Thomas William Deans Ph.D.

I was playing my regular Saturday morning squash game and had my friend two games to zero. I was only three points away from taking the match in a clean three-game sweep. But something happened. I started to drift and lose focus. To make a long story short, I flamed out and went down three games to two. The sting of defeat is always more acute when you’ve already begun to celebrate before victory is earned.

On the drive home I wondered how many business founders have always imagined that the surest succession plan – the sale of the business to their own children – is a slam-dunk, only to find out too late that their children love their jobs but hate risking capital.

April 25th, 2012

With the economy stabilizing and on the verge of actually seeing some growth, companies are positioned to increase earnings - or are they? During the recent recession companies needed to act drastically, in many cases making deep cuts in costs that resulted in temporary margin improvement. But are these margins really sustainable? The question is, did companies cut excess or muscle? With stabilization, will companies be able to scale to meet increasing demand or will they start to see margin pressure as they struggle to meet the increasing demand? 

These are a few of the questions investors will have as they look at potential acquisition opportunities.

The question for potential sellers is, are you ready for such scrutiny? 

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Succession is never easy and whilst over 70% of businesses in the UK are family owned, research has shown that only 13% of family businesses survive beyond the third generation. Juliette Johnson explains more…

Succession planning is an area that many family businesses struggle to deal with, and often leave until it needs to be implemented rather than plan for the transition properly. Plan succession properly and the business can survive for generations to come. Fail to plan can be disastrous so how can families ensure that they survive and avoid the potential pitfalls?

The aims of succession

August 19, 2011 Entrepreneur.com

by Carol Tice |

Sick of fighting for business in the down economy? For some business owners, hard times may force you to wonder whether it's time to cash in and move on -- or at least, sell a stake to someone who might eventually buy you out.

If you're thinking about leaving your business behind, some careful planning up front can make it a smooth transition that ensures your company thrives after you're gone. Here are five tips on how to make a graceful exit from Suzanne Bates, executive coach and author of the upcoming book Discover Your CEO Brand: Secrets to Embracing and Maximizing Your Unique Value as a Leader:

Maurie Cashman, MBA, President of Aspen Grove Investments, Inc. recently earned the designation of Certified Exit Planner (CExP™).

Read more:  CExP_Press_Release.pdf

Selling your business may be your ultimate goal when you start the company, or it may be a decision you come to after years of running it. Either way, you want to be able to smoothly transition your business to a new owner when the time comes. That can take planning. 

Creating_a_Smooth_Business_Transition_When_You_Sell_Your_Company.pdf

HOW HEALTH CARE REFORM WILL AFFECT SMALL BUSINESS

SBC_april2010_middle-market.pdf

It's difficult to get people excited about growth opportunities right now. When we mention growth strategy to distributor executives, they look at us like we've lost a few screws. That's unfortunate, because the economy is not going to roar back like it did following the last recession, and you need to think about growth differently than ever before.

Out_of_the_Fire.pdf

ISU economics professors Robert Jolly and Peter Orazem's latest paper on Iowa State alumni entrepreneurship focuses on entrepreneurial activity among graduates, with 16 percent of survey respondents indicating that they had started at least one business since graduating from Iowa State. "Entrepreneurship is a surprisingly common career step and one that the university needs to factor into the undergraduate experience," Orazem said. The businesses started by ISU alumni were mostly small and mostly located in the Midwest; businesses serving the agricultural markets were most common, followed by retail and information technology. To read the latest paper visit http://www.econ.iastate.edu/research/working-papers/p10919.