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As a business owner, you set the rules for your company, your work schedule, and your income. You are the captain of the ship, and your business is the vehicle that takes you to your desired destination. Have you ever thought about how your business can help create the life you desire? 

Creating a fulfilling life through your business does not mean all work and no play. Instead, it means finding ways to make the most of your opportunities while taking care of yourself in the process. In this blog post, we will discuss why and how your business is the vehicle for you to have a great life. We will share how your business can help you achieve the life you dream about.

Enjoy a Flexible Schedule

One of the biggest advantages of running your own business is the flexibility it provides. You can create a schedule that works best for you. You can decide when and where you work. This means you have the freedom to prioritize what matters most to you. You can schedule work around important events and personal commitments, such as spending time with family, traveling, or pursuing your hobbies. 

With complete control over your time and location, the possibilities are endless. You have the ability to embrace the freedom that comes with being your own boss and seize the opportunity to create a work-life balance that brings fulfillment and joy to every aspect of your life.

High-Income Potential

As a business owner, you have the potential to earn more than you would in a traditional job. Your income is based on the success of your business. You can increase your profits and income by working hard, improving your operations, and expanding your customer base.

In creating a successful business, you also have the opportunity to sell it for a premium price, which can set you up for life. Here are some ways to increase your income through your business:

• Manage Your Cash Flow: Good cash flow management is essential for business success. Tracking your cash inflows and outflows ensures you always have enough money to cover your expenses. Managing your cash flow correctly can help you plan your business growth, save for the future, and invest in assets that will help your company prosper.
  
• Optimize Profitability: Every business has the potential to be profitable, but only if it’s run effectively. By optimizing profitability, you can ensure your business is sustainable over the long term. You can improve your profitability by reducing costs, increasing revenue, and streamlining your operations. The key is staying disciplined and continuously monitoring your business metrics.
  
• Put Scaling Mechanisms in Place through Strong Sales and Marketing: Growth is a critical component of a successful business. An essential way to scale your business is through strong sales and marketing. Developing a robust sales and marketing strategy can attract new customers, encourage repeat business, and expand your business reach. By putting scaling mechanisms in place, you can continue to grow your business and reduce your workload over time.

Establish Self-Sufficient Operations

An aspect often overlooked but crucial to business success is the ability to operate efficiently without the owner’s constant presence. Establishing thorough systems and processes is vital to achieve this. Things you can start doing now to create self-sufficient operations:

• Document every operation in your business, from administrative tasks to customer management. 
• Train employees to follow these processes, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Identify potential leaders within your team and provide them with opportunities for growth and development. 
• Implement technologies that automate tasks to aid in making your business self-sufficient. 

Having a business that can run independently gives you peace of mind and adds significant value should you ever decide to sell it.

Let Us Help You Create a Life of Freedom

Running your business well can provide an opportunity to have the life you desire. We can help you set up your business to run without you, giving you the freedom to enjoy your life. By working with a Business Advisor at Zabel & Co., you can collaborate with an expert to unleash your business’s potential and create a life you love. Let’s chat!

Owning a business comes with many risks, and it is the responsibility of the business owner to mitigate these risks effectively. Running a business presents a myriad of challenges, spanning from financial and legal risks to the ever-present threat of cybersecurity. To maintain the vitality and success of your organization, it is essential to have proven risk mitigation strategies in place. No one wants to find themselves in a situation where their entire livelihood is at risk. Every business owner should be familiar with these risk mitigation techniques:

Policies and Procedures

Setting up accurately defined policies and procedures is of utmost importance when it comes to risk mitigation. These guidelines serve as a roadmap for employees, providing them with a clear path to follow and ultimately reducing the occurrence of errors. It is crucial for companies to have a comprehensive handbook that outlines not only the day-to-day operations and safety practices but also the technological aspects and other relevant practices of the business. Employees should have a thorough understanding of the risks associated with their roles and the necessary steps to mitigate them.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of these guidelines, it is essential to periodically update the handbook to reflect any recent changes in operations, legal requirements, and industry trends. This ensures that employees are equipped with the most up-to-date information and practices, enabling them to mitigate risks more effectively and maintain a safe and compliant work environment.

Documentation

Effective documentation processes are crucial for mitigating risks and ensuring accountability. By maintaining proper records, businesses can provide concrete evidence in the event of disputes or legal matters. It is imperative for these records to be well-organized and securely stored, encompassing all relevant documents such as contracts, receipts, and agreements.

