Tag: BusinessCoach

The End Part 13: Shake & Bake

“Busy people make to-do lists when what they need is to reflect and create stop-doing lists” – Francis Shenstone

We are not quite shaking hands yet, but we are getting very close. We are at the point in the negotiations where there are just a few more details to work out then we should have a deal.

It is hard to imagine that business number two of my career is almost wrapped up. It has been a part of my life for a long time. We are near the time to wrap it up with a bow and deliver it to the buyer that should be able to keep it alive and growing. I can’t think of a better way to close this door.

Now that the handshake is close, what is with the baking? There are more than just pies baking right now. Visions, daydreams, ideas, business models and business plans are all baking inside my head. Now that the end really is getting closer, the ideas are becoming clearer and clearer. Plans often come together in the eleventh hour and that time is drawing near.

As everything bakes away and starts to come together an important lesson comes to mind; it is just as important to know what you don’t want to do as it is to know what you want to do. Just as don’t-do lists are just as important as a to-do list. Sometimes they are more important. Over the years I have noticed many people focusing so much on what to do, including myself. I have been paralyzed trying to figure everything out, needing to have all the answers worked out and a solid plan in my head. The reality is that sometimes I just need to cut the fat and eliminate al the no-go ideas first to open the space and provide clarity.

It may sound simple and intuitive to most but my head is hardwired to focus on ideas to move on. I love so many ideas I don’t want to get rid of any. It’s the entrepreneurial syndrome. It takes a conscious effort and extra energy to go against my natural tendency to weed through the ideas. In a perfect world I would want to use all the ideas. The reality is, when I really get in the weeds and dig deep and look beyond the whats I really want to do and start looking at the whys in my life, the whats become clearer. That makes it easier to eliminate the whats that don’t support the whys. Get it? Got it? Good.

The bottom line is, crossing out the things I really do not want to do make it easier to focus of the potential whats that I want to do, ultimately making the decision process easier. If only I could move some wires around in my head.

So, now that I have really talked some circles in your head, I will wrap this part up and share what’s really baking next time.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 12: The End Is The Beginning

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” – T.S. Eliot

For those of you following the entire series and the sale of the business there really is not much of an update at this point. Right now there is just some back and forth every couple days as the buyer-side decision makers ask a few more questions to gather more data as they do their due diligence. I understand completely. They want to make sure they are making the best decision for their company. An answer to one question often leads to another question, which leads to another, and so on and so forth. The end of one conversations leads to the beginning of another. It is a dance of sorts one that wish would hurry up and end.

Are we actually starting at the end as the quote above suggests? I don’t know but I do know that business, and life, are full of cycles and everything appears to be circular. That brings up the age old question; is there a beginning or an end to a circular pattern?

I am neither a philosopher nor a rabbit, or a mathematician for that matter, so I don’t want to jump down that hole. What I can say is that over the course of starting and running businesses for a couple decades, I have learned that there is lot to be gained from understanding patters, cycles, and universal processes. There are many different types of sales with just as many negotiation styles but it all boils down to a sales process. The essence of any sales process is a transaction where one party exchanges something of value for something else of value from the other party. That is it and, yes, it really is that simple.

The difficult part of it all is the personalities involved. This is where the definitions, motivations, emotions, techniques, styles, etc make every transaction unique. If this weren’t the case, every person who went to a car dealership would be able to pay the exact same price for the exact same car. But we don’t.

If all the other stuff listed above were not part of the transaction, our potential buyer would have purchased or passed already. Instead I sit waiting and waiting for them to make up their minds. The waiting is the hardest part as I quoted the late Tom Petty in an earlier post. The waiting stage is when the many faces of fear rear their ugly heads, creep in and take over. That serves no one. I have learned in fear generating activities that I must just let things go and allow them to move and flow. Otherwise I constrict the natural flow of things and I often get bitten, or bite others by acting rashly.

So, here I wait and wait as I begin anew at the ending. A new vision. A new path. A new strategy. A new mission for the other business because as I navigate through life I learn more and more about what matters most to me and those around me. My desire is to bring all the ideas into alignment and execute. Success is more than dollar signs. If I can support my life and live in the moment of my life with a level of serenity all the while avoid stepping on the hopes and dreams of others, that is a success…

And only the beginning!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 10: 5-4-3-2…GO!

