Business Exit Strategies Training and Solutions

Are You Ready to Help Your Owners Exit ?

2010-09-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

"Education is not teaching people what they do not know. It is getting them to behave as they do not behave."
- John Ruskin

The quote above accurately reflects a very true statement for the emerging field of exit planning. We as professional advisors do not merely need to learn more information about exit planning to address this growing marketplace need. Rather, we need to incorporate these learnings into our practices in a manner that drives value into our business owner relationships. The question today is, 'are you ready to help your owners in this way?'

What Does It Mean to Deliver Exit Planning Solutions?
As this emerging industry grows, it is interesting to see the various interpretations and variations on the term 'exit planning'. For example, someone who sells businesses sees 'exit planning' as working with an owner to make their business more profitable prior to a sale. Whereas someone who sells life insurance sees 'exit planning' as protecting the risks that a business owner faces for which they are currently exposed. And, the wealth manager see 'exit planning' as being able to financially afford a retirement after an owner has left their business.

I believe that 'exit planning' is a combination of all of these items. Therefore, an exit planner - or our Certified Business Exit Consultants - are charged with quarterbacking all of these clients needs, using a system and process that produces consistent results for owners, regardless of each individual owner's specific situation.

Education is Key - Application is Essential
Education is the root from which the fruit of achievement blossoms. This fact is not only due to the content which is presented to the student, but also because of the way in which education helps you to you focus your mind on the topic at hand. The mind that is prepared with exit planning information, systems and procedures is one that is ready to receive new business and to deliver this service in a manner that delivers results to owners.

Without a solid foundation of training and understanding, I find it very difficult to see how a professional advisor can have an in-depth conversation with a business owner on the myriad of topics that are included in a comprehensive exit plan.

The next question, naturally would be 'how long does this take?'

The Onboarding Time
Based upon the hundreds of advisors who have been through our training and workshops, Pinnacle has measured that the time that it takes for an advisor to successfully incorporate exit planning into their practice is, on average, six (6) to nine (9) months.

This means that the average advisor who attends our workshops and/or enrolls in our Membership program begins generating results within six to 9 months. This means that a commitment to a course of study is still accompanied by a concurrent marketing and sales period that is necessary to begin to generate business exit planning opportunities.

What happens during this 'on-boarding' phase.

Phase #1: A Commitment to a Program for Exit Planning Training
The natural first step for a professional advisor is to enroll in a training class or the Membership program (which includes monthly and ongoing training lessons). The most successful advisors make this commitment as they decide that incorporating exit planning into their businesses is the way in which they want to approach business owners. Once the study begins, these advisors grow their levels of confidence in having these conversations on a regular basis with both business owners and other professional advisors. The commitment to the ongoing study program allows an advisor to learn a system, get their questions answered, and then apply their learning to their business owner prospects and clients, as well as to have the conversations with other professional advisors and referral sources.

Phase #2: Assimilation of the Exit Planning Concepts into Your Practice
The 2nd stage of this 'on-boarding' process is the assimilation of the exit planning concepts and messages into your practice. After a number of conversations with owners and other professionals, the average advisor or consultant begins to make this conversation a part of everything that they do. All of a sudden, the conversation becomes a topic of discussion in almost all conversations with business owners.

Our most successful advisors also find a way to present these concepts to audiences of all sizes, giving live presentations of these concepts. Those who make live presentations benefit because the audience sees this person as an expert in the field. Thereafter, because exit planning is still a niche business, the business opportunities begin to flow to that presenter. At this point in time, exit planning is nearly fully assimilated into an advisors practice.

Phase #3: Successful sales of Exit Planning Engagements
The next phase of incorporation into one's practice includes the sales of exit planning engagements. One of the benchmarks that I look to for any service provider who is offering to perform a service is whether or not any clients have ever paid this person to do the work that they are offering to do. This may sound like an obvious statement however I know of many, many advisors who are making claims to offer exit planning services who have never been through a course of study, nor have they ever been paid by a business owner to perform this specific task. Education and proper and professional delivery are the keys to putting exit planning into your practice.

Timing, Timing, Timing
Now to the point . . . are you ready to offer this service to exiting owners? Consider that millions of Baby Boomer business owners are nearing retirement. Further consider that this recession has delayed the timing of their exits, creating a pent up demand for exits. So, given that the next few years of economic recovery will lead to a number of more years of very predictable exit planning needs, the question remains - Are you ready to serve this massive number of owners who need help exiting their businesses?

Begin Today
Begin preparing for this exciting business opportunity today. If you want to expand your service offering to exiting owners while also increasing your effectiveness with owners by generating consistent results for your business, enroll in a course of study today.

Pinnacle has been offering workshops and courses of study for years and have had hundreds of advisors attend with rave reviews.

Take a look at our upcoming events below and consider the investment of time that you make as a small price to pay for a large marketplace opportunity which will drive results in your direction.

October 21st & 22nd, 2-day Workshop in Boston, MA
www.exitstrategytraining.com

October 25th - 29th, Certification Course (application
only)
www.certifiedbusinessexitconsultant.com

Conclusion
Once you decide to make exit planning a part of your practice, you need to be in tune with the effort that it takes to get consistent results. You want to study and be prepared for this oncoming wave of exiting owners so that you too can participate in this exciting marketplace opportunity.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Exit Planning Success Stories

2010-09-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

I’ve talked a lot about our training program here at Pinnacle - how we provide our members with the tools and resources they need to incorporate exit planning into their practices. So I thought it was important to show how our members have achieved success, in terms of making money with exit planning, and getting a return on their investment with their Pinnacle membership.

During our last Member-only, Advanced Practice Management Training call, I interviewed two of our stand-out members, Joe Bazzano (www.petransitions.com) and Kevin Kennedy (www.beaconexitplanning.com). I personally believe that Joe and Kevin are amongst the leaders in the exit planning world.

I often say that a successful business requires a time for building, and both these gentlemen built their practices during this rough recession and are now reaping the benefits of the extensive marketing and education that they did over that time. So I wanted get their perspective and advice on four key points:

The different types of businesses they each run and how exit planning is helping with the growth.

How each market their exit planning business

What mistakes they’ve made in the past that our members can learn from

Specific advice they have for building an exit planning practice.

Your Business and How Exit Planning Can Help Grow Your Practice
Joe, a CPA and Certified Valuation Analyst, saw exit planning as a great opportunity to provide his existing client base with this additional valuable service. Joe explained “I thought it was a bit self-serving because I enjoy doing this kind of work. I’ve been doing it for 20 years in some capacity – helping business owners sell or buy businesses or transition. It also got me in a different perspective in the business owner’s eye. When I talk to them about these kinds of topics, their eyes tend to light up much more then when I talked about their tax return and how much they would owe the government. It also gave me a new way to approach some of the higher-end advisors. Providing this new service added a dimension to my offerings and it’s put me in a different lights with these advisors. It’s allowed me to provide a service that complements theirs, so it not only helps my business but it’ll help theirs as well."

Kevin, a former business owner who sold his business to his management team, saw the demand in the marketplace as he began giving presentations on exit and succession planning based on his experience of exiting his business. “This really motivated me to get a deeper understanding of exit planning because those are the things where I was weak. And that’s when I enrolled in Pinnacle’s 2-day training program. I have to say that this experience helped me understand the opportunity. From my own experiences and mistakes, I saw an opportunity, a large opportunity to help owners with their exits.”

As a professional advisor, Joe saw the marketplace opportunity as well as the chance to offer something more dynamic, interesting and strategic exiting clients. Kevin had a market pull. He saw the demand in the marketplace, got asked to speak and used the education and tools to get out there and build his practice.

Marketing Your Exit Planning Business for Growth

In sharing how they are marketing their practices and approaching owners and referral sources to generate business, Joe explained “One of the first things that I did was create a separate website, a separate company actually, from my accounting practice. I used social media, I got my name out there and did a lot of branding. I’ve also gotten a number of my articles published in various family magazines or small business magazines. And I’ve done a lot of networking. I’ve hit the pavement, talked to a lot of advisors about this whole process and what’s going on in the industry and this need for the business owners. And it’s been very well received by not only business owners, but from the advisors as well."

Since Kevin is not a ‘professional’ advisor, his approach was a bit different. He focused on one thing only – the business owner. “How am I going to get to the owners? So I lived and breathed this and I recognized that since I had no customers it was going to have to be a market pull. I wasn’t going to get on the telephone and start telemarketing. That’s an insult to owners. I had to capture them by having something that they’re interested in, and so what I had to do with market pull was capture names and emails and grow my list. And my approach was speaking, writing and publishing a newsletter.” Kevin began publishing articles and white papers and it gave him credibility. And in the process, built his contacts list so he is able to put himself in front of business owners all the time with his newsletter.

Many of you already have a list of contacts you can use to put your name out there by distributing newsletters and white papers. It’s a great way to educate your audience as well as build your credibility. You just need to write your story and start distributing it so people can read and understand what it is your doing.

Growing Your Practice – Mistakes to Avoid

We learn from others – especially from the mistakes they’ve made. And this learning process is so valuable because it can ultimately save us from a lot of wasted time, energy and money. Joe’s advice is to just “get out there”. He explains, “What I should have done more of was meeting with other advisors, getting out, spreading the word about exit planning and what I was doing. To let these higher end advisors understand that what I’m doing is not just a service for me, but it’s a complimentary service through their existing menu of services that they offer. I should have gotten started soon with networking and more publishing.”

Kevin explains that he was slow in developing his “voice” and advises to do it sooner rather than later. “You don’t have to be perfect in doing this. Take John’s course. I took John’s course and I read the book. I was a very disciplined student and I read all the white papers and I went through all the past articles. In doing just even half of that you already know more than 90% of the stuff that you’re talking with owners about. You already know more than the majority of people right now.”

Get out there sooner rather than later. Start having these exit planning conversations. Distribute your newsletters and white papers. Start educating your audience and develop a follow up system for monetization.

Pearls of Wisdom to Grow Your Practice

Joe advises to "make the commit, the decision to be in this business. You need to educate yourself on a system to use in your practice and then get out there and show off what you’ve already learned. You need to just got out and ask for the business."

Likewise, Kevin advises to “get out of your comfort zone, stretch yourself with all these new concepts and the new learnings and remember that exit planning is new to everybody. And if you’ve been through Pinnacle’s training, you know more already than you realize. And accept the fact that you’re going to make mistakes – just get passed it. Go out early, start your speaking early, writing newsletters, capture your space. Don’t wait, don’t be hesitant and just do it. Read and study on a regular basis. I tell people all the time who contact me about joining Pinnacle, I say, you just have such an incredible library of information, of hundreds of hours of things you can study on your own, beyond the course. You can just fill up your brain with all sorts of ideas, and quite frankly, answer those gaps and questions which you may have about the technical basis of the business. And finally, be authentic. I think your authenticity and enthusiasm will pull more customers than your knowledge. Your role is to get these owners un-stuck in their business, and if you can be excited about that, that’s going to come through and be much more important that the technical part.”