For instance, in human resources management, businesses should maintain a comprehensive record of their employees’ performance evaluations, disciplinary procedures, and details related to promotions or transfers. This level of detail helps maintain transparency, facilitates informed decision-making, and fosters a fair and productive work environment.

Change Management

To effectively mitigate risk, every change made to the business must be deliberate and thoroughly analyzed. This entails considering every aspect of any proposed change and carefully evaluating its potential impact on the company’s operations. This evaluation process may involve conducting extensive meetings and consultations with various stakeholders, including employees, business advisors, legal advisors, finance experts, and industry consultants with relevant expertise. 

By fostering a culture of collaboration and inclusivity, businesses minimize the likelihood of costly mistakes and maintain a distinct competitive edge in the ever-evolving market landscape.

Managing Cash Flow

Every business owner understands the critical importance of cash flow management. It is the lifeblood that keeps a business running smoothly and ensures its long-term success. Business owners must diligently monitor all revenue and expenses to optimize cash flow, leaving no stone unturned. A healthy cash flow can be cultivated by creating realistic financial goals and implementing effective strategies, paving the way for sustainable growth.

In cases where a business is struggling with cash flow, it is essential for the owner to take a step back and re-evaluate the financial and operational processes. Identifying areas that require improvement and making necessary changes is crucial for turning the tide.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a vital and rapidly evolving aspect of risk mitigation strategies in today’s digital landscape. As cyber-attacks continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, it has become more imperative than ever for businesses to prioritize and invest in robust cybersecurity measures. 

To protect against threats, businesses should implement a multi-layered security approach. This includes encrypting sensitive data, deploying comprehensive firewalls, and regularly updating software to address vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity is not just IT’s responsibility; every employee plays a crucial role. Businesses can create a culture of awareness by providing comprehensive training and teaching employees to identify and report risks like phishing emails. These proactive measures mitigate risks and safeguard assets, data, and reputation in our complex digital world.

Get Expert Help with Your Risk Mitigation

Every business owner should be aware of the risks their company may face and prepare to mitigate them effectively. By working with a Business Advisor at Zabel & Co., you can collaborate with an expert to implement these risk mitigation strategies and create a robust framework to set up your organization for ongoing success and growth. Let’s chat!

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of running a company. You may find yourself struggling to keep up with the demands of your business while also trying to maintain a fulfilling personal life. The truth is that your business should be the vehicle for you to live a great life. And sometimes, it takes an outsider to help you see things you may have otherwise missed. That’s where a business advisor comes in.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how leveraging the expertise of a business advisor can help you maximize your company’s growth and create a more fulfilling life for yourself. From resources and connections to valuable insight and guidance, there are many ways a business advisor can assist you in achieving long-term success:

Benefit from Outsider Insight

When you’re in the thick of running a business, it can be challenging to see the forest for the trees. You may be so involved in the day-to-day operations that you miss valuable opportunities to grow and improve. That’s where a business advisor can come in. By providing an outside perspective, they can offer valuable insights and guidance you might not have considered. This unbiased approach can help you identify blind spots in your business and discover new ways to improve.

Leverage Experience and Resources

Business advisors bring a wealth of experience and resources to the table. They have worked with countless businesses and have seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t. This experience can help you avoid common pitfalls, streamline processes, and ultimately achieve your business goals faster. Additionally, business advisors often have access to valuable resources and connections you might not otherwise have. This can include access to financing, industry experts, and other key players in your industry.

Build a Business That Supports Your Life

At the end of the day, your business should support the life you want to live—not the other way around. A business advisor can help you identify your priorities and create a roadmap that aligns with your personal and professional goals. By focusing on building a business that supports the life you want to live, you can enjoy a more fulfilling personal life while also achieving long-term business success.

Work to Live, Not Live to Work

As a business owner, it’s easy to get sucked into the idea that your work should be your life. But the reality is your business is just one aspect of your life. By working with a business advisor, you can create a more balanced approach that allows you to prioritize your personal life without sacrificing your business goals. This includes delegating tasks, building a solid team, and creating systems to streamline operations.

Achieve Long-Term Success

Ultimately, the goal of working with a business advisor is to achieve long-term success. This means building a profitable, sustainable business that aligns with your personal and professional goals. By leveraging outsider insight, experience, resources, and a focus on building a business that supports your life, you can maximize your company’s growth and create a more fulfilling life for yourself.