“It’s meant to be, you can’t change fate.” – G.B.H.

I don’t really know what is meant to be but what I do know is that when I get out of the way, things just seem to work out better. Things tend to get messy when I get in there and start trying to control the things I have no business controlling.

One of the hardest lessons in business is realizing that time is the greatest asset and resource AND, that I have no control over it. I can do everything in my power to make things happen in my time but they are all just guesses. In the most basic and general sense I’ll call it timing the market. Can it really be done? It sure appears that it can when you look at the track record of some very successful entrepreneurs. I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole today. I will just boil it down to the fact that some people just have a great sense for timing, reading the market, and a little bit of luck on their side. Not to mention a great team working with them.

The reality is, most of the time we only hear or read about the “perfectly” timed events. We do not hear about the failures, losses, and missed opportunities. Although most entrepreneurs love to talk about the failures and how they made them better. That too is topic for another time.

What I do want to talk about is how I have learned that I want everything now. I want everything to happen in my time. Further, that quite often, my time is not aligned with everyone else’s. Right now discussions have opened up with an interested party to purchase the business. I want it to happen right now so I get on with it. Shut this door and close the chapter so I can start writing a new one. I know that if I keep that mindset I will grow more and more impatient and frustrated which is not good for any negotiation.

I have to remember that this transaction is not a time bomb and will not explode on expiration.  Yes, many transactions or offers have expiration dates on them but we are not there yet. I need to just do the work and provide the information they need to make an educated decision. If the roles were reversed I would be doing the same thing they are doing. Acquiring a business is major decision no matter the size and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

I need to practice patience and be open to the process, and the offer. For today, I will let time continue to tick while I move closer to closing this door.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 9: Race Against Time

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin.

I thought that things usually slow down as they come to an end. Why do I feel like everything is speeding back up? Is this a final push? Are we all just racing against time to get everything in before we get to the finish line?

Whatever the case might be, things have really picked up. So much for a soft, easy landing. I can’t complain, though. I want to sell through as much inventory as possible while finding a buyer for the business. To be honest, I have been a bit busy the past two weeks to do much searching. I need to carve out some time and really search for the right buyer.

As I search I hope this burst of business is a sign that people are starting to travel again. When families travel sales go up for us. Rising sales always look good to potential buyers so keep traveling with your kids people.

Back to the title, everything is a race against time. Life in general is all about time. Every single thing we do can be broken down into little increments of time. Business is no different. If there is one thing I have learned running multiple businesses it is that time is the most precious and valuable resource. Cash reserves are great. Smart, productive employees are great. Efficient equipment and technology are great. But nothing is as great as well spent time. All your resources, assets, plans, processes, etc, operate in time and you can use it wisely or poorly but once it’s used it’s gone for good.

Time is everything and is non-renewable. When it’s gone, it’s gone. You can always hire more people, buy more equipment, adopt better technology but you can never buy more time, regardless of the silly saying. What buying more time really means is extending your runway further into the future. For example, this burst of sales extends the cash burn rate so I don’t have to pump any more money into the business right away while I wait. Even though we are closing shop, no one wants to buy a dead horse so I have to keep it breathing and cash is the life blood of any business.

Time is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter how much money we have in the bank, everyone has the same twenty four hours in a day. The best we can do with our time is to use it wisely and do our best to be productive and efficient. The next couple weeks I plan to do a quick assessment of where the business is and dedicate some time to move towards closing this door because I am so ready for the next to open fully.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 8: What Am I Waiting For?

“And I need something more
To keep on breathing for
So give me something to believe”
 – Samuel Bingham Endicott, The Bravery

What am I waiting for? That is the question. The other is “what do I believe?” Our three neighbors up north say I am waiting for an open door. That I am, but what am I doing to help close this door and open another?

If you have been following this series you know that the selling process has been a bit slow going. That is most likely due to the fact that I have not been doing much. After some deep thinking and soul searching, the reality is that I am holding on a bit. I am keeping one foot in the door to prevent it from closing completely.