My many thanks again to Joe and Kevin for sharing their “Exit Planning Success Stories”. Both offered similar advice in terms of just getting out there and having these exit planning conversations. This is really what Pinnacle’s message is all about as well as providing our members with the tools and resources to begin having these conversations in order to grow their exit planning practices.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

The Changing Face of Exit Planning

2010-08-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

The exit planning marketplace is changing with this new economy. I wanted to provides some insights as to my views on these current changes and how they may assist you with incorporating exit planning into your practice.

Having been in the exit planning field for 9 years, I have a unique perspective on this emerging marketplace. My company, Pinnacle Equity Solutions, not only provides education and training to advisors looking to incorporate exit planning into their practices, we also provide exit planning services for a select few business owner clients as well. And as we are slowing moving out of this recession, I see an increased interest and demand for exit planning services. And not just from business owners, but from advisors as well who want to learn more about exit planning and how it will help them grow their business.

The Marketplace of Exit Planning
There is no better time than now to get into this emerging field of exit planning. Although the economy may be slow to recover, the exit planning business is poised for tremendous growth. Baby Boomers are now coming to retirement age and are beginning to focus on what they need to be doing in order to protect their businesses as well as their wealth. They are 'awakening' to the idea that they need to get their equity out of their businesses.

I have often said that one of the largest obstacles to the exit planning business is the lack of context that an owner has in relation to how they should go about exiting. This is, in part, because up until recently, few if any advisors or consultants had chosen to focus on this area. Therefore, most owners do not know what it means to 'properly' exit their business or even what an exit plan truly is and what it can accomplish for their business succession. Business owners have not been educated on the importance of an exit plan. It is now the role of the advisor to begin these exit planning conversations and help guide business owners by implementing and executing a successful exit plan.

The Marketplace of Exiting Owners
Business owners today are more discriminating. They have been navigating through this challenging economy and have adjusted their budgeting process. Therefore, advisors need to provide a ‘genuine’ service. The marketplace has moved to a point of 'show me' instead of simply 'telling me'. This means that you need to approach the owners with a clear idea of what an investment in an exit plan (or at least an exit planning conversation) will mean to them. Without this type of impactful approach, most owners will not respond positively as it is still difficult for them to see the value in an 'exit planning exercise' without the advisor having a strong belief in the process and a way to message it to that owner.

Despite this obstacle, there remains no question that the marketplace for this service is picking up. In 2009, business owners were focused on survival, not an exit. But as we pass the half way mark of 2010, there is much more interest and demand for exit planning services. Most owners are beginning to feel that the worst of this recession is now behind them and that it’s time to plan for the future. I 've heard many comment on how they made it 'through this one' - meaning this most recent recession, but these owners do now want to go through the next one. This makes sense because these baby boomer owners will be in their '70s by the time the next recession hits. They need a plan, a solution, so they are in a position to successfully exit their business when and how they wish to do so. An exit plan empowers owners to do exactly this.

The Growing Marketplace of 'Exit Planning' Advisors
The objective for anyone who calls themselves an 'exit planner' should be the ability to provide solutions to the privately-held business owners that include an assessment of the owner's goals and enough objective and comprehensive information to allow that owner to make a fully informed decision relating to the exit from their business as well as the protection of their total wealth. Most importantly, advisors need to provide a process by which an owner can be guided towards the right decisions to have a successful exit.

In today's changing marketplace, it is essential for advisors to have the ability to sell exit plans with a 'proven' results-driven system and process that the business owner is looking for today. They need to have a comprehensive understanding of this marketplace as well as the ability to engage the business owner with these exit planning conversations.

I believe that one of the key essentials for true success in the exit planning field is to invest in a course of study and training. Expand upon your knowledge with all the available tools and resources and to begin networking and meeting with other advisors and consultants who have exit planning experience. Making all of these opportunities available to advisors around the country is Pinnacle's objective for our expansion in the 2nd half of 2010 . . . stay tuned for more exciting updates on these plans for expansion and how they can benefit your business.

The exit planning marketplace is changing with this new economy. Embrace these changes and prepare yourself to engage in this emerging field. Although exit planning is not 'new' anymore, it's still early in the game. There are many opportunities ahead as the marketplace continues to grow and business owners 'awake' to the idea of exit planning.

As always, I hope that this newsletter is helpful towards keeping you focused on exit planning and assisting you with putting it into your advisory practice.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Pinnacle's Upcoming 2-Day Workshops

2010-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Make time this Fall to attend one of our upcoming Exit Planning Workshops and be prepared to meet the growing demand for exit planning services.

2-Day Exit Planning Workshop
Thursday & Friday September 23rd & 24th
Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT
www.exitplanninghartford.com

2-Day Exit Planning Workshop
Thursday, October 21st & 22nd
Downtown, Boston, MA
www.exitstrategytraining.com

John Leonetti will be hosting a FREE preview call to discuss the 2-day workshop and how this curriculum is vital to the development of your exit planning practice. He will be joined by Pinnacle member Joe Bazzano, who is co-hosting the Mohegan Sun event. Click below to register for this FREE call on

Thursday, August 26th @ 1:00 EST

www.exitplanningboston.com

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

The Life Cycle of Exit Planning

2010-08-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

A number of months ago I wrote that Exit Planning was a disruptive innovation. What this means is that an idea - a technology, for lack of a better word - comes along and changes the worldview of certain players. This change in view takes time to be adopted by most. However, when the message - or technology - is strong enough, it breaks through and becomes mainstream and is widely adopted. This adoption cycle can be observed as a life-cycle for a new technology. We can view and predict how these types of innovations are adopted by looking back to certain other disruptive innovations, such as the automobile, cellular phones, or the Internet.

The exit planning industry is going through a similar life cycle and is on the verge of wide-spread adoption by the marketplace.

Four-Stage Technology Life Cycle

The adoption of a new idea by the marketplace of consumers can be illustrated as an S-curve, where three (3) stages of development occur. There is strong evidence that the exit planning industry is moving from the "Innovation Stage" and into the "Growth Boom Stage" of such a cycle.

The first phase of an a new product's Life Cycle is the "Innovation Stage". During this "Innovation Stage", the product or technology is expensive and more difficult to use and therefore only penetrates the more upscale and sophisticated users. This was true for automobiles (which none of us can remember), as well as cell phones and computers - which all of us can remember. I personally remember the first computer and cell phone that I owned. In fact, it's now laughable to think that in 1993 I used to have to worry about whether or not I shut off the AOL Internet connection because they charged by the hour. Not to mention the weight of my first cell phone, as well as the cost of my first computer. Despite those short-comings, adopting those technologies early, was empowering because a new way of working, connecting and communicating was developing and it helped greatly to be involved early on in these changes.

Once the product or technology is proven in such niche markets, it starts to become more affordable and accelerates rapidly into the mainstream . The first phase of this acceleration is called the "Growth Boom Stage" where exponential growth continues. This phase attracts many new products and companies, and they eventually expand too quickly and create excess capacity.

It is amazing how far we can advance in such a short amount of time when more and more industry players are focused on product development and improvement. This is what happens when a new product or innovation is widely accepted. Prior to that time period, it is the early adopters who disproportionately benefit from the use - or production and sale - of the product.

Today's Exit Planning Industry
I have the unique benefit of seeing the exit planning business emerge. My book, Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth - A Strategic Guide for Owners and Advisors [John Wiley & Sons, 2008] has now been selling for two (2) years and, with thousands of copies in the marketplace, and hundreds of professional advisors in our network of Membership, Workshops, and Chapter meetings, I am in a special position to observe and report on the state of the exit planning industry.

I believe that the Exit Planning industry is heading quickly towards the Growth Boom Stage where exponential growth occurs. I see this shift occurring in the next year to two (2) years, as our economy recovers and the Baby Boomer business owners begin to focus, in mass, on the need for them to exit their business.

Remember, the generation ahead of the Baby Boomers had the Boomer children to take over their businesses. These Boomers are too large a group (meaning the generation X'ers are fewer in total number) and the mindset of Generation X is not generally towards business ownership. This leaves fewer 'buyers' than 'sellers'. And, given our protracted recession and the need for these Boomers to monetize their largest asset, the demographics and economic cycles are also driving this demand.

Our 10-year transfer cycles (which has been written about in past newsletters) predicts that our economy, and a stable environment for business transfers, is coming over the next one to two (2) years - coinciding with the S-Curve for new product Life Cycles, and completing the evidence of a growing demand for exit planning services.

How You Can Get Involved
Your business owner clients and prospects need to hear this message so that they can stay ahead of the curve and be prepared for their exit. You have the opportunity to bring this unique service to your exiting owners once you have a solid system to work with, tools for discussion and presentation, and, perhaps even a deliverable to accompany the conversation.

I encourage you to join the hundreds of advisors who have benefited from Pinnacle's 2-day workshops to educate themselves on the marketplace of exiting owners and to incorporate exit planning into their practices. We have an upcoming workshop preview call that describes all of this and I encourage you to attend to learn more about how you can more effectively make exit planning a part of your business.

www.exitplanningboston.com

As always, I hope that this newsletter is helpful towards keeping you focused on exit planning and assisting you with putting it into your advisory practice.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

The Power of a Mastermind Group

2010-02-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

General Principles of Success
Many years ago, the famous Andrew Carnegie saw a need to share the secret of success with the world. Knowing how to recruit people to assist in achieving his dreams, he put the challenge to Napoleon Hill to invest more than 20 years interviewing more than 500 exceedingly wealthy individuals (most of whom started life with nothing) to identify and confirm the secret to success - in this case, the success in attracting money into your life on a consistent basis (although the concept can be used for however you choose to define success and/or happiness).

Hill set to the task and encompassed his findings in his book, "Think and Grow Rich", a now timeless classic.

The main premise of the book is that your mind is the most powerful tool that you have, and will ever have. When used properly, the mind can create any future and reality that one desires. However, for a variety of reasons, most people are unable to see past the limitations that are ingrained in their thinking. Once thoughts can be focused on an objective - and not derailed by limitations - the actions that derive from those thoughts will guide one towards the success that they desire.

Sounds simple enough. So, why isn't everyone able to simply 'think' themselves into business success and a fortune? Well, actually, everyone is able to do this, but most people are not aware of the steps involved with acting this way consistently and they are not sure how to overcome the obstacles that prevent such thinking.

A study of individuals who achieve great success and wealth will reveal a deep rooted belief in opportunity and abundance. These people often will also see temporary defeat as an opportunity to learn and grow, not as a failure and a reason to quit. And it is this 'inner voice' that guides their thoughts and actions. Whereas the opposite is true of most people. For a variety of reasons most people see limitations and a virtual impossibility towards reaching their goals.

The book goes through many concepts and offers a specific 'step-by-step' approach towards advancing to your goals. In fact, Page 28 gives instructions on exactly what to do to develop a 'money-consciousness' that will attract wealth into your life.

Hill discusses, Chapter by Chapter, the topics of:

1. Desire
2. Faith
3. Autosuggestion
4. Specialized Knowledge
(I must plug in here that exit strategy planning is currently regarded as 'specialized knowledge' in a world of advisory services that are becoming increasingly commoditized every day).

5. Imagination
6. Organized Planning
7. Decision
8. Persistence

then Chapter 9, Power of The Master Mind

The Mastermind Principle
First Hill describes 'power' as "organized and intelligently directed Knowledge . . . through the coordination of effort of two or more people who work toward a definite end, in a spirit of harmony."