Get Expert Help with Your Business Planning

A business advisor can be a valuable asset for any business owner seeking long-term success. From valuable insight and guidance, to accessing resources and connections, there are many ways that a business advisor can help you maximize your company’s growth and create a more fulfilling life for yourself.

So why not take advantage of this valuable resource? By working with a business advisor at Zabel & Co., you can create a roadmap that aligns with your personal and professional goals and ultimately achieve the success you’ve been striving for. Let’s chat!

Cash flow is critical to the success of any business. As a business owner, it’s essential for you to understand why cash flow management is so important. Poor cash flow management can lead to bankruptcy or loss of business. 

One way to improve cash flow management is to regularly review your business’s financial statements and identify areas where you can cut costs or increase revenue. Having a plan in place for managing unexpected expenses or dips in revenue is also essential. By staying vigilant and proactive, you can help ensure the long-term success of your business.

In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of cash flow management and why business owners need to be proactive in managing the flow of cash in and out of their business:

Helps to Maintain Stability

Cash flow management helps to maintain stability in your business. You need to know how much cash is coming in and going out of your business at any given time. You need to be able to forecast future cash inflows and outflows to ensure that you have enough cash to cover your expenses. This is particularly important during slow sales periods or when you are expanding your business.

Without proper cash flow management, your business can quickly become unstable, making it difficult to stay afloat. By tracking your cash inflows and outflows, you can create a budget to ensure you’re putting your money to the best use. This can help you identify areas where you can cut back on expenses and opportunities for investment or growth. By staying on top of your cash flow, you’ll be better prepared to weather any financial downturns that may come your way.

Facilitates Strategic Decision Making

Cash flow management helps you to make informed decisions about your business. You can use your cash flow data to determine how much cash you need to invest in new products or services, how much you can afford in terms of marketing and advertising, and how much you should set aside for emergency funds. By using cash flow data, you can better plan for long-term growth and profitability.

Cash flow management allows you to identify areas where you may be overspending or wasting money. By tracking your cash flow, you can adjust your business strategy and reduce unnecessary expenses, ultimately leading to increased profitability and success.

Enables Better Credit Management

Cash flow management helps you to manage your credit better. You can use cash flow reports to determine if you need to apply for credit lines or if you need to pay down debt. You can also use cash flow data to negotiate better payment terms with your suppliers. You can avoid late payment fees and improve your credit score by paying your bills on time.

Helps to Avoid Cash Shortages

Cash flow management helps you to avoid cash shortages. If you don’t have enough cash to pay your bills, you risk late payment fees, damaging your credit score, and even going out of business. By proactively managing your cash flow, you can ensure you always have enough cash to meet your needs.

This is why it’s important to review your cash flow and regularly adjust as needed. You may need to cut back on expenses or explore new revenue streams to maintain a healthy cash balance. With careful planning and monitoring, you can avoid the stress and financial strain of cash shortages.

Enables Business Growth

Cash flow management enables business growth. If you want to expand your business, you must ensure you have enough cash to cover startup and ongoing expenses. You can use cash flow reports to identify areas of your business that generate the most cash and areas where you need to make cuts. You can use this information to invest in new technology, products, or services to drive growth and profitability.

Crucial for the Success of Any Business

Effective cash flow management is critical for the success of any business. As a business owner, you must be proactive in managing your cash flow. By maintaining stable cash flow, facilitating strategic decision-making, managing your credit better, avoiding cash shortages, and enabling business growth, you can ensure your business is successful today and in the future. Implementing a cash flow management system is an excellent investment in your business’s success. Here are three steps you can take now to improve your cash flow. 

Get Expert Help with Your Cash Flow

If you’re having trouble managing your company’s cash flow, getting expert help is important. Our team of professionals at Zabel & Co. can help you understand your cash flow situation and develop a plan to improve it. Let’s chat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once tax season is over, you might think you can breathe easy until next year, but — despite sounding like a pain — it will be better for you to conduct a quarterly financial check-in to keep your finger on the pulse of your business.

Here are some reasons why you should consider a financial check-in every three months:

Keeping Tabs on Your Financial Data

Ask yourself whether you know how your business is functioning right now. While you may have a general idea of where you stand, a quarterly check-in can ensure that you know exactly where you stand financially, giving you an update on things like profit margins, working capital, and other important data. With the right software, all of that information can be available at your fingertips.