Why? Why would I do that? Well, this business has been part of my life for nearly twenty years. It’s hard to let go. As much as I want to let go and move on, it is hard. All the good times and bad times have been an integral part in my development personally and professionally. I learned more running this business than all my years earning a degree in college. It has brought happiness, joy, fulfillment, and pride. It has fostered confidence, skill development, and wealth creation. It has also ignited fear, a sense of failure, and deep financial losses. This business has guided my family through the entire range of success and failure. This business has truly become a part of me.

The time has come, however to move on. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that nothing happens if I do not take action. I have to be responsible. I can’t just sit and wait for things to happen or wait for others to them for me. As an owner/operator the first thing one should understand is that no one will have the drive or passion that you do. You and only you can be the driver.

That is what I believe. I also believe that when one door closes another will open. It is time for me to get off my butt and start working to close this door. What am I waiting for? Simply to get in the right mindset to do what needs to be done. I believe that thinking this through before I wrote this little ditty has prepared me to trudge forward and drive this to the exchange station to find a new driver.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 7: The Never Ending Story

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” – Saadi

Have you ever read a book that you just wanted to end? You just can’t wait to read the final page, close the book, put it on the “read” book shelf, and place the book mark in a new book. That is where I am right now. I feel like I am in story that just won’t end and all I want to do it get through it.

Of course, there are many versions of this, right? It could be that the book is so gripping you can’t put it down and you are so excited and anxious to see how it is all going to turn out. It could be that the story just drags on and you just want to finish it. You are no longer interested but putting the book away before finishing it would feel like a failure. Sometimes it is a great book but it is just so darn long. The type of book you have been putting off reading because just looking at it is overwhelming. It’s simply too long, how can you even hold a book that big comfortably and enjoy reading it? Once you start reading  a book like that it feels as though you are only reading a page a day and making no progress.

Or maybe it’s a mix of all the above. That is where I am sitting right now; never ending story limbo. There are ups and downs. Sometimes I want to be a part of it and other times I just want to leave the story and never return. The problem in my case is that I am one of the lead characters so I can’t leave the story. This story is just dragging on. I am very excited to see how it will end but I am stuck in the same scene where it just feels like there is no progress being made. It’s just the same scene over and over again

I am so ready to wrap up this chapter and sell the business. I am ready for a new chapter in a new book. It has served us well for nearly twenty years. It’s a great turnkey business to acquire for anyone in the industry. Why are people not knocking down our doors?

The anticipation of what is on the next page leaves me to create a variety of scenarios. Like the old choose your own adventure books. The problem in my case is the story has not been written yet. I can choose to envision any outcome but whatever page I choose to turn to is still blank at this point. The story has not been written, the book is incomplete.

The pandemic has taught me that life can be short; life, business, friendship, etc, can end in an unforeseen instant. Life happens in the moment. Transactions happen in the moment. Preparation happens in the moment. Everything happens in the moment. Therefore, the present is where I must live. I am anxious for this book to end so I can focus on my other businesses and what else is to come, but I can only write so many stories at one time, let alone be the lead character.

For now, I will live today and continue to do what I need to do to prepare for the ending of this story. The story will end when the story is over.  I guess there is more to come with is one.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 6: The Waiting Game

“The waiting is the hardest part.” – Tom Petty

Waiting is torturous. It’s brutal. I don’t do well sitting idle. I have to move and get things done or I feel like I’m being irresponsible and lazy. It is one of my downfalls; impatience. I always want things to happen in my time, yet there is no Kevin time in the greater expanse of the universe. It only exists in my head and the vortex I pull people into when things are not happening in my time.

That is exactly what is happening right now; nothing. We are sitting in limbo with the sale and closure of the business. Steps that are seemingly being taken while walking thorough molasses. Can we just get on with it?

This will just be short because, as I pointed out, I am just waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting. So, while I wait…

Let me impart a little bit of hindsight knowledge; be patient. They say good things come to those who wait. Well, it isn’t always good, but if I let go of control and attachment to outcomes it is more tolerable and it is easier for me to practice acceptance. When we wait with expectations we set ourselves up for disappointment. I have slowly learned, and am still learning, that practicing patience allows me to be open to the outcome whether it turns out to be what I thought I wanted or not. Many times the outcome has been opposite of what I thought I wanted but exactly what I needed.