Hill then makes the somewhat dramatic statement (p. 182) that "No individual can have great power without availing himself or herself of the Master Mind Principle." He challenges the reader to "analyze the record of anyone who has accumulated a great fortune . . . and you will find that they have either consciously or unconsciously employed the Master Mind Principle."

He describes thoughts as a 'stream of power' and states that "the positive emotions of thought form the side of the stream which carries one to fortune. The negative emotions form the side which carries one down to poverty."

So, the Master Mind Principle includes a group of people coming together to achieve a stated objective and working in harmony towards achieving that end.

Forming a Mastermind Group
Pinnacle Equity Solutions leads the exit planning industry in training and execution of exit plans. Beyond the training and executions, we also collaborate in groups towards advancing our individual businesses as well as the industry as a whole.

That is what occurred in Tampa last weekend as 10 Pinnacle 'Platinum Level' Members came together for our first of three Mastermind Meetings for 2010. These meetings are designed from Napoleon Hill's writings - recognizing that our thoughts for success need to be organized in writing and stated as our intention. As a mastermind group, we each presented our goals for the year and 'brainstormed' on ways in which exit planning could be successfully incorporated and profitably employed in our businesses. This is a very powerful exercise as the creative energy which comes from these meetings serves to focus on thoughts of success and the follow up coaching and subsequent meetings hold us accountable to our goals and keeps our mind set towards achieving what we set our minds to.

The Key to Success is Like-Minded and Right-Minded Participants
The key to making this type of group work well is getting the right-minded people together, setting a specific agenda, closing the door (physically) to close out all distractions, and allowing the creative energy to flow towards the objective that was stated.

Each of the ideas created in these weekend session is the collective product of the group thinking delivered from a focus on the needs of each individual Member in achieving their goals.

The Mastermind group is, in effect, a very well organized 'reminder' of what you have committed to and a system by which you receive insights for your goals and also by which you maintain your focus.

Master Mind groups that follow Hill's formula are remarkably effective. These types of groups are not very hard to assemble. However, there is a secret to forming these groups. It is this secret that forms the basis of Pinnacle's Platinum Level group. It is also the insight that can assist you in forming your own group to assist you with your goals. To learn more about forming one of these groups and how Pinnacle will launch its new Certification Program, be sure to register for Wednesday's call.

I am very excited about launching into this New Year and to join my fellow Master Mind Platinum Members in making quantum leaps in our businesses. As I stated in my State of the [Pinnacle] Union address last month, my Company had a quantum leap forward in 2009 and expects to continue that momentum in 2010. With the help of my Platinum group, I expect to lead our collective success into and through this New Year.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Exit Planning Workshop Preview Call

2010-02-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, February 24th for our 3rd Workshop Preview Call.

On this call, John Leonetti will further discuss the benefits of our 2-Day Workshop March 19th & 19th in Boston, MA.

John is also going to announce Pinnacle's Inaugural Certification Course

That's right . . . after three (3) years of building content, teaching a cutting-edge MBA course, writing a leading book on exit planning, and training and mentoring hundreds of advisors, Pinnacle is announcing it's latest offering

The Certified Business Exit Consultant Program™

But there is a catch . . .

We are only admitting ten (10) advisors to this intensive training.

'Why so few advisors' you may ask . . . the answer is simple,

Along with this exciting program we are going to guarantee your success . . .
or your money-back.

How can Pinnacle make such an offer?

Tune in to listen to Pinnacle founder, John Leonetti, walk you
through the details of this exciting program and how it relates to the teachings at our upcoming Workshop.

To register for this informative call, please click here.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Pinnacle's State of the Union Address

2010-02-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

This feature article highlights the call that John Leonetti did for his Pinnacle Members describing his assessment of today's marketplace of exiting owners as well as the growing 'exit planning' community and Pinnacle's plans for 2010 to continue its leadership role in this exciting and emerging profession.

2009 Pinnacle Overview:
The Small Business Owner Continues to Suffer
Overall, in 2009, the small business owner continued to suffer from restricted access to credit and a lack of vision towards future prospects and growth. Amidst this backdrop of challenges, a small percentage of forward-looking owners choose to invest in the longer-term planning exercise that is the foundation of a solid exit plan.

However, sewn within this general fabric of business owner lament were positive signs. Once we got through the summer of 2009, a noticable trend occurred . . . more owners took meetings on the exit planning topic and signed engagement agreements to get the process started. This trend could be observed quite clearly as it stood in stark contrast to the 'deafening silence' of the first six months of 2009. And, within the walls of Pinnacle's headquarters, it has had me and my team quickly assembling resources to support this growing trend of owner engagements.

Listed below are many of Pinnacle's initiatives to assist you in capturing the emerging opportunity and being prepared for this coming wave of owners who are opening up to the idea of setting a plan to address the largest financial transaction of their lives.

Highlights from Pinnacle's Existing Content and What Was Delivered in 2009
" . . . through our newsletters, training calls, workshops, spotlight calls and support we’ve presented to you experts, authors, articles, information and topics that were timely and were created to continually educate you on how you can improve your exit planning service for owners. We’ve listened to our Members who have been asking for even more advanced training and have created many focused initiatives for the coming year, improving on our already outstanding reputation for quality content and delivery."

Pinnacle's growing library of proprietary content available to our Members / licensees, now includes more than 100 hours of specialized training, including:

* 64 unique newsletters - each of which has a recorded training call.
* 28 expert interviews / Spotlight Guest calls covering a wide array of topics that
exit planners need to have access to in order to better understand
their exit planning conversations and services to owners.
* 24 unique white papers and specialized topics
* Prospecting tools, including letters and presentations to owners
* Instructional classes on packaging and presenting exit planning to owners
* Sample exit plans and fact finders to assist with your owner meetings
* Special coaching calls on general practice management
* Special guidance on how to market your exit planning services
* An online 'school' that addresses Pinnacle's exit planning system.

. . . and much, much more proprietary content to support you in learning in this field and delivering solutions to your owners.

Recognizing that an incredible foundation has been built, Pinnacle now is focusing on initiatives for 2010 that will empower you, that advisor to the owner, to be more pro-active with your training . . . empowering you to be even more profitable.

2010 Pinnacle Initiatives-
To continue the momentum that has been generated at Pinnacle, John laid out the aggressive agenda being implemented as Pinnacle continues to define excellence in the exit planning arena.

The first area to address in supporting our Membership is an . . .

Online Exit Planning Software Program
To add to Pinnacle's exit planning system, we are excited about the roll-out of our latest tool for advisors - a web-enabled software program empowering you, the consultant to business owners, to easily apply all of Pinnacle's traing to the buildout of exit plans right from your desktop computer. This online tool will empower members to organize client information and provide high quality deliverables. As more and more exit planning engagement agreements are signed, there is a pressing need to provide this tool to our growing base of advisors.

Pinnacle will soon announce the availability of this web-enabled, dynamic and proprietary software solution that will provide you with a deliverable that not only follows Pinnacle's process for exit planning but also is rich with colorful charts, updated tax and regulatory information, as well as being customizable to your needs with your owners. The Membership has spoken and we have listened and are ready to deliver a 'category killer' application that will make the presentation and assembly of your exit plans more powerful . . . and your practice more profitable.

Next, John discussed the 'foundation' of exit planning content and how it will now be organized into a . . . .

Certification Program
After three (3) years of building focused and organized exit planning content, Pinnacle is quickly organizing and adding to all of this excellent material to bring you a cutting edge, rigorous Exit Planning Certification Course. Pinnacle's Certification Committee has been working on this project for nearly 5 months to deliver to the marketplace a Certification and represents nothing short of excellence in the field of exit planning. We, as a Committee, feel strongly that the exit planning marketplace needs better definition. As the leader in this space, it is therefore Pinnacle's responsibility to provide this definition of excellence. It is against this backdrop that the Certification course is being built.

Pinnacle recognizes that most advisors and consultants who offer exit planning today do so as an 'add on' to their existing advisory service. This has created a challenge for advisors and consultants to focus on the training and delivery of exit planning services (particularly in light of the economy in 2009). The Certification course will focus your efforts and further define the expectation and direction that you can take your exit planning practice. Far beyond simply holding yourself out as an exit planner, this Certification will challenge you to differentiate yourself from the growing field of those professing to provide this service by empowering you with training and advanced tools to deliver solutions to owners at a whole new level.

Expect to see details of this launch in March of 2010.

Advanced Member Support
To accomodate our growing Membership, Pinnacle is currently interviewing a Membership coordinator. Our Membership has spoken on this point and we, again, have listened. It is important to Pinnacle that your questions be answered and, moreover, that our tools are understood and used on a regular basis. To this end, we have built a support position to address only these issues so that Pinnacle can more effectively provide phone support and the distribution of our proprietary online newsletters. In addition, we will be providing advanced support for the completion of your exit plans

Upgrade to Our Training Program
An interesting observation came from the Members in 2009 that required a bit of thinking . . . perhaps, at times, we were providing too much content, training and information. Some Members felt as though they were struggling to keep up with the pace of information that we distributed. To address this issue, we have expanded our training to include eight (8) Advanced Practice Management calls throughout the year. These advanced calls will put into better context the topics that we cover in our training and assist you in better applying the teachings in your businesses.

We are excited about this improvement to our programming and look forward to our first Advanced Practice Management call in mid-February.

Upgraded Online Newsletter Service
To our chagrin, we have discovered that many of our Members continued to struggle with the marketing and distribution of the exit planning content to their business owner clients and prospects. This means that much of the excellent training and content remains in the minds of advisors and not in the hands of [potential] exiting owners. To address this issue, Pinnacle is systemetizing our process for establishing online delivery of our newsletters in a customized format for your practice. Moreover, we are adding to our support team the ability to do this without your [manual] involvement. Members have heard about this already but should expect individual phone calls to discuss how we can help get you set up with this important marketing tool.

Direct to Owner Presentations
One of the most exciting projects that we have in a Beta phase is the mailing and telemarketing program for direct business owner contact. Although we recognize that 'cold prospecting' is one of the worst and most expensive forms of new client acquisition, we also know the topic of 'exit planning' is highly specialized in its messaging to owners. What does this mean?

Simply put, discussing an exit is a very private matter for most owners and, therefore, it is a lot of work for any one advisor or consultant to get this dialogue started with an owner. Our 'direct to owner' initiative will be the 'door opener' to get you in front of owners on a regular basis.

This 'direct to owner' program is currently in beta testing and will, hopefully, be offered in the 2nd quarter to the Membership as an additional service. Our success with these Beta tests will be defined by Pinnacle's ability to consistently put Members in front of business owners in a proven and strategic manner to have the exit planning conversation. We are very excited about our current Beta tests and will present more details of this program in the 2nd quarter of 2010. Keep an eye out for applications for this exciting program.

Platinum Program
Pinnacle's year-long, select group of Platinum Members continues with a powerful assembly of advisors in 2010. This group had four (4) seats open up after the 2009 group concluded and they were quickly filled with motivated advisors and consultants who were very good, non-competitive, highly experienced and suppportive Members of Pinnacle's program.