Making Informed Business Decisions

Throughout the fiscal year, you’ll need to make decisions about what’s best for your company. These can range from things like purchasing new inventory, launching a new marketing campaign, or even hiring new staff.

If you don’t have access to your current business data, you’re left to make these decisions in the dark. Having access to your company’s financial records empowers you to make choices that make sense for the bigger picture of your business and give you greater confidence in your future.

Tracking KPIs

Many entrepreneurs set goals for themselves, the best of which are measurable. For instance, you might measure the success of your marketing campaigns by seeing an increase in revenue. 

Instead of waiting for the end of the year to evaluate your performance toward your goals, you can tap into your current data to provide yourself with a progress update. In other words, a quarterly check-in will allow you to establish regular benchmarks so you can more closely monitor your strategic business decisions. 

Keeping Your Business Plan Up-to-Date

Your business plan should be kept up-to-date and accurate. Not only will it keep you and your leadership accountable to your company goals, but lenders and stakeholders are also likely to ask to see your plan before approving any funding. Having quarterly financial data ensures that you keep your governing documents up-to-date, which will make it easier to obtain funding whenever you may need it.

Adapting to New Challenges

Many business owners are feeling the strain caused by rising interest rates and inflationary pressures. To counter these hurdles, you’ll need to adjust your finances to keep up with rising challenges.

A quarterly check-in might reveal that your overhead costs are negatively impacting your profit margin, for instance, and knowing that will allow you to adjust your business model to minimize its operating expenses or find ways to increase revenue.

Seizing New Opportunities

During the year, you may encounter new opportunities to expand your product line or purchase a new piece of equipment for your company, but you can’t capitalize on these kinds of opportunities unless you know whether your business can handle them.

Having access to regular, up-to-date financial data will not only guide your business decisions but can also help you seize new opportunities as they come your way. The best way to stay flexible is to stay informed and on top of your business’s performance.

Maximizing Future Tax Deductions

You can deduct many common business expenses from your annual taxes, but in order to do so properly, you’ll need to keep track of your receipts and documentation to validate these deductions. Quarterly check-ins ensure that you keep track of your records and that no deductible expense is missed.

A regular check-in can, likewise, enable you to plan your deductions more effectively, and by planning them in advance, you can reduce your tax liability in a way that aligns with your broader business strategy.

Preventing Financial Missteps

No business owner wants to make a purchasing decision only to realize that they lack the cash flow to execute it. If you don’t keep track of your business data, you could quickly run out of the working capital you need to cover your expenses and pay your employees. Quarterly check-ins will keep you informed about your company’s finances and prevent the kinds of errors that can land you in jeopardy.

Get the Help You Need

Managing your finances is hard work, but thankfully, there’s Zabel and Co. We offer fractional CFO services that give you access to industry-leading expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time worker. Reach out for help today.

You’ve put countless hours into building a successful business. But when the time comes to leave it, what will you do?

Recent studies indicate that even founders of highly successful businesses find themselves facing a similar problem: they regret the way they handled leaving their businesses.

A successful exit takes planning and coordination. And when you plan ahead, you can also maximize your company’s value before you sell. Here’s how to do just that.

Recruit (and Keep) Top Talent

Employees are at the heart of every business. In order to make your business as attractive as possible to potential buyers, you should make every effort to make sure your most qualified employees stay on after a sale.

But how do you do that? The key is to incentivize staying on with your business. You might consider offering employees equity ownership in your company. Alternatively, you could offer bonuses tied to company profits. With these incentives in place, your employees will be as invested in your company’s success as you are.

Organize Your Books

If your business’s books have gotten jumbled and disorganized over the years, you aren’t alone. But cleaning up your books and making them easy to follow is essential if you want to make top dollar on your business sale. 

One of the best ways to do this is to hire a professional bookkeeping team — professionals can not only fix issues with your books but also optimize them so your business makes a great impression on potential buyers.

Find a Niche

Certain sectors are saturated with businesses; if your company doesn’t have anything distinguishing it from its competitors, you’ll have trouble selling it for a high price. In some cases, you might have trouble selling it at all!

The easiest way to stand out to buyers is to find a niche to dominate. For example, maybe you specialize in computer repair but you’re the only company that will go to a customer’s home to do the repair. Once you find a way to stand out, emphasize that facet of your business to potential buyers.