Patience allows room for change; a change of perspective, a change of desire, a change of direction, etc. When I am impatient I am projecting what I think I want and desire on to an imminent outcome that may or may not align with what I have conjured and created in my head. And if it doesn’t align, all hell breaks loose. That hell is cast upon all those in my vicinity. That is not a good way to operate.

Therefore, as I sit and wait this time, I try to remember the lessons of my past disappointments. I try to learn from my past mistakes and be in the present and focus only on what I can control. I can control my attitude and I can control the work I choose to do in the meantime. I can only do my part. Beyond that I must continue to wait…

And wait, and wait.

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 5: A Wrinkle In Time

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” ― Confucius

As I write this, it is just about a year since the world shut down. Not to mention the business this series is about. We are a travel related business and when no one can travel there is no need for our product. Covid was the final nail in the coffin for us.

The reality is, we already begun digging the hole with one foot in. We were already on a downward slope to begin with. We have spent the last five years trying to heal and recover from one blow after another. Many of the blows were beyond our control but the impact of many could have been minimized or prevented had we done some things differently; hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Looking back through the glass there are many lessons to be had for the choices we made over the years. The hard truth is we can really go back to day one and see that the manner in which the corporation was formed and structured placed the business in a vulnerable position financially. After that, we backed ourselves into a corner as a one trick pony; easy prey for bigger companies to pounce on. We didn’t realize it until it was too late.

I have shared on many occasions the events that led to our first major fall so I will not go into detail here. The fact is that we have been working to recover from that for nearly a decade. It has truly been a roller coaster ever since. We climbed pretty high several times but would fall back again. We were just never able to get back to that high point again and maintain our position. It was always one thing after another; a recession, copy cat products, trade wars, factory headaches, the list goes on.

Each issue alone was not the biggest deal but when you are already in a compromised position, the impact hits harder. So, we did our best to mitigate the external issues beyond our control but the timing was always off. Looking back that begs the question “did we really do our best?” I can only answer for my choices and actions and the answer is a resounding “NO!” I absolutely did not do my best.

That it a blessing and a lesson in and of itself. The ability to see our mistakes and admit we were wrong is huge. That places us in a position to learn and grow from the mistakes. There a many to be had through the years of this business which prevents the mistakes from becoming failures. Not that a business that operated for twenty year is considered a failure, but I can easily throw my thoughts to the darkness and say that I failed because we are shutting down.

I will close with that and leave the lessons to be shared in another part. For now, we are still in limbo with the closing. This door sure is taking its time to shut!

Talk Soon,

Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

“Time is like a fuse, Short and burning fast” – Metallica

I feel the end is near yet so far away. I am sure someone wrote that in a song as well. It does ring a bell. That is where I am right now, just stuck in ending limbo. There is no abrupt ending to a twenty year old business. I can’t just shut the door and open another, no matter how hard I slam it.

I should not be surprised. This business has been a roller coaster from day one, why should the final chapter be any different? This section I will reflect on that roller coaster while I sit in limbo with anticipation mixed with a little fear.

To set the stage a bit, this business was founded like most others; an idea that solved an immediate problem. The idea sprung when two families were experiencing the problem at the same time. The reality is it probably wasn’t an original idea. Ideas are cheap, they are a dime a dozen. The difference is what people decide to do with them. We decided to do something. That is the major difference between entrepreneurs and the average folk.

Is there any right timing for anything? The reality is, if you are waiting for the stars to align, the lights to turn green, and all the ducks to be in a row, you will spend your life waiting while opportunities continue to pass you by. No more waiting here. As a matter of fact, we made the no more waiting decision when launched our first business in the garage of the house we just purchased, just before our wedding, just after Kerry was pregnant with our first child. Perfect timing, right? Did I mention that we both had full time jobs?

Here we are a year into our first start up and Kerry is ready to start a second. By this time our first child was born and was six months old. I just can’t think of a better time to launch start up number two, can you?