More than a few Members have asked about Platinum II - a 2nd Platinum Group which would be built for collaboration on owner exit plans, as well as to suppport each other in a non-competitive manner in building each other's individual businesses. Given all of Pinnacle's current initiatives, we are not opening a 2nd Platinum Group until, at least, the 2nd Quarter of 2010. For those with a continued interest, we encourage you to continue to let our office know that you would like to be a part of this new group and we will keep your application on file for [likely] the 2nd half of the year when this new group opens up.

Additional Live Chapter Meetings
Finally, we will continue a wonderful tradition that was started in the 2nd half of last year . . . Pinnacle's quarterly, Members only, Chapter meeting. Although our Chapter meetings are currently scheduled for Boston (next meeting on April 7th in Boston) all our nation-wide members are invited to join us for these full days of networking and advanced practice management. We have had tremendous feedback and success with this program so far and look forward to expanding the concept into other markets in 2010.

Closing Thoughts
It is an exciting time to be a part of Pinnacle's exit planning 'Union'. We see continued excitement around this unique offering and look forward to another year of delivering excellence to your consulting and advisory businesses.

Also, be sure to check out Pinnacle's 2-Day Workshop at Suffolk University's Law School in Boston, MA March 18th & 19th at Suffolk University.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Recession, Economy and the Future of Small Business

2010-01-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we closed out Pinnacle's year of exit planning education with a special call with Rob Slee. Rob is the founder of Midas Nation (www.midasnation.com) which is a community that is dedicated to increasing the value of businesses. Rob is also the author of three books ‘Private Capital Markets: Valuation, Capitalization and Transfer of Private Business Interests’, ‘Midas Managers” and ‘Midas Marketing”. In addition, Rob is the Managing Director of Robertson & Foley, a middle market investment banking firm.

In short, Rob is a small business guru who is making dynamic changes to the way in which owners view their businesses and gain access and insights towards being more competitive. This, of course, ties into an owner's exit plans. After a stage of value-creation comes the logical next step of value-realization - i.e., an exit.

Pinnacle Members provided rave reviews of this call and how it will alter the message that they carry to business owners in 2010. Accordingly, we wanted to share the hightlights with you in order to encourage you to pay careful attention to how this new global economy will shape small business in the future, empowering you, the advisor / consultant, to deliver more valuable advice to your exiting owners.

The Title of our December Spotlight Call was:

Recession, Economy and the Future of Small Business

We offer below the salient questions and answers that were covered on this call:

1. What is the impact of globalization on the small business?
The majority of US small businesses are primarily focused on U.S, not foreign, distribution, so when the US market is in a recession there is no where else to focus the business. In order to be competitive, small business owners need to incorporate a global diversification plan. Understand that globalization is not a fad.

Comment: Rob likes to use a term for this behavior, he calls it the 'matrix of denial'. Similar to the movie, The Matrix, many owners are living in a world where they do not know that they are asleep (in this case, at the wheel). There has been a seismic shift in how business is conducted yet many owners are reluctant to engage in understanding these changes and the long-term impact they will have on their small business. Globalization is one of the largest of the 'denials' of small business owners and their failure to adopt their business models to address this demand leaves them more vulnerable to recessions and competitive forces.

2. How have the economy, and its meltdown, impacted small business?
In the fall of 07’ all sectors of asset classes were under-reserved and out of balance. This lead to the economic situation we’ve been working through the past few years. As a result, banks are still not lending and until they can get the toxic assets off the books and rebalanced they will not open their small business lending. For business owners who require revolving credit to operate, we’ve seen a lot simply shut down and walk away as a result of lack of funding.

Comment: Small businesses create the majority of jobs in this country. We are now talking about 'recovery' for the U.S. [and world] economies. One needs to ask the logical question, 'how will the sector of the economy that produces the majority of the jobs provide for new employment without access to capital'. Moreover, it is easy to observe that, although most owners are resilient, many are second guessing their expansion plans in the absence of stronger evidence of economic prosperity in the near future. It is simply too painful to be ahead of the demand curve and experience the discomfort of cash-flow constraints on the heels of this recession. Without the proper amounts of capital available for small businesses, this recession could be protracted.

3. How and when will the US jobless recovery resolve itself?
Rob believes it can take up to 3 or 4 years to work through the rebalancing of the asset classes. Add to that the fact that the companies that are prospering in the current economy are structured with minimal employees – they are not adding the mass number of jobs to the market.

Comment: There are two (2) relevant points here:

Point #1, amongst the major assets classes that are out of balance, there is a lot of work yet to be done. One only needs to listen to speculation on the near-term impact of commercial mortgage failures and credit card defaults to see that we are not quite out of the woods yet. That being said, the worst still appears to be behind us, although our next point illustrates what the future of small business will look like.

Point #2 is that today's businesses that 'add value' are the ones that leverage their intellectual property and make efficient use of resource partners. What does this mean? Simply stated, we are less in the 'own and control' economy and more in the Aggregation Age. This means that the businesses that will be successful are working smarter, not harder, at identifying the intellectual and other property that is in demand and finding cost-effective ways to leverage, or distribute, this content, service, or offering. Unlike the 'days of old', businesses that will do well in the future are not labor or capital intensive. Rather, they possess various 'assets' that can be licensed, distrubuted, franchised, repackaged, joint ventured, and / or merged with other 'channel partners' for maximum effective market penetration.

As Rob likes to say, the new business world is mostly about owning but not controlling your market / distribution channels. This is a market reality that many of the 'old line' business owners are not adopting to. Moreover, this model does not require many new employees.

4. How can these insights help business owners?
First, business owners need to think about what their business is worth today – they can’t get stuck thinking about what it was worth a few years ago. The compelling message for baby boomer business owners is to think about this recession and its impact on you, your family and your business. If they do not plan accordingly and plan for their exit now, they may hit a subsequent recession when they are in their 70’s.

Comment: There is a rather predictable trend that can illustrate 'windows' for an owner to exit their business. And, with the right advice and guidance, owners can be well-prepared on a personal and business level to meet the market during the optimal exit time periods. Despite this predictability, most owners will not be prepared for their exit. This is where we as advisors and consultants can be most helpful. We can raise the awareness of owners and help them see that without proper planning and preparation, they are leaving themselves exposed to the risk of another recession and further loss to the illiquid wealth that they need for their post-exit goals and lifestyle.

5. What is Midas Nation?
The idea behind Midas Nation is to improve the value that small businesses add to our nation – for our generation and for generations to come. Behavior modification is a two year program that takes trades people and trains them to be value architects where they provide value to the marketplace. Midas marketing is leveraging your intellectual capital – learn how to do this in your own business before you can talk to your clients about their business.

Comments: We as advisors should look at how we are adjusting our own businesses to the new market realities. Are we, too, stuck in the Matrix of Denial? Perhaps the idea of bringing more value to your relationships and developing a deeper understanding of business owners and how to deliver the solutions within an exit plan is what you should be focusing on for the development of your practice. That is what Pinnacle offers.

If you want to follow Rob, this small business guru, to see what he has to say about small business and its future, you should go to midasnation.com and read about his recent comments. These insights are very timely and valuable and can assist in bringing your advisory practice to a new level as you help owners see more of what the future holds in store for them and their businesses.

For now, make a note to keep abreast of these fast moving changes in 2010. Both you and your clients will prosper from this additional focus.
These insights can be 'mined for further gold' as you reflect upon them in your next conversations with owners.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit www.PinnacleEquitySolutions.com

Highlights from Pinnacle's November Spotlight Guest

2009-12-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

Our November Spotlight Guest was Jerry Mills CPA, and Founder & CEO of B2B CFO® as well as the author of two (2) books for business owners; The Danger Zone, Lost in the Growth Transition and Avoiding The Danger Zone, Business Illusions.

On our monthly Member training call, I interviewed Jerry about his book, Avoiding The Danger Zone, Business Illusions. Highlights of that call are listed below:

The central message of Jerry’s book for business owners is that at some point you will leave your business. So instead of leaving your business, and future, to chance – you need to plan for your eventual exit.
Some illusions that business owners operate their businesses under, which will impact their ability to successfully exit are:

They make decisions based on their ‘gut’ (regardless of business size).

That an increase in business sales leads to increased cash flow.

That the owner will always be there to run the business and make decisions.

For example: Most business owners believe that the value of the business is based on top line sales – when it is actually based free on cash flow. So, if an owner has increased sales they wrongly assume the value of their business has increased, when in actuality the value may have decreased. This can significantly affect a successful exit, and it is one of the most common illusions that business owners operate under - i.e. chasing after new business - higher volume - thinking that it will make their business more attractive to buyers. This simply is not the case and, in fact, a focus on top-line growth only puts owners in the Danger Zone because without careful attention this type of growth actually stretches their resources and can reduce profitability and, therefore, the value of the business.

In addition to illusions that owners face, they also must avoid the many distractions that will keep them stuck in their business and unable to exit:

Initially the owner has a ‘finder’ status – the entrepreneur of the company - where their thinking is strategic. They are bringing in the business and growing the company.

As the company grows, many owners stop becoming the ‘finder’ and they transform into the ‘minder’, where their thinking is now tactical – they have stopped growing the company and are now involved in the day to day operations of the business.

In addition, if the proper systems and people are not in place to sustain the businesses continued growth, an owner may actually become a ‘grinder’ where they are forced to do the actual “work”.

POINT: When a business owner stops being a ‘finder’ and starts being a ‘minder’ and/or ‘grinder’, their mindset is changed and they can no longer focus on growing the business. This can impact their ability to successfully plan for their eventual exit. More importantly, it leaves them vunerable to potential buyers who are able to determine the business is not being run appropriately and will actually devalue the business.

These are only a few of the powerful insights that Jerry shared with our Pinnacle Members. Jerry's book is a powerful tool for business owners and for advisors, especially in addressing the business (not personal) needs of an exiting owner.

Jerry's organization and network of partners - B2B CFO® - provides vital services for business owners, including many aspects of an exit.

At the end of our call, both Jerry and I encouraged listeners to network with each other and to work as teams to bring solutions to the exiting owners. For more information about Jerry's book or his B2B CFO organization, you can visit their web site at www.b2bcfo.com.

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NOTE: Our next workshops are scheduled for:

Tampa, Florida - Jan. 28th & 29th ( www.exitplanningtampa.com)
Boston, MA - March 18th & 19th. (location pending final confirmation)

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit www.PinnacleEquitySolutions.com

Select Lessons from My Workshop

2009-11-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Because Pinnacle only hosts our 2-day Workshops a few times per year, I wanted to share a few 'high level', non-technical points of working with owners that were taught over the 2 days. It is my hope that this guidance assists you in your work with owner exits.

Owners are looking for comprehensive solutions

One of the key points to remember in any exit planning conversation or engagement with an owner is that the owner is looking for a comprehensive solution to the problem facing their exit. The largest challenge is that they do not exactly know what the solution is. It is your job to define what you can do for them, the process that you follow, and the result that they should expect. I told my audience that the success of each of my exit planning engagements with owners is dependent entirely upon one thing - how effectively I advance their thinking towards their exit. The planning process, tools and conversations are all designed to move the owner's thought process closer and closer towards a successful exit.