Make Sure You Have a Clear Sales and Marketing Process

When a would-be buyer evaluates your business, they’ll want to see that sales and marketing will continue just fine without you. For instance, if lead generation is an important part of your business and how it works, you should be able to document the lead-generation process for a potential buyer.

It’s also wise to make sure that you don’t depend on a few customers for the majority of your sales. This type of situation is a risky one for buyers. After all, if one of your customers starts buying elsewhere, a significant portion of your sales will disappear. Before you sell, analyze your customer base to make sure it’s significantly diverse.

Clean Up Your Website

Having a nicer website might sound trivial, but it’s an important part of the impression you make on buyers. In many cases, your website is a buyer’s (or customer’s) introduction to your company. If your site is jumbled, hard to navigate, or rife with grammatical errors, you’ll come off as unprofessional.

On the other hand, if you have an aesthetically appealing, navigable website, you’ve already made your business look trustworthy. Your site also allows you to point out key business attributes — something potential buyers are certainly looking for. 

Here are a few things to make sure you include on your website:

• How long you’ve been in business
• Why you do what you do
• What sets you apart from competitors
• How to contact you

If you don’t have existing web design skills, hiring a web designer is worth it. The one-time fee you pay will likely end up getting you a higher price when you do finally sell your business.

Handle Leaving Your Company the Right Way

Don’t be like the countless founders who came to regret the way they left their companies. Long before you’re ready to leave, it’s a good idea to start formulating a plan — and part of that plan is maximizing your business’s value. 

It’s never too early to start looking to the future! Use this checklist to start developing your long-term plan.

Vadnais Heights, Minnesota (May 24, 2023) – Zabel & Co. is proud to announce that Michael Munson will be stepping up from his current role as a manager within our firm to taking on the responsibility as a new firm partner in 2023. In this partnership, Munson will be focusing on seeking new business opportunities to position the company for increased growth and development.

Zabel & Co. is known in the advising industry for its superior guidance in counseling businesses and entrepreneurs to scale sustainably. “We are very excited for Michael to be taking this role in our company. Michael has shown great leadership and professionalism for the past 10 years,” said Todd Zabel, President of Zabel & Co.

Michael Munson is an outstanding advising professional who has devoted himself to helping Zabel & Co. clients develop their businesses and achieve their goals. This partnership agreement exemplifies his dedication to Zabel & Co. and we look forward to him continuing to be an enormous asset to Zabel & Co.’s present and future endeavors.

“Like every other team member at Zabel & Co., I hold dear the core value of helping others. I know listening to their challenges and goals is the best way to help clients excel. Taking on the responsibility of being a partner at Zabel & Co. will help me achieve those goals on a new level,” said Munson. 

Having been at Zabel & Co. for over a decade, Munson has worn multiple hats in handling billing, staff training, management, preparing business returns and financial statements, and reviewing personal tax returns. In all responsibilities Munson has held, he has always demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities that will make him an exceptional partner. 

About Zabel & Co.

Zabel & Co. offers personalized guidance to businesses and entrepreneurs. Armed with over 30 years of industry expertise, their clients get one-to-one support, business counsel, and accountability partners to scale sustainably while building a well-rounded life. Over the years, they’ve served hundreds of businesses. During this time, Zabel & Co. has realized what gets them out of bed in the morning: serving their clients in a way that allows them to dedicate every ounce of their time, knowledge, and passion.

SOURCE: Zabel & Co.

Creating exit strategies when selling your business is already complex, but it becomes even more complicated when your business partner doesn’t want to sell. In order to protect your interests and ensure there’s a smooth transition, you should approach the situation with thoughtfulness and a well-formulated strategy.

Here are some steps you can take to create an exit strategy when you want to sell but your partner doesn’t.

Address Your Reasons for Selling

Take time to thoroughly articulate your reasons for selling. Do they have to do with financial performance? Market conditions? Personal circumstances?

Your reasons for selling may have to do with your partner. Perhaps you’re unhappy with their contributions to the business.

Whatever reasons you have, clearly defining them will help you properly communicate your intentions to your partner when you discuss selling your business.

Communicate Honestly

Honest communication is a good tool to have when addressing wanting to sell your business. If you’re unhappy with your business partner, have an honest conversation about what you’re unhappy with while trying not to be hostile or accusatory.