Fast forward a bit and Kerry had to leave number one to focus on number two. Good choice because five years in to number one it was done and we were buried in debt. Number two however was looking good. Remember I said it was a roller coaster and where do they go? Up.

We rode it up and it got to a point where I could hop on board. I always helped a bit but we were afraid to put everything in one basket so I never went all in. Now that I was all in we were looking good moving up having a good old time and enjoying a little success. At some point, however, we realized that we were making the same mistake with the business they we were trying to avoid with our family; we put all the eggs in one basket.

We relied on one product to provide 90% of our business. We rode that for a while but we decided it was time to diversify if we wanted to survive for the long term. We began planning for growth and as we were still climbing higher not one but two competing products hit the market; both by bigger companies with deeper packets. You know the saying, “what goes up, must come down.” Come down we did. That wasn’t the first drop on the ride but it was definitely the first big and fast one.

That was a while ago so obviously we survived. There were a lot of ups and downs during our recovery phase but we never quite got back to where we were. There are so many things beyond our control that caused obstacles for us, many which would knock down a few rungs. The good news is that each one provided some great lessons that made us better and stronger. I will dig into to some of those in another part when I actually close the door. 

So, stay tuned, the ending truly is near, the door is swinging shut, it’s just a slow burn as we finalize everything and wait. And wait. For me, the waiting is often the hardest part.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

The End Part 3: The Doors of Perception

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach. – Aldous Huxley

I still do not know the ending. I am somewhere in the middle of this section of the story. I do know it is the end of this business as I know it; that is for certain. It is the how and what that are the two biggest mysteries at this point in time. As much as I would like to just have it be over, there is always a process, the timing of which I have no control over. That is one of the many lessons I have learned while operating this business.

While I wait and jump through all the necessary hoops with three interested parties I feel it is time to start looking at the lessons and identifying the skills, traits, principles, etc that I can carry forward in my other current ventures and those of the future. Because one other thing I do know, is there will definitely be other doors, even if I have to knock them down. I am a serial entrepreneur and I am pretty sure that cannot be taken away. It would be like taking an arm or a leg.

What can I learn from the history of myself and other business owners like myself? Too much to list here, but let me focus on the process and timing of things. There have been many occasions in my life , personal and professional, that I have failed to learn from my mistakes in a timely manner. Further, there have been times where I have refused or denied the fact that I could even learn from any such mistake at all.

Why? Because the hardest lesson for me was to take my ego out of the equation. I didn’t want to look ignorant, stupid, inexperienced, etc. I thought admitting to my mistakes, bad decisions, and poor management was a sign of weakness and weakness that doesn’t fly in business, right? Not until years into my entrepreneurial career did I realize that all those “mistakes” and “failures” were really the key to becoming better and better. They were the treasure trove of knowledge that would build a better business. All I had to do was accept responsibility, opening me up to learn from them.

That did happen once I learned that the most “successful” people all failed just like I did. Most of them on a much grander scale too. This opened me up to do a deep dive to rediscover the mistakes and learn from them so I could move forward better and stronger.

Jumping back, one very important lesson is that everything and everyone has a process. And further, I do not control it. The processes involve timing. One of the hardest and most frustrating lessons to learn is that I do not control anyone’s timing. Life and business does not happen on Kevin’s time as much as I want it to. That leads to utter disappointment or acceptance; Accepting that I have no control over anything but my own attitude and perception. And, I cannot create or control time. It is the most valuable resource and all I can do is work to manage my own time to be of maximum effectiveness.

That is one of the most important lessons because in my experience it has been the root of so many other less than ideal situations and experiences that could have been prevented had I just practiced a little patience and acceptance. The more expectations I placed on employees, vendors, competitors, etc the more frustration, anger, resentment, and fear I experienced, In turn, the more poor decisions I made that led to most of the “mistakes”.

Now, I try to stay present and focus on what I can do to push my life and business forward regardless of the decisions, processes, and timing of others. When I satyr mindful and aware of my thoughts, my actions usually follow in a way that is better for all those around.

The hardest part is the application but that is ok, there are more doors to open and more lessons to learn.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live