Owners are looking for objective advice

Although my primary mandate is to positively impact my owner's thinking towards their exit, there are always going to be ancillary products and services that are required to fulfill each owner's goals and objectives. It is important, however, to remember that you should not begin to discuss your primary offering - be it insurance, investments, tax, legal or business sales - until the time is appropriate. For Pinnacle students, this occurs during our 6th and final step in our process. At this point in time, the owner has be lead through an objective process to assist them in defining their goals, examining their readiness and exit options, and understanding whether or not they will reach their goals. When you follow the steps in Pinnacle's system, and do not jump ahead with your primary service or product offering, you remain objective and win the trust of the owner. And remember that trust is more difficult to get given the severity of the recent recession - it your job to win that trust, not the owner's job to give it to you. This begins with objective advice.

Owners do not sign on for a plan, they sign on for an exit

An interesting dynamic that occurs once you develop that trust is that the owner wants you to stay with them for the execution of the exit plan. Now, 'execution' can - and does - mean many differet things. Depending upon what is discovered during the planning process, you may put certain priorities ahead of others. For example, an owner with no (or faulty) estate planning may want to resolve this immediately, prior to engaging in the succession or business transfer process. Other owners will need to focus on different areas. What you should remember is that if the planning is done properly, owners will want to take action.

Business owners want to know that they will be able to take action and that you will be there to guide them. It is a valuable insight to know that when an owner signs on for an exit plan, they are not interested in a plan as much as they are interested in solving their exit needs. Remember this as you speak to and engage owners in this process.

The Owner's commitment to taking action is evidenced by the check that they write for the engagement agreement

Because exiting a business is such a difficult endeavor, you can be most effective in an owner's life when you get them to commit to this process with a payment for the engagement. This is important to remember as many who read this newsletter are in the habit of giving away a certain amount of information and service in order to win a valuable account or client. Of course there is a 'courting phase' in any relationship where you each invest time in getting to know one another. However, when it comes time for the exit planning engagement, you need to know that your owner is committed to the process that you want to walk them through. The greatest evidence of this commitment is the writing of a check for your time and service.

The Planning 'Crystallizes' the Owner's Thinking

By getting a commitment and presenting a comprehesive approach to the exit, owners can make a fully-informed decision about how and when they want to exit. When the process is followed, it empowers owners to move confidently in the direction of their exit. Pinnacle has a proven process that moves owners in this direction. Again, the definition of success for any of my engagements is how effectively I advance the owner's thinking towards their exit. Further defined, this means, how much the owner is coming to understand their goals, their current readiness, their exit options, and what they need to do to have a successful exit. A fully-informed discussion of an exit 'crystallizes' an owner's thinking and gets them moving in the right direction.

Like Snowflakes, Every Exit is Different, Stay Flexible

Although we use the same 6-step system for developing plans with all of our owners, each owner is different and each business is different, therefore we find that the execution phase of each engagement is unique. Exits are analagous to snowflakes - each one is different - no matter how many of them you exerperience. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for your advisory or consulting practice. The more flexibile you can remain in your engagements, the better you will be able to serve your owners. This type of flexibility requires patience, a key ingredient to all successful exits.

It Takes a Team

Although Pinnacle's exit planning process works to get owners moving toward their exits, it is always the case that other advisors need to get involved in the exit plan. Sometimes the other advisors are involved in the planning stage. Other times these advisors are involved in the execution phase. Either way, it remains true that no one can be an expert in all of the different practice areas. Therefore, you need to assist the owner in assembling these teams and you get to serve the role of quarterback if you so choose.

Conclusion

There is a great opportunity to grow your advisory or consulting practice by adding exit planning. These tips should assist you in being more effective with your engagements with owners.

To all of the attendees at the workshop, thank you once again for contributing to the success of these events. Together we are making a large difference to the owners that we serve.

NOTE: Our next workshops are scheduled for:

Tampa, Florida - Jan. 28th & 29th (www.exitplanningtampa.com)
Boston, MA - March 18th & 19th. (location is pending confirmation)

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions.com

Talking the Language of 'Exits'

2009-09-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

In my last newsletter I introduced the No Owner Left Behind initiative that is inspiring Pinnacle's upcoming Certification Program. Those who are gathering behind this cause know that today's business owner is largely without a solid plan for the exit from their business, despite the fact that it is the most important financial (and lifestyle) transaction of their lives. As advisors, the delivery of this message begins with an 'exit conversation' with your business owner prospects and clients. This is where the 'rubber meets the road' - whether you are willing and able to begin this conversation and to follow through on delivering this solution to owners. Today's topic, therefore, is 'talking the language of 'exits''.

The Exit Conversation

From the outset, it would appear to be a simple enough question for you to ask an owner - simply 'have you thought about how you are going to exit your business?' In fact, my experience shows me that most advisors are reluctant to ask this question because they do not have a solid foundation to hold the conversation.

Well, that is what our training program and materials are built to do for you, but I wanted to give you some tips on how to make these exit conversations more effective for both you and your owners.

Convincing versus Compelling

When you begin to ask the exit questions, you need to ask yourself whether you are being "convincing" or "compelling" with the series of questions that follow the initial one. People ask me all of the time how I get certain results with owners. A large part of being effective is avoiding being 'convincing' - which means simply stating the facts and reasons why an owner should have an exit plan. Rather, you need to have a "compelling" way of presenting this material.

Like most decisions that are made, the decision to plan an exit is largely an emotional - not a logical - one. You need to understand this concept and prepare for these conversations in the right way. You need to be able to have enough information and deliver it in the right way to motivate your business owner to take action. For better or for worse, this is not usually accomplished through the simple delivery of facts and statistics. Your experience and stories of owners who did not plan for their exit are very helpful. Remember that your owner has worked their whole life to get to where they are. For a small fee and a bit of their time, you are in a position to move their thinking towards and exit - away from the simple running of their business alone. Delivered properly, the conversation should conclude with the business owner now having a compelling reason (or reasons) to take action.

Serious consideration and preparation should be given to this level of conversation to determine how to deliver it. With today's recession looming in each owner's mind, you need to be innovative and reconstruct your approach appropriately. Your primary objective is to assure your owners that you want to help them with their exit as well as protect their illiquid business wealth. Creating trust and assurance that you have the tools and knowledge to guide the business owner through their personal and business exit planning builds your clients' confidence in you and motivates them to take action through your compelling delivery.

Building Value Into Your Conversations

In order to be compelling you need to learn to build value into your conversations. The key is to ask the right questions at the right time. As an advisor/planner you need to look beyond any single issue that may be most important to you and ask what it is that the owner cares the most about. This basic idea of being 'client centric' is essential for this initial conversation.

Because of the lack of awareness and the owner's psychology in dealing with this issue, I often say that business owners 'do not know what they do not know'. Hence, the need for you to open the conversation and help them understand that with proper planning options are available to them to help with their exit. Communicating with your business owners about the problem that they are about to face and the benefits of agreeing to exit planning adds value. If you exude confidence and reveal that you are a well trained individual, your relationship with the business owners will grow quickly as they immediately sense that you are bringing value to their lives.

Owner Coming to Their Own Conclusions

One of the most intricate and challenging areas for delivering this exit conversation is your ability to be patient as your owner comes to their own conclusion about the steps that they need to take. If you have delivered merely a 'convincing' reason for them to move ahead, they will likely delay coming to a conclusion about moving ahead. However, if you have presented a "compelling" reason for your owner to advance, you have aided them in an important way in seeing more clearly the reasons for planning their business exit.

Business owners care about results, not rhetoric. It is the emotional connection that you create with them and the language you utilize that helps them to see the error in not planning for their exit. Owners have made their own decisions throughout their careers. They will decide to plan for their exit once you have presented the material in a way that allows them to conclude that an exit plan is both necessary as well as beneficial for them. You cannot force-feed this material to owners.

Making a Commitment to the Process

You will know that things are really happening with your exit conversations when owners begin to move ahead with you. In my work with owners, I require a retainer check in order to begin our work together. Interestingly, the retainer check represents much more than payment for a service - it represents the owner's commitment to take this process seriously. This, more than other part of the conversation, is critical to a successful exit. The owner needs to be invested in the process and ready to accept your guidance as they navigate this complex journey.

You will know that you are really "talking the language of exits" when you begin to generate results in the form of owner commitments to the process. You build on each conversation with every owner in order to strengthen you abilities to have these conversations. Your exit planning practice grows exponentially once you discover the right mix of facts and stories to help motivate your owners to take action.

In closing, the battle for exit planning is taking place at the initial conversation stage. "Talking the language of exits" is most important today in order to deliver this important message to owners. I look forward to sharing more on this topic with those attending our Nov. 5th & 6th Workshop in Boston.

Wishing you the best of success with your exit conversations.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Workshop Preview Call - Thursday Oct 1st at 4pm EST

2009-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

I want to thank the dozens of advisors who registered for, and listened to, my first Preview Call that I hosted for our upcoming Workshop in Boston on Nov. 5th & 6th. The early registrations for this event are making it our best attended workshop yet. We have brought the pricing and the hotel accomodations to the lowest price point possible in order to encourage you to take advantage of this offer so that you can begin incorporating exit planning into your business!

If you would like to learn more about Pinnacle's exit strategies services as well as our upcoming 2-day Workshop in November, I encourage you to register for the second preview call I will be hosting Thursday Oct 1st at 4pm EST.

This FREE preview call will focus on Pinnacle's 6-Step Process for designing a successful business exit. Pinnacle's 6-Step Process also serves as the foundation for the successful growth of Pinnacle's educational, certification, and coaching programs for advisors. I will also provide you with a sneak preview of all the great educational and business building content we will be teaching at our wildly popular Two-Day Exit Strategies Training Workshop, being held this November 5th & 6th in Boston, MA!

Exit planning continues to be one of the hottest topics amongst professional advisors today - and the needs of the Baby Boomer generation of business owners is only growing !!! This emerging 'exit planning' space in growing faster every day . . . become a part of it by getting up to speed on the latest developments. Start with this week's Workshop Preview call!

So, join us for this FREE Preview Call this Thursday, October 1st, at 4:00 EST

Click here to register for the call

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

No Owner Left Behind

2009-09-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

With the global recession showing signs of bottoming, I believe that it is time to take strong action in rescuing the private business owners from the 'mousetrap' in which they have caged their illiquid wealth. Last week, in a moment of inspiration, I created the No Owner Left Behind initiative. This is a theme around which Pinnacle will focus its upcoming Certification and training efforts - let me explain a bit more.

In 2001 President George W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act. The NCLB enacted the theory of standards-based education reform, which is based on the belief that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education.

If you have been a part of the exit planning community for any length of time, you have invariably been challenged with consistently marketing, selling and delivering this service to owners. I know this because so many advisors come to Pinnacle for our coaching and support, having previously struggled with implementing exit planning into their business.

I shared with my Certification Committee last week that that we are going to code-name Pinnacle's Certification initiative the No Owner Left Behind program. Behind this notion and program is the idea of setting high standards for the education and business of exit planning along with establishing measurable goals and benchmarks that exit planners - and advisors who want to include this in their offerings - can rely upon to grow their practices. This will help to assure improvements to the deliverables and advice that owners receive regarding this critical planning area.

The exit planning profession is in strong need of such efforts. As many readers of this Newsletter know, the exit from a business is a very challenging task. Pinnacle has 16 critical points that our Certificate holders will need to master - these are 'must haves' for any advisor who wants to achieve this designation.

