoiding Ownership Pitfalls, With Laurie Barkman

Filed in Podcasts, Previous Episodes on September 15, 2022

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You started your business for the freedom that comes with running your own company. The freedom to earn what you deserve, and to work for whomever you want, when you want, and from wherever you want.

The challenge for many business owners is that the dream remains elusive.

For you to cash out, someone must want to buy the company. An owner who is prepared with an attractive business greatly increases the odds that the business will survive a transition of hands.

How ready is your business to be sold? How ready are you for this transition?

Millions of businesses are hitting today’s market with shifting demographics, impacts of the COVID-19 recession, and changing tax regulations. Some estimates show that only 25% of businesses that go to market actually sell.

Your company needs a way to stand out.

That’s where Laurie Barkman comes in. As a “business transition sherpa” Laurie advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses.

Tune in and discover Laurie’s answers to questions such as:

  • Why your company may not be sellable / how potential acquirers will evaluate your company.
  • What impacts the value of a business?
  • What trends are you seeing for small business mergers and acquisitions?
  • When should a business owner start exit planning?
  • And much, much more!

Every beginning has an end. The question is, will yours cash out or fizzle out?

About This Guest: ()

80% of business owners want to stop working in their business in the next 5-10 years, but most have not planned for that transition. Many need to improve the business first. Laurie Barkman is a "business transition sherpa." With her firm, SmallDotBig, she advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses. And as a Partner with Stony Hill Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions firm, she guides them through the complex process of letting it go. Laurie is the former CEO of a $100 million revenue company with an exit to a Fortune 50 company. With more than 25 years of C-Suite and award-winning marketing expertise, she provides actionable perspectives to drive sustainable value. Engaging audiences across the US, Laurie is an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, leads executive workshops with Vistage, and hosts a weekly podcast called Succession Stories. Laurie earned her MBA from Carnegie Mellon and BS from Cornell University. She is a Certified Value Builder Advisor and has a Certificate from the Exit Planning Institute.
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