On October 2021 Lunch and Learn Event “Wellness and Women: Insights on Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle and Insights from Women Business Owners, Desirae Haluk, Bertha Robinson, and Vipin Singh shared their knowledge and expertise on how to keep you and your business healthy.
See the first part of the Lunch and Learn Event here: Things you can do NOW to Lead a Healthy Lifestyle
Making Sure That You Have A Healthy Business
By Bertha Robinson
Bertha Robinson is the newly elected president of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners and in support of all women business owners in the state of New Jersey and beyond. She is also the founder of a global coaching and consulting firm for small to mid-sized businesses for all making sure that they're clear on their strategy, communications, and having lasting success with customer loyalty.
Why you need a business plan
“Pivoting” has been the buzzword among businesses nowadays. Business owners felt lost when face-to-face interactions with clients, vendors, and fellow business owners have been limited.
In thinking of having a healthy business, the first thing to do is have a plan. Having a plan as to assessing where you are and where you want to go is critical. How do I make that pivot and shift? What is the strategy and where do I want to go? Be clear on where you are now and what you want to do. Have an idea of what is a clear goal structure.
“That's one of the things that we do. We make sure that you have a clear plan whether you are new in business or growing your business or trying to figure out “what do I do now?” because what you were offering then, you can’t offer any more.”
Setting business goals and objectives
Many people know about the S.M.A.R.T. goals.
S-pecific M-easurable A-ttainable R-ealistically High T-imebound
Bertha adds 3 more letters and calls it W.H.Y. S.M.A.R.T goals.
W for written
They have to be written. We’re doing so much in our day-to-day that we have to have a written plan. Take everything that we have in our head and put it down on paper so you can visually see it and attack it. Maybe it's not something that you'll do now, so just put the time frame and attack it second whenever that time comes around. The most important part is to write down your goals.
H for harmony
Your goals have to be in alignment with everything else that's going on in your life. You are an individual and you have a personal life and a business life. Business owners are ripping and running a lot of times trying to focus on what to do next, how to serve their team, what their competitors are doing. You need to stop for a moment and ask yourself what is it that you really want to do, what is it that's most critical and most important. Is your goals in alignment with where you're going and what you want to do and what's in your life?
Y for yours
They have to be YOUR goals and that's what fuels the joy. That's what fuels the passion and that's where you connect.
“If I was to say one thing that we do well is working with clients and making sure that their goals are clear and that they have a plan of action.”
Pro Tip: Write out what your obstacles could be. Write out all your possible obstacles and the things that can happen in the future and work out the solution so that when it does present itself, you have a plan B or a plan C.
Key Takeaways
Have a plan, write it down, and don't be afraid like when we were younger, dream big. Dream and then solidify the dream with some structure and make it a goal. Once you write it down and it's in your universe and in your atmosphere, you'll be able to hit your target.
Also, think about collaboration. There are others that have been there done that before you. There are so many resources that are available to us as business owners that we can avail. When you're networking, don't always just look at the other individual as a potential prospect or client but who's behind them, what's their network, who do they know, and what do they know. Intentionally ask questions that can help you and then always turn around and ask how you can help them because you may have the answer for that other individual.
Make sure that you use those resources and I would say that that's one segue into my plug and my share which is NJAWBO, the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners where we believe in relationships, referral, and revenue. It's a group of women business owners and men business owners that we have as members that are looking to support one another, grow our businesses together, and really point you in those directions that you may need.
The way that you can reach me in my business is by going to www.staroneprofessional.com
How To Be A “Healthy” Business Owner
Desirae Haluk is the owner of Clairant Services which is a marketing agency for startups and small businesses. Their target audience include startups and small businesses usually under 10 million in revenue. They do both B2B and B2C regardless of the industry. They teach their clients that they don't have to boil the ocean or have these large million-dollar marketing budgets in order to have an effective and strategic growth plan.
Fractional CMO Services
A lot of business owners whether they're women or men-owned businesses can afford to have full-time marketing leadership on their staff. Every company needs marketing as much as a lot of people don't understand that they do. Every company needs to market themselves and they need to understand their brand.
Hiring a fractional CMO gives the opportunity for companies to be able to afford that leadership and it takes the onus off of the owners of the companies or the CEOs. A lot of times even as women or men business owners we try to put a lot on our shoulders. We try to always spread ourselves then we're trying to do everything.
Delegate work to others
Delegate what you can. Think about the value of what you do and your expertise inside your own brain and what you're capable of and what you love to do. Take all of those things and delegate the things that you don't enjoy or you're not as good at. It doesn't mean you can't offer those services or those products but it is important to delegate those tasks.
“I have a lot of business owner friends who realize that after decades of being in business but I’ve learned that from my leaders in my previous life where I didn't own my own business. I learned that you just have to delegate and that also allows you to be scalable.”
A lot of people sort of plateau in their business because they have 60 hours a week to put if they want to live. The forty-hour workweek is healthy but again to help you grow your business and scale at the same time and still maintain that healthy lifestyle, you need to delegate.
Overcoming Fear of success
A lot of men and women (most probably more women) have fear of success. As a business owner, you also have bills and family to consider, yet every month you have a different revenue coming in that is not consistent. Create a safety net for yourself and know that there's always an option B. Don't have the fear of succeeding.