Let's take a look at a few of these initial points - areas where most owner exits go wrong - as a starting point for this reformation effort and where standards and benchmarks can be implemented:

The Need in the Marketplace Matched by Unrealistic Expectations/Lack of Awareness by Owners

Owners do not have the information that they need to set realistic expectations for their exit. This is first issue that needs to be addressed by advisors to exiting owners. Within this first category, some of the sub-issues that need standardization and benchmarks are:

The time and complexity involved with an exit

The realistic range of values of the owner's business

What is required for managers to step into leadership roles

What is required of the owner to empower these managers

The owner's personal savings habits and their ability to maintain their lifestyle without the business.

The owner's ability to maintain a meaningful and productive life beyond the business exit.

Standards and tools need to be further developed for advisors to communicate these issues to owners, impressing the importance of each one to the owner's future exit. Without sharing these critical points with our exiting owners, many owners will continue to be left behind - stuck in their businesses, suffering with their unrealistic expectations.

The Expansive Nature of Exit Planning

The next area of standardization has to do with what goes into an exit plan. The fact of the matter is that, done properly, exit planning is a complex and comprehensive process. There are so many areas of an owner's life that are impacted by the exit that it is necessary to have a 'planner's eye', to be able to understand all of these areas and provide a complete solution to the owner.

The problem is that every area of examination - be it savings, investing, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, business planning, transactional work, etc . . . all are disciplines unto themselves. So, how can any one advisor provide an exiting owner with this type of overview of their needs for an exit?

Again, the answer comes down to standards and benchmarking for an overview / understanding of all of these areas. The key is knowing which items are essential to any exit and how you can identify these issues. From there, it is important to assess which advisor(s) on the owner's team can complete the necessary work. How you, the exit consultant, make these assessments, communicate with those other advisors, and deliver solutions to your owners will, for the most part, determine the success of your owner's exit.

Do you have procedures and tools in place to address these issues?

Are you prepared with the right questions and deliverables to make your exiting owners comfortable with your process?

Getting Beyond the Struggle

These are two (2) of the sixteen points that Pinnacle's new No Owner Left Behind and Certification Program will address. A well versed exit consultant will ask the right questions to get to the most important issues that address both the owner's personal and business goals.

I continue to be amazed by the high quality of advisors who are drawn to exit planning, which is reflected in the great number of conversations that I have with advisors and consultants who are doing this work today.

Almost every conversation includes some level of doubt in the advisor or consultant's mind as to whether they are completing a full examination of their owner's situation. In almost every case, it is my opinion that the advisor or consultant has so much more than they need to be effective in the conversation with their owners. What is missing are standards and benchmarks by which this competency can be measured.

Now that the summer is winding down and we are all getting back to work, I encourage you to set these standards and goals in your own practice. Think ahead to what your owner's needs will be. If you are looking for additional support in this area pay close attention to our upcoming announcements as I and my Certification Committee are inspired to deliver to the marketplace a formalized set of standards, training, support, curriculum, and coaching to further empower any advisor or consultant who wants to help an exiting owner with this specialized need.

So together we are on a mission to Leave No Owner Behind. Let's not allow the aging Baby Boomer generation of owners to sail into the sunset without direction or navigation. Let's continue to build value into our conversations with owners, earning the right to guide them through this difficult exit process. When the work is complete, we will bring order to this emerging field of exit planning and move our owners towards the exits that they deserve.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Grow Your Exit Planning Practice with Live Presentations

2009-06-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

As I complete another successful 2-day Workshop I am reminded of two things:

First, in the emerging field of exit planning, there is nothing more powerful than live presentations to shift an advisor's (or owner's) thinking, making them more effective in using these tools in their practices.

Second, it is a major undertaking to host live events and, therefore, very few advisors go the extra mile to make live presentations a regular part of promoting their message to the market-place.

I would like to share a few thoughts regarding the benefits of hosting live presentations with the belief that this will encourage you to incorporate these presentations into your practice.

Credibility and Expert Status
The first major benefit that you receive from hosting a live presentation is that the audience has gathered to listen to you speak on a topic for which you are a presumed 'expert'. When you take the podium and draw the attention of your listeners, you create a space to make a unique impression on your listeners. Most people watching a live presentation appreciate the fact that a speaker is willing to hold themselves 'out there' and answer questions and respond to comments in an open forum.

The attendees at your live presentation view you as the expert on the topic that you are covering, advancing that ever-so-important issue of credibility that all advisors and consultants face when offering any type of service to the marketplace.

Express Creative Ideas
When you commit to live presentations, you have the unique opportunity to express a creative side of yourself. Beyond the content and material that you are covering (as a credible expert), you can also make a connection with the audience beyond simply delivering information - you can get creative and make the presentation engaging, and, dare I say, even entertaining.

People attend live events not just to gather information. They also attend because they want an experience that cannot be matched by simply reading about the topic on which you are speaking. Knowing this, you have the opportunity to take a topic and make it your own. You do this through the use of creative case studies, stories, and well-prepared materials that make it easier for the audience to understand the points that you are trying to make. When you get creative in delivering your message, you find that a more engaging process occurs.

The Know, Like and Trust Factor
The fact of the matter is that if you are going to go through all of the trouble, expense and inconvenience of hosting live events, your objective from the outset should be to deliver your message in a manner that achieves the objective of being 'memorable'. This not only increases the educational experience of your attendees, but it also furthers the critical 'know, like, and trust' factor. The bottom line is that people do business with people that they 'know, like, and trust'. When you deliver a creative and effective live presentation, this 'know, like and trust' factor takes hold immediately, making it easier to do business with those invited to hear you speak.

Focus for Building Your Practice
A schedule of live events can serve to focus your marketing efforts towards consistently generating new business. It can also strengthen your relationship with existing clients. Pinnacle has a training program that details a 6-week marketing cycle to set and host a live event. Throughout the 6 weeks, you are focusing a certain portion of your firm's resources and time towards marketing the event. By continually hosting live events, you always leave a prospect with the ability to learn more about your services at a future date (for example - see this week's live event at Mohegan Sun Casino in CT, www.exitplanninghartford.com). This focus helps drive your business and gives you a reason ro reach out to many of your existing and would-be clients.

Leverage
When you speak to a room full of people, you get to say your message once and have it heard by as many people as you can get to attend. The leverage (i.e. benefit) that you get from these events should be measured against the efforts and costs expended to get prospects and clients into your speaking room. It can take a few events to generate a high return on investment, but with a bit of persistence you will soon see that the returns on this short talk will far outweigh the costs of hosting it as you deliver your message to many people at once.

Immediate Feedback
One of the most important aspects of live presentations is the immediate feedback that you receive. Attendees are often very open to providing feedback both in the form of questions and comments during the presentation, as well as in the form of written feedback forms that solicit their insights and opinions of your presentation. This feedback is critical not only to how you make future presentations, but also to how you expand and grow your practice.

The essence of any business transaction is knowing what your customer wants and giving it to them. This seemingly simple objective is advanced when you get feedback at your live events. I personally ask all attendees to be as honest as possible with their feedback. And I put my ego aside and try to really listen to what my audience is telling me. What I am being told is how I can have a more successful business.

Bragging Rights
When you complete a successful live presentation you have achieved a significant event - hence the right to boast about it. At my presentations, we ask attendees for detailed and written feedback, as well as their permission to use the comments as testimonials to encourage future attendees to come to the next presentation. Listed below are a few examples from last week's 2-day exit planning workshop:

"Outstanding presentation to bring structure to a highly complex
area of planning"
- Peter J.

"Excellent seminar - good group interaction and discussion that
included many nuances and extra info."
- Jane J.

"Outstanding seminar."
- Tim P.

"Comprehensive and well put together"
- Mark P.

These testimonials are powerful because they are not you saying how good your product or service is. Instead, it is a credible 3rd party who has experienced your message and is offering to share it with others who will benefit from hearing it as well.

Selling from the Stage
With a bit of practice and precession, a live speaking event can also be a great opportunity for you to sell your services [or products] directly to your attendees at your event. Since the attendees have taken the time to respond to your invitation to attend your speaking event - and they are offering effusive praise for the experience - it is logical that they have a positive pre-disposition towards taking advantage of any offer that you may have. By positioning an offering at the end of your talk, you can make these events profitable for your business and convenient for your clients and customers to sign up for your services. This is where the art of public speaking extends beyond simply marketing and educating and into the selling of your services [and/or products].

Concluding Thoughts
For all of these reasons, I encourage you to put live presentations into your business building tools. Although the coordination and marketing of these events can be taxing, the long-term benefits that you receive are well worth the efforts.

For our Pinnacle Members, we provide materials to take care of the 'content building' portion of your live events. As always, we strongly encourage you to use these materials and to apply your own creative ideas as to how you can present this material to business owners. Doing so is a proven method to grow your business. Pinnacle's most successful Members are using these presentation to owners as a regular course of their ongoing marketing.

If you do not current use live presentations to grow your practice, I truly hope that this newsletter motivates you to action and to experience all of the benefits that come from hosting your own events.

Looking forward to seeing you at my next live event this week in CT.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Better Decisions = Better Exits

2009-06-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

For many years, I have been writing and saying that business owners are making decisions every day in their businesses, and, for the most part, they are focused almost entirely on running and growing their businesses. If these same owners would include an exit plan in their decision-making process, their decisions would be more aligned with a future exit and they would be more successful in protecting (and capitalizing) on their illiquid business wealth.

Well, I have always known that to be true. However, what I learned this week opened my eyes to how owners can begin to truly make better decisions. I find that sometimes simple concepts can alude us until someone presents the ideas in a simple manner. That is what happened as I listened to a new friend, Mickey Moore, present the way that owners make decisions.

Mickey walked through an example of how large companies make decisions. He contrasted this against how owner-operators make decisions. The contrast was dramatic but the solution to bridge this gap is not so difficult that it cannot be understood by any advisor or consultant.

You see, a large company makes decisions following a process. They make decision-making a science. Now I am not discounting the ability of an owner or manager to use their intuition to make major decisions. The creative process is not removed from these decisions. Rather, the science of making decisions is 'data driven'. The scientific way that you would analyze anything you want to investigate can be applied to small businesses if an owner will merely accept the fact that the right data can help them make better and more profitable decisions.

You see, most owner-operator business owners are treating decision-making in their businesses as a 'craft'. The creative process almost entirely drives both their tactical and strategic level decisions. The all too common problem with the way these owners make decisions is that they do so without the inputs of the market, their customers, or other professionals who can assist them with the running and/or exiting of their businesses.

Mickey built a software program to help with this decision-making process. Beyond simply surveying customers, vendors, and the marketplace, Mickey's software analyzes why certain responses are relevant to the customer and how a small business can easily meet this customer's needs.

Interestingly, I started listening to Mickey's presentation less as a consultant, and more as an owner of a fast-growing business. I started asking myself how I was making decisions. What information was I relying upon? How well had I surveyed the exit planning marketplace for insights as to what you would find most helpful in a support program for advisors and consultants.

