by Douglas Brown | Jul 8, 2026 | Staff stability
Whenever I ask a business owner, small or large, what the number one challenge is, the answer is always “people”. For larger businesses, it is managing the large numbers, the many compliance rules, and how to promote for the future while weeding out the disrupters....
by Douglas Brown | Jun 8, 2025 | Improve Business, Stepping away
Why would a successful business owner turn all their attention to a new line of business, or even jump to an entirely new business, when there is still much to be done in the existing business? Because they can. It’s what entrepreneurs do. Not every small...
by Douglas Brown | Feb 8, 2025 | Books and records, Obstacles, Sell business, Transparency
Two key statistics on business sales or transfers You’ll see them often on these pages because most business owners just cannot conceive that the situation can be that way, but it is. These are not odds worth bucking against: 87 percent of small businesses will...
by Douglas Brown | Jul 7, 2024 | Books and records, Sell business, Transparency
Many small business owners took advantage of the EIDL and PPP programs to take out loans against their businesses. When you’re trying to keep your staff on board through an interminable series of open-close-open-close government mandates that keeps both...
by Douglas Brown | May 12, 2024 | Books and records, Sell business, Transparency
The better you can support your numbers, the closer to the top of the range you will get. If your industry typically sells for 1.5-2.5 times net profit, these intangibles define where you fall in that range. They won’t shoot you to 5x.If you can’t support...
by Douglas Brown | Apr 14, 2024 | Books and records, Obstacles, Sell business, Transparency
Supreme Court Justice Learned Hand wrote in a 1934 opinion that “Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury”. Many owners do just that. They decide to have their...