Your partner may be going through personal struggles that have negatively affected their ability to focus on business. Having an honest conversation can help you work together to come up with a consensus on what’s expected from each partner for the sake of the business.

Putting these expectations in writing and establishing a timeline for performance goals can help add structure to the conversation.

Review Your Partnership Agreement

One of the first steps you should take is reviewing your partnership or operating agreement, which should have defined terms and conditions for selling or transferring your business. The partnership agreement may also contain language to help guide you through a conflict with your partner.

Knowing what’s included in your partnership agreement can help you understand your obligations and legal rights in the situation.

Negotiate Exit Terms

Once you’ve put together an exit strategy, you should negotiate the terms of the exit. This may involve payment terms, non-compete agreements, valuation, etc. Be prepared to negotiate these aspects of the exit as part of the transaction.

Determine Business Valuation

Part of your exit strategy should be determining the fair value of your ownership. A valuation expert or business appraiser can help with this based on market conditions, your company’s financial performance, and contemporary industry standards.

Explore Alternative Solutions

If your partner does not want to sell the business, there may be alternative exit strategies that allow for both of your needs to be met. Some examples include:

Partial Sale

Instead of selling your entire business, you could sell part of your ownership to your partner or an interested third party. A partial sale allows you to get some return on your investment while allowing your partner to control the business.

Recapitalization

This is the process of bringing in outside investors, which allows you to receive a cash payout while enabling your business partner to continue business operations.

Management Buyout

If you have key high-performing employees who are interested in business ownership, you could consider a management buyout. This allows you to sell your ownership to an existing manager on your team, which may be a good compromise with your partner.

Bring in Professional Advisors

If you and your business partner cannot come to an amicable agreement that meets both of your objectives, you should consider bringing in professional advisors who can provide help.

A neutral third-party advisor can act as a mediator who helps both partners be heard without feeling bullied or isolated in the process.

Consider Taking Legal Action

If mediation and negotiations don’t go anywhere, you may need to consider contacting a lawyer. An attorney can review business documents and the status of your business, then offer assistance when negotiating resolutions between you and your partner.

If your partner hasn’t been taking your selling efforts seriously, bringing in legal experts may persuade them to either contribute more to the business or move forward in the negotiation process.

Get Professional Help from Zabel & Co.

Selling your business is a major transition. In order to ensure you’re doing it correctly, you should work with professionals who can make the transition as seamless as possible.

If you want to sell your business, talk to Zabel & Co. We can help you create an actional exit plan for your future retirement. Let’s connect to chat about your options.

Sustaining a business is a lot of work. If you find yourself going through an exhausting daily grind for a company you don’t believe in, it’s easy to feel as though it just isn’t worth it. That’s why it’s so important to create a business that makes you excited to get to work each day.

But how exactly do you do that? Well-meaning people might advise you to choose an industry that you’re passionate about. And while passion may play a part in your business dealings, if you want to build a business (and a life) that you truly love, you need a plan that sets you firmly on the path to success. 

Here are 3 key steps you can use to start planning.

1. Create Measurable Goals

Creating real, trackable goals is one of the golden rules of business. It’s a logical one too. If only 37% of your leads converted in September, you might want to turn that number to 40% in October and raise it again in November. Over time, these trackable goals drive business growth.

But when you really want to love your business and your life, you need to set goals for where you want to be in the future. Do you want to step back from being an owner-operator? Have 4-hour workdays? Take 2 months off every summer? Sell for a sizable sum in 20 years?

Whatever your goals are, the first step is to set them. Writing them down is a good place to start. From there, you can make a plan to achieve each goal. For instance, if your plan is to be able to step back from day-to-day operations, you might focus on finding a promising employee you can train to become your new operations manager.

Set regular intervals for tracking your goals. You might decide that each month you’ll take a few minutes to analyze where you are and determine whether anything needs to change. Setting your large-scale strategy is important, but so is regularly revisiting that strategy and adjusting it as necessary.

2. Build an Incredible Team

If your vision is the brain of your business, your team is the heart. And if you want to be able to step back from your business (or even sell it at some point), having a competent team and developing a positive company culture will go a long way.

When you make your hiring decisions, try to bring in smart, motivated people. If your goal is to eventually have your business function seamlessly without you, you need capable employees you can train and promote. When you have outstanding employees, you can delegate tasks with confidence, freeing up more time to focus on your goals.