And then I thought about the owners that I work with on their exits. For years I have been watching these owners make critical decisions, only to tell me about them weeks or months later. It may not have been my role to participate in these decisions, but it was so obvious to me, as their consultant, that it was the wrong decision to be making.

Mickey summed up this dilema nicely . . . he said that most small business owners 'self-correct' their way to success. This means that the game of 'trial and error' is played every day by owners. When fully analyzed, the main problem is that bad decisions are very expensive, on a relative basis, to small businesses that have limited resources. Taken as a whole, this leads most new small businesses to go out of business and many established small businesses to lose the opportunity to maximize their profits and return on investment in their businesses.

Taken in the context of exit planning, this dilemma is even greater. You see an owner cannot 'self-correct' their way to a successful exit. Unlike the nature of decision-making in the growth of a business, an owner needs inputs up-front before they begin executing on exit decisions. As the largest financial transaction of every owner's life, the decisions that are made are critical to success.

So, what data is available to these owners to make the right / best decisions?

What process is in place to guide these owners through their growth and exits?

Who is trained to help these owners with this critical planning phase?

How can we, as advisors, ask the right questions and provide the right data to help these owners come to the best conclusion about how they should exit their businesses? Well, for this emerging exit planning space, the resources are very limited and the need is very great.

If you spend some time thinking about this problem in the market you will likely realize that you are perfectly positioned to deliver these solutions to the owners that you serve. In the process of helping owners make the right exit decisions, you will earn the role of trusted advisor and command a fee and income that is proportionate to the value that you bring.

Ask your owners about how they are making decisions. Be confident in your ability to help them. Continue being a student because the landscape of business keeps changing. And be wary of the data that you collect and the sources that you rely upon for your own decision making. Give this advice some thought and see how it impacts your next conversation with an exiting owner. You will see the difference in the conversations that you have with owners and, likely, will start making better decisions for your own practice as well.

Thanks again Mickey for a great lesson.

Looking forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming workshops.

© John M. Leonetti

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Bouncing Out of This Great Recession

2009-06-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

The thing about business books is that they tend to be practical, appealing to the left-brain thinker who can use a system or process to advance forward with 'steps' that can be followed in a logical manner to get a certain result.

Well, in my opinion, Barry Moltz breaks from that mold with his book,

Bounce: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success.

Bounce is a book about dealing with trying times and developing business confidence and resiliency so that you become stronger as a result of the challenges that you face.

One of the really neat things about Barry's style is that he writes about - and talks about in his public speaking - his failures. Barry's large point is that sometimes failures teach us valuable lessons - but sometimes they do not. Sometimes failure just plain stinks and has no lesson to teach.

Either way, it does not matter. The important part is not to invest too much time looking for the lesson in any one (or a series) of failures. The point is that life and business don't move in a linear direction - there are twists and turns and pauses on the way to business success.

Today's economic challenges are a pause - nothing more, nothing less. And being able to have this perspective keeps you focused on the longer-term objectives for your practice and keeps you moving forward with confidence. This is true resiliency. And it is a lot easier said than done to take these steps. Moreover, as I discuss below, if you have not been resilient yourself, then how can you help a business owner to be so while assisting them with the exit from their business?

You see, as Barry brilliantly discusses in his book, the real problems develop not when we face adversity, but when we get stuck in a negative way of thinking. When we take the challenges of the outside world and allow them to impact our decision-making process, we begin to move further from our goals. We become gun shy, complacent, and downright afraid of taking any risk whatsoever. Well, as Barry highlights, life and business is risk. You cannot remove it because you don't want to deal with it any more - it is simply not possible. Instead, you need to develop resiliency and begin to 'bounce' forward - to 'Bounce' out of this mindset.

Barry's insights are sown throughout this book in a way that draws upon example after example of entrepreneurs who have utilized the concepts - which Barry identifies as Building Bands (like those on a ball of rubber bands) - to develop bullet-proof business confidence. Barry identifies 10 Building Bands that one can follow to analyze their situation and achieve this confidence. The following Building Bands require some self-examination so that you can identify areas where you may be stuck and begin to move past them:

Your environment and cultural DNA

Humility

Facing [hidden] Fears of Failure

Giving up shame

Understanding that failure gives you choices

How to make smarter decisions to become a better risk taker

Valuing process over outcome

Setting patient goals for what success and failure will look like

Creating your own measurement system for success

Valuing action - almost any action [over lethargy and defeat]

Bounce delves into each of these 10 Building Bands in a way that really engages the mind into examining what may be holding someone back.

By reading Barry's book and speaking with him, I saw that this is invaluable advice for the advisor who is working with business owners to get them to move forward with their exit planning (and it is also great advice for the advisor who is still feeling stuck themselves).

Remember that one of Pinnacle's main criteria for establishing an exit plan for a business owner is 'mental readiness'. Accordingly, Barry's book is a great tool that I personally will be using with certain business owners to complement Chapter 3 of my book - The Mental Game of Business Exits - and to get these owners to 'Bounce' into their Exit Planning.

© John M. Leonetti
Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide advisors with the tools they need to incorporate Business Exit Planning into their advisory practices. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and to receive a FREE copy of his special report, "How To Incorporate Exit Strategies Into Your Advisory Practice", visit Pinnacle Equity Solutions

Selling Through Education

2009-04-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

The role that I play here at Pinnacle is truly unique. Every day I get to speak with top advisors from around the country on the topic of exit planning. This is particularly exciting as we all recognize how new this industry is and what great opportunities there are to provide leadership in local markets and with business owner clients.

One of the most interesting topics that I find myself discussing is the concept of 'selling through education'. Aside from the general comments above about the changing marketplace that we all are in, the fact remains that 'exit planning' is a relatively new concept as the industry is still emerging. Accordingly, I see many advisors and institutions promoting 'exit planning' without a true awareness of what 'exit planning' really is. Moreover, I am left with the steady awareness that most business owners do not know, exactly, why an exit plan is critical to their lives.

It is each advisor's individual responsibility to educate this marketplace on this topic and to do so in a way that serves the business owner's best interests, while also building revenue and profitability for that advisor.

How then, in this changing marketplace, can this new service be explained and delivered?

We begin by recognizing that nowadays - no matter what product or service we are selling - our potential (or existing) clients and customers are very busy. This economy has the best of business people questioning their every decision and considering each purchase they make with the perceived and immediate importance of it in their lives today. From a practice management perspective, this makes our lives more challenging, but, at the same time, creates an amazing opportunity if you have the ability to educate your client as part of your marketing and sales process.

Almost every coaching student that I work with is redefining their message to the market. I strongly encourage each advisor to write a Special Report - or a short White Paper - that describes who they are, what they do, the market that they serve, and the reason why the work that they do is so important to their clients.

Why is this so key?

Because consumers are more discriminating than ever before and we need to reach out to them to tell them our story. In addition, because everyone appears to be so busy, it is important to put information in front of them that they can review, on their own schedule, to learn more about you, what you are offering, and why it is relevant/essential to their lives right now.

The greatest extension of this practice, for me, has been the Exiting Your Business book that I wrote last year. As more and more business owners and advisors read through the book, they are drawn to the message in this book. This, in turn, draws them to Pinnacle's business. And, the key point here is that when they do contact Pinnacle's office, they already know what we do, why we do it, and the immediate importance that it has in their lives. This really helps with the sales process, i.e. selling through education and attracting customers and clients (in our case, Members) who are 'prequalified' with their interest in our services.

POINT: People that you want to do business with will actually read what you have to say and will evaluate their buying decision without you 'selling' them - you are educating them on the relevant and immediate importance of what you do so that they can apply it to their lives today. These potential customers and clients can understand your view of the world before you meet them in person or over the phone. So, when you do meet with them you are not trying to explain your value proposition in a time-compressed manner. Rather, the meeting becomes a process of verification of what you do instead of a discussion about discovering what it is that you do. Again, people / business owners are short on time today - so, we adjust our process to meet the marketplace.

This process of increased communication therefore begs a logical question that every advisor needs to ask themselves in this market. Namely 'what VALUE am I bringing to the client / prospect that I am currently talking to?'

On a recent call with an advisor interested in Pinnacle's process I asked the following questions -

'when you talk business owners, what value do you feel you are brining to the conversation?' and

'what differentiates your practice in their eyes and why should they do business with you?'

Ironically, even though I asked a direct question, I got an odd answer - she simply said 'You're right'.

The 'you're right' answer was an admission that there was no value in the conversation with the business owner. In this world of increasing commoditization of services, this advisor admitted - to herself - that there was no value. Therefore, why would the business owner do business with her?

Seems crazy. But so is the world that we are living in.

Once you understand the value of what you offer - i.e. what you truly have to give to this client and the relationship, the work is far from over. You then need to educate your prospect / client on why this value is relevant to their current situation. Again, that process is 'selling through education'.

When you are more focused on what you have to give to this client than what you can get from the relationship, things really begin to take shape. And that is the primary conversation that I have with each of my coaching students as we navigate this fast-changing world. And, as this emerging exit planning industry takes shape faster and faster, it is beholden upon each exit planner to understand and communicate exactly what exit planning is and why it will change the business owner's life.

In summary, today's consumer needs to be educated on your services and you need to understand the value of what you are offering. When you combine your message with the intention to find clients who value your service and will listen to your message, then you begin to attract to your practice those clients who are not only willing to pay you for your service, but are also much more enjoyable to do business with.

We need to change with this changing world. Selling through education is the first best step towards securing new clients in this highly opportunistic environment.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com

Coming to Their Own Conclusion

2009-04-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

“You can’t impose a mind-set on people. It emerges from a learning process in which they become persuaded that an objective is worthwhile and then apply their talents at realizing it.”

- Brian Pitman, from an article entitled
“Leading for Value” found in the Harvard
Business Review April 2003 edition.

The above quote summarizes quite nicely a part of the answer to the most common question asked by our Pinnacle Members, "Have you 'cracked the code' for prospecting business owners and winning exit planning engagements?"

Coming off the successful 2-day Workshop in Las Vegas, I am reminded of this critical observation - one which we devoted a majority of Day 1 to addressing, "How should business owners be approached in order to win engagements?" The short answer is to allow the owners a question and answer process - to 'create a space' - that enables these owners to come to their own conclusion that they really need to begin planning the exit from their privately-held business.

You see, as professional advisors, we spend a lot of time wanting to answer our client's questions. We hold onto the idea that our clients should come to us for answers, not for us to ask them more questions. But the process of engaging a business owner for an exit plan does not include the advisor telling the business owner what the answer is. The process includes asking the right questions, in the right way, so that the owner can struggle enough with the answers to realize that they have no idea how they are going to exit their business and protect their wealth.

This process is important to understand in order to get consistent results with your exit planning engagements. This is a 'learning process' as the quote above indicates. The owner persuades themselves that an exit plan is a worthwhile objective for them to pursue. When we try to impose this mindset on the owners that we work with, we make a convincing, but not a compelling presentation. The owner hears the information and consciously is in agreement with what should be done.

However, at a deeper level, the owner has not accepted this information and the exit planning process as critical to their success. They are not motivated to take action because they are only being influenced on an intellectual level, not an emotional level.

By contrast, when an owner goes through a questioning process that includes them realizing that the majority of their wealth is tied to their businesses, that they have no successor or exit plan, that the transition out of the business will take longer (and be more difficult) than they ever thought it could be, only then does that owner become motivated to begin to apply their talents to designing and implementing their business exit.

