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.

RFN provides a comprehensive roadmap for business owners navigating the complexities of transitioning their businesses. Our Academy has programs highlighting the importance of understanding the spectrum of business transition options. Business owners are advised to evaluate options based on fit, feasibility, likelihood and to seek professional assistance. We believe in further exploration and personalized guidance, empowering owners to approach their business transition with confidence and strategic foresight.

The 12 must-read books for you and your clients.

When we reframe our understanding of risk to anticipate the unknown and the unexpected, we open ourselves up to asking more open-minded questions that ultimately, help us overcome our bias for safety. We move away from entrenched modalities and begin thinking like a start-up.

While both Yellowstone and Succession showcase a variety of exaggerated conflicts rooted in drama, they do an incredible job of capturing the power of family dynamics and headlong emotions. We see animosity, resentment, avoidance and tensions between siblings and generations, all reflections of reality we can learn from.

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.

Experts emphasize the importance of living a “heart-heathy” lifestyle – regular exercise, good diet and stress-management practices – to reduce our risk of heart disease. The same basic idea applies to a business. One of the three ways to increase the value or “health” of a company is to reduce risk. This just so happens to come with the added benefit of reducing business owner stress in the long run.

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.

Ready for Next contributor, Julie Keyes, CEPA, has published the second edition of Poised for Exit - A Woman Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Transition. The materials and resources have been updated to help owners even more.

Learn more about Poised for Exit with this article.

Quiet quitting is more about defining personal boundaries than “sticking it to the man.” Perhaps quiet quitting is an answer to an extended period of time where “going above and beyond” at work has become normal and expected. This article will explain more about quiet quitting.

What if at your last innovation or strategy session the million dollar idea wasn’t said out loud? People are less likely to speak up and share their ideas if the environment doesn’t promote psychological safety.

Pick any team sport and there are specific skills needed to be victorious and have positive outcomes. The same is true for any large endeavor.
Transitioning from business ownership is likely one of the largest decisions and processes you will undertake. It is important to have a team around you advocating and supporting you through the experience.

Diversity and inclusion help in obvious ways and also in subtle ways. These may sound like “fluffy” HR issues, but for more and more employees they are becoming a reason to stay or leave an organization.

If your business relies on innovation to grow and make money, then consider the value of diversity to your team. According to statistics from Deloitte “cognitive diversity can enhance team innovation by up to 20%.”

RFN Academy contributor Felicia Johnson exposes the three biggest diversity and inclusion myths.

Some people might be hesitant to explore diversity and inclusion because they believe acknowledging difference is a divisive act that creates rifts and inequality when in fact, the very opposite is true. individuals are wanting more connection within their workplace.

Read this blog to dispel these myths and how diversity and inclusion can build value in your compnay.

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.