This is where fostering a positive company spirit comes into play. If you hire a few great employees but your company culture is a particularly negative one, those employees are likely to leave before they can take on more responsibility. Do your best to foster a healthy, happy work environment your team won’t want to leave.

3. Focus on the Process

If you prefer to do things yourself to make sure they get done right, you might want to work on breaking that habit. After all, if you spend most of your time overseeing basic daily operations, you won’t be able to dedicate your energy and focus to building your business and reaching your personal goals.

One of the best things you can do for your business is to create detailed documentation for each task employees perform repeatedly. For instance, if you run a car detailing business, creating a step-by-step procedure for detailers means that you don’t have to train each person individually. 

Having a set procedure for each task or process has other benefits too. It ensures that your clients or customers have consistently positive experiences with your company. And if your employees have questions about a task, they can consult the documentation rather than asking you for clarification.

The process of documentation may seem like a time-consuming one, but it will ultimately save you time. Each hour you spend documenting a given procedure will lead to many hours pursuing and achieving your goals.

Ready to Build a Business You Love?

Building a business is rewarding, but it certainly poses a challenge — especially for first-time business owners. Luckily, you don’t have to create your business alone.

At Zabel & Co., we help business owners lead a business they love. Let’s chat about how we can help you get to where you want to be.

Business advisors are valuable industry players who help business owners like you manage your companies and build success.

There can certainly be merit to working with advisors who don’t have certifications, as they likely have valuable experience. However, certifications set great advisors apart from good ones. That’s because certifications often require rigorous qualifications, like relevant work experience, knowledge and education, and training.

Advisors who have certifications bring next-level expertise to clients. Here are some of the most popular certifications that should be of interest to business owners.

Certified Business Exit Consultant

Certified Business Exit Consultants (CBECs) are professionals who are certified to assist entrepreneurs in planning business exits.

CBEC professionals counsel entrepreneurs concerning:

• Their exit options
• How to estimate the value of their businesses
• Tax considerations when exiting their businesses
• Preparing for the formal exit

Professionals who receive a CBEC certification undergo extensive training and testing that covers mental preparation for a business exit, validating businesses, private capital markets, transfer strategies, and retaining management teams during transitions.

Certified Exit Planning Advisor

A Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) is a financial professional who helps business owners with processes like selling their businesses and transitioning them successfully. 

CEPA professionals rely on a proprietary framework known as Value Acceleration Methodology to advise their clients. The three major parts of this framework are:

• Maximizing the value of your business
• Personal financial planning
• Planning for life after business

Through this methodology, advisors educate their clients on how they can build and preserve their wealth.

Value Builder-Certified

The Value Builder System is an advanced software that offers a proven process for growing a company’s wealth.

Business owners who work with advisors certified by the Value Builder System tend to increase the overall value of their companies by more than 30% during the first eight months of use.

Those certified to use the Value Builder System often serve as accountants, business brokers, business coaches, merger and acquisitions specialists, financial advisors, management consultants, and wealth managers.

Certified Information Technology Professional

A Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) has technical expertise across various branches of business technology. These professionals are experts on:

• Data analytics
• Information management and assurance
• Business solutions and emerging trends

To become a CITP, you must first have a CPA. The CITP requires a minimum of 1,000 hours of relevant work experience, usually in IT management.

Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are professionals whose expertise extends to taxes, business finances, and finances in general. Essentially, CPAs help businesses and individuals reach their financial goals.

CPAs also help create those financial goals in the first place by bringing their experience and business savvy to the table to help define the action a company should take to achieve success.

The CPA designation is a rigorous one, requiring not only the right education and experience credentials but also a passing score on a notoriously difficult exam.

Certified Valuation Analyst

Certified Valuation Analysts (CVAs) act as business valuation advisors. CVAs perform a variety of functions, including roles such as:

• Financial and investment analysts
• Merger and acquisition consultants
• Financial officers

Their roles may include offering guidance for businesses in the process of mergers or acquisitions, as well as valuing businesses being passed down to a family member. They also help business owners value their companies so they can secure credit or funding.

Why Zabel & Co Values Certifications

The partners at Zabel & Co have invested in many certifications, including those above. We believe it’s one of the best ways to serve and inspire confidence in our clients. The more we invest in our own knowledge, the more reliable we can be for our clients who depend on that knowledge. If we can help you advance your business or identify opportunities to maximize your cash flow, we’d love to be of assistance. Reach out to our team today to connect.