Spend some time thinking about this process. Understand that engaging a business owner in this way is a highly personal and sensitive topic. Every conversation with an owner is critically important to their lives. Treat the process accordingly and listen to the answers that the owners give. Review our updated questionnaire (Modules #1-#3 on the Membership site) to determine if you are asking the questions the right way.

And realize that the process of asking questions in this way is the key to success in this area. If you are still trying to 'impose a mindset' upon these owners, you are fighting the tide and that is likely the reason for the engagements that fall short. Review your process, know that this service is in high demand, and begin a new approach to your owners that recognizes the sensitivity and importance of this unique message and capability that you carry.

In the meantime, remember to contact our office with any questions as we are anxious to assist you in your continued success.

© John M. Leonetti

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com

What an Event!

2009-03-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

It is hard to describe the educational experience that 22 high caliber, sophisticated, and entrepreneurial advisors went through last Thurday and Friday at Pinnacle's 2-day Workshop in sunny Las Vegas. Advisor after advisor told me that this was the best presentation and educational event of their careers and that they would be going back to their offices to redesign their advisory practices to capture this opportunity.

Listed below is some of the feedback that was given to Pinnacle's staff regarding the quality of the learning experience.

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"The subject matter was deep and insightful. The synergy among the high caliber attendees really took the Workshop to another level. This is a must for the client-focused advisor in the business owner marketplace."

- Emrich Stellar

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"Great Workshop and knowledge - very practical."

- Irving Katz

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"The beauty of John's methodology is that it is not lost in the numbers . . . . by recognizing the human desires, needs, and foibles of the exiting owner, John's techniques help develop a sound framework for a successful and satisfying ownership transition."

- Rob Brown

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"The synergistic dynamic overlay of talents dedicated to a well conceived process to help qualified business owners make well informed decisions on exit options"

- John A. House

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"John does a great job in turning a demographic observation into a concrete business. Excellent program !"

- John Alter

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"Excellent process and techniques for making the most of the exit planning opportunity."

- Russ Gorman

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"Overall excellent !"

- Greg Mickelson

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"Excellent program"

- Buz Code

With continuing feedback of this kind, we grow more and more excited about our next program in Boston this Fall. Look for an announcement of the dates and location this summer.

In the meantime, if you want to stay ahead of this growing marketplace, consider Pinnacle's Home Study Course to get you going with Exit Planning right away.

© John M. Leonetti

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com

Picking Up, Dusting Off, Moving On

2009-03-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Business owners today are beginning to emerge from the bunkers that they have built around themselves and are looking ahead, once again, to what the future has in store.

There is a general feeling that we have suffered the worst of this storm. Moreover, since even Warren Buffett agreed that this economic maelstrom is 'the worst case scenario' that was envisioned, perhaps it is also true that any more suffering would merely be incidental to what has already been felt . . . could this be the tell-tale signs of a bottom?

I don't want to be the fool who says that this market cannot go any lower or that the economy cannot get any worse. I have been studying markets and investor/human psychology for far too long to make such a bold claim. But I can make a not so bold prediction that more and more business owners will awaken to the idea that the equity that is trapped in their illiquid businesses is now more important than ever and they will be looking for ways to monetize it in order to meet their personal goals.

Let's face it, the retirement that any business owner contemplated one or two years ago is likely a plan that is residing in the circular file in their office (in case the pun escaped you . . . that is the garbage pail). The security that they thought that they had in their investment accounts is now significantly lower and these owners need to focus on their businesses and the equity in that business once again.

The owner's financial advisor did not create this problem. In fact, even Warren Buffett - the world's greatest investor - was saying last October that it was a good time to purchasing stocks. Simply put, life created this event. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime, but a once-in-three-lifetimes type of event. As advisors and as business owners we have to take this event and learn from it. We need to see what lesson is buried within this calamity. Then we need to use this wisdom and higher understanding to our benefit. We need to convert these unfortunate events into opportunity. We need to be pro-active in our approach, recognizing that others will not be.

Let's talk about the illiquid equity that is sitting in a business owner's business. This is the value of the enterprise, beyond the 'book value' - or the value of the tangible assets (inventory, machinery, real estate, etc . . . ) - that exists within a business. This is not cash flow, which can be extracted from the business. It is the 'going concern' value, the value of the enterprise to produce future profits. Now, an owner cannot pay for his retirement today with earnings to be received in the future, unless he can find someone willing to share in the risk of those profits actually arriving. This is what a business owner accomplishes when they sell their business. They sell to someone willing to assume the risk of the business and pay the owner/seller today for profits to be earned in the future.

Because of the economy and the contraction of credit, there are not a lot of 'buyers' out there today. So, many owners feel as though they do not need to plan for their exit. This is a natural reaction . . . why try to sell something to a marketplace that is not interested in purchasing. But, the critical piece that is missing from this equation is that every decision that the business owner makes from today until the day that they exit their business will impact their exit value.

So, planning for an exit is more than simply taking action when the market is 'hot'. It is just the opposite. A successful exit strategy is one that utilizes these down markets to prepare the business for an exit when the 'window' opens again. And, let's not forget, that selling the business is not the only exit option - again, far from it. However, any exit option needs to consider the underlying viability of the company's sustainability in order for the overall exit structure to be a success. Now is the time to address this sustainability.

More and more business owners are coming to this realization now that they see that there may only be one more exit window prior to them turning 70. In addition, most of these owners do not want to miss the next window in fear of falling into another recession such as the one that we are currently experiencing. These owners need to begin the planning today and it is our job as advisors to assist in raising their awareness to this reality.

Today's marketplace has left quite a bit of debris in its wake. The owner who can dust themselves off, pick themselves up, and move on with their lives will be ready to have the conversation about planning for their exit. There is a pent-up demand that is building for this exit strategy planning advice and it is the wise advisor who invests their time learning about how to have this conversation and how to monetize the concept to grow their practice.

That is what we are covering next week at our Las Vegas Workshop. I am looking forward to this bi-annual event. If you have not made plans to join us already, double-check your calendar and join us in sin city. Each of these events is another big step that we are taking towards advancing our awareness around exit strategy planning and serving the business owners who are in need of this service.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com

2-Day Exit Strategies Training Workshop FREE Preview Call with Special Guest Bill Losey

2009-02-11T04:55:00.000-08:00

Wed Feb 11 at 3pm EST I will be hosting a FREE call with my friend, and marketing guru, Bill Losey. Pinnacle's Exit Strategies Workshop is 38 days away and we are all very excited about this event and the new additions that will empower you to grow your advisory practice exponentially with this unique and valuable exit planning message.

On this call, you'll get a sneak preview of all the great educational and business building content we will be teaching at the upcoming Workshop on March 19-20 at the Westin Causarina, Las Vegas!

Remember, Pinnacle only hosts 2 events like this per year. Our next big event is not until October - so get involved today and make 2009 the year that you move your business ahead with the business owners who are waiting to hear from you.

Click here to register for the call.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com

The Rise of the Internal Transfers

2009-02-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

So . . . what the corner office producer at Merrill Lynch knew, that few others were focusing on while the equities markets were in turmoil was rather simple and rather easy to share with those who would listen. He simply said 'buy bonds' (i.e. instead of fixating on the stock market which was a mess). It was that simple.

In a market environment where there was more risk in doing nothing, than in taking definite action, this experienced advisor simply said 'buy bonds'. What was behind this message was the notion that as advisors, we should not get too caught up in all the mess of the marketplace . . . simply 'buy bonds' - offer alternative solutions that are appropriate for the current market conditions.

What are appropriate exit planning recommendations for today's business owners? Well, instead of 'buying bonds' for their liquid assets - let's discuss an examination of 'internal transfers', instead of 'external transfers' as a viable (alternative) exit plan from the business.

First, let's take a look at why advice, such as 'buy bonds', is so difficult for advisors to hear? Well, I believe that many advisors believe it to be their role to get their clients as much return as they can . . . even if they are assuming the risks of the market. Buying bonds was not exciting and it did not require great analysis.

Investors, however, during those turbulent times were becoming less interested in a conversation regarding a return on their investment and were simply more interested in a conversation that focused on the return of their investment.

Now, panicky investors should not, necessarily, drive the investment decisions in a portfolio of liquid assets.

But, think about whether you are working with any business owners who - in this environment - are simply wondering whether they will get any return on their investment. Many are clearly asking where 'the bottom' will be.

If this is the case, and it appears as though 'outside' buyers will be absent from the marketplace for awhile, these owners should begin to consider 'internal' transfer strategies for their eventual exit.

Just like 'buying bonds' was not as exciting as stock purchases, the end result was that this alternative approach - when measured correctly - had a better chance of getting many investors to their goals.

I believe that this analogy rings true for today's exit planning marketplace. Where most advisors, since 2003, were focused on the 'outside' sale of a business (i.e. to an industry buyer or to a private equity group), today's exit planners need to be proficient in 'internal' transfer strategies as well. There are strong comparisons between 'external' and 'internal' transfers and 'stock' and 'bond' markets, let me explain.

Stock investments carry a bit more risk, but potential for a greater return. 'External' transfers - i.e. sales to outsiders - carry the same dynamics . . . finding a buyer, getting financing, negotiating the transaction, and navigating the legal agreements and tax provisions. If you can do all of this, the sales price (i.e. the return) can be greater. But today's environment makes these transactions more difficult than in the past.

By contrast, bond investments carry a bit less risk (at least they did before the sub-prime mess tainted much of the fixed-income marketplace). In any event, bonds are less volatile and have a more predictale return to the investor. And, most importantly, if bond investing gets an investor to their goals, then the question becomes 'why take the extra risk'? 'Internal' transfers - i.e. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Management Buyouts, and Gifting Programs are similar to bond investing-in this scenario. There can be more control over the transfer and, if the owner can be assured that an 'internal' transfer will get them to their goals, then - like bond investing - why take the additional risk?

So, the rise of internal transfer strategies is likely to be with exit strategy planners for quite some time. With the credit crunch continuing to restrict access to capital, and buyers becoming more cautious about preserving their profitability, rather than expanding through acquisition, the marketplace for exiting owners to sell to 'outsiders' may remain considerably depressed for some time. Therefore, given the sheer number of Baby Boomer who need to begin planning their exits to protect their illiquid wealth, it makes a lot of sense to talk to these owners about 'buying bonds' - or, in this case, examining an internal transfer.

We will be covering internal transfers in depth at Pinnacle's 2-day Workshop in Las Vegas next month. Feel free to join us - and enjoy a FREE month of Membership until that point in time.

And be sure to join us for our preview call with special guest Bill Losey to hear more about how we will also focus your advisory practice on getting and staying in front of these exiting business owners.

Click here to register for our Workshop Preview Call, with speical guest Bill Losey, Wed Feb 11 at 3pm EST.

Specializing in Business Exit Strategies, John M. Leonetti, Esq., M.S. Finance, CM&AA founded Pinnacle Equity Solutions to provide exit strategy planning services to business owners as well as education and training programs for professional advisors. To learn more about John's Exit Strategy Services and his recently published book, "Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth", visit ExitingYourBusiness.com