We continue our podcast series with exit planning expert and author, John Warrillow whose book Built to Sell, outlines the eight steps he says are critical to creating a sellable business.
This week we discuss the fourth topic in Built to Sell: not accepting projects/work outside of your standard service offering. When you focus on too many things, it’s hard to do one thing really well. If your business is too fragmented and you serve too many markets, you end up devaluing your business. An acquirer may see your weakness and decide instead that it's better for them to start a competing business in a niche that you’re not serving well. Or, if they're interested in your business, they may offer you a lower overall price because they only see value in a certain area of your business.
We invite you to listen to the conversation and comment below:
John Warrillow is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. Throughout his career as an entrepreneur, John has started and exited four companies. Most recently he transformed Warrillow & Co. from a boutique consultancy into a recurring revenue model subscription business, which he sold to The Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) in 2008. He is the author of Built to Sell and Drilling for Gold and in 2008 was recognized by BtoB magazine’s “Who’s Who” list. www.builttosell.com