“I have a fractional CFO out in California. I’m in New Jersey and he's like “Desirae your goal should be able to hit x amount of revenue this year and I'm like whoa no no no no I don't want to kill myself here and it turns out I’m in Q3 and I'm already hitting that goal that I told him not to set. And I didn't kill myself over it.”
The point is, just rid yourself of fear, delegate, and believe because if a man can do it, women can do it too. Be driven and move forward. Remember that we all bring something different to the table.
Key Takeaways
Don't kill yourself as a business owner. You don't have to be up all night and up all day. You can have a well-balanced life. You can own a business and still be there for your family and you can be successful at it.
Also, appreciate your employees and treat them like it and let them know that they're doing a good job and if you need to criticize them give them constructive criticism. Say it with kindness in your voice or in your messages rather than beating down on them. Send them a little bit of appreciation. It goes a long way and it doesn't have to cost a lot, they're just little pats on the back that keep people feeling motivated.
My website is www.clairantservices.com
Selling or Buying a Business
By Vipin Singh
Vipin Singh represents a company called Murphy Business Sales. They help with buying and selling of businesses, business valuations, and machinery and equipment appraisal. If anyone is looking to start an entrepreneurial journey by buying a business or a franchise or if someone is looking to retire and exit their business, they can help.
Buying a Business
A lot of us including men and women think of starting a business and not as much or as often we are thinking of buying a business. Part of it is to do with the risk that we feel that we are exposing ourselves to when we are buying into a business because it seems like at the end of the day it's essentially cash flows that you're buying into. It is numbers that you don't know if you can rely upon.
However, not everyone out there who is trying to sell a business is looking to cheat or selling because it's not doing well. Most of them who are looking to exit have built their businesses over several years of their lives. They are now looking to retire and they would love it if someone was to take that business over and grow it. It's like their second child that they sometimes don't want to sell to someone who's coming with a purely financial incentive in mind. They want someone who will take care of that business, grow that business, take care of their employees.
They don't want their employees to lose their jobs or have a bad experience. They in fact would set something in the agreement where the existing employees get a share of the sale price so the employees get a huge bonus when the business sells and they still stay.
“We structure it so it's like a retention bonus type of a structure. So a lot of ways we can reduce some of those risks that people think are there when you're looking at buying a business.”
Business Financial Management
Keep your financials clean. If you own a business and you're looking to sell, one thing obviously you could do is grow your business, grow your revenue, cut your expenses. There are various ways to do all of those things but a very important thing that all business owners including men and women should keep in mind is that - when you're selling a business, you're looking at typically your last three years of financials. You're presenting your tax returns and sometimes business owners end up mixing their personal expenses with their business expenses.
A few business owners might think that's helping them with their taxes but no. Especially when it comes the time to sell your business and there is too much mixing of business and personal expenses that can cause a big problem. Banks would not like to see those kinds of tax returns or financials.
A buyer would be really concerned if the numbers that he or she is looking at are reliable. We can add back some of the personal expenses to the extent they are reasonable and come up with pro forma earnings but it's not always easy.
“Our recommendation to existing business owners is always to focus on keeping your financials clean. There are various systems out there these days that can help you do that. Quickbooks is one of them. You might be saving on taxes by mixing your personal expenses but when you sell a business, you're looking at two to three times multiple of your earnings. So if you think of saving 20 dollars on a hundred dollar expense at the same time, that same hundred dollars if you are not mixing a personal expense you could get three hundred dollars. So it's a 20 versus 300 dollars a differential. It is a huge differential that one should keep in mind.
Talk to your advisors, talk to your CPAs, talk to your business intermediaries. Sometimes attorneys also have a view into how a deal should be structured. Preparation is key.”
Key Takeaways
One thing I would want people to remember is when you're considering a startup versus buying a business, think of buying a business as a viable alternative. In our view, it's a lower-risk way of buying into existing cash flows. With startups, you are looking at building cash flows from scratch which happens sometimes but a lot of times it does not. So look at buying a business as a viable alternative.
Contact Vipin here www.murphybusiness.com/edison
Financial Insights from Dennis Harabin, CPA
People lose sight of the fact that they are trimming and saving on a little bit of taxes and then they retire and realize they have no social security because they've been chopping out of their self-employment taxes. The nickels and dimes they've been saving come back to haunt them. So always look at all those things from the beginning.
You need a plan if you're planning on selling. You got to start looking three years in advance to really look at what you're doing. You want to be in control when you're selling. You don't want to sell as a fire sale. You always want to be able to sell and let it be your choice as opposed to it being someone else's choice.
See our featured charity for October 2021 Lunch and Learn Event: Help Hope Live: A Unique Nonprofit Helping With Medical Costs
Recommended Readings:
- Let's Talk About Business Financing
- Introducing Business on a Browser
- Low-Budget Marketing For Rookies
- How to Attract Talents and Make Them Stay?
- Excellent Networking Skills
- When Is Your Business No Longer a “Startup”?
- Why You Need a Financial Advisor Even More in Uncertain Times
- The Importance of a Well-Oiled Accounting Function