0432 | Jessica Fialkovich

Hi, this is Jessica Fjakovic, founder and president of Exit Factor. You're listening to EA interviews, EA interviews.

Episode 432, inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week, join Mario Ficcini for today's expert authority effect interview. You know, I bring you the best and today is no different. Today I have Jessica Fiakovic here on today's episode and we're going to be talking about getting the most. When you're selling your business. I don't know about you, if you've ever thought about selling a business or exiting a company, maybe you plan on it, maybe you've never thought about it, maybe you're in the middle of it. And it's fun for me because my first business I started when I was 12. I sold it in college. It was not a Fortune 500 at that point, but it's always fun to have that. You know, in my case, limited experience. But I have had guests on the show who have. They're like, yeah, we exited for 7 million, we exited for 25. I meant seven figures. That's what I meant. But whatever the amount is, it could be a quarter mil, it could be half a mil, it could be whatever. But just going through this, I personally feel it's something that's not talked about a lot because not a lot of people have done it. And that's why I wanted to bring her to you. So after we thank our sponsor, Jessica Fiakovic. Every business needs a book, including yours. And that's why I'm launching my new book to help you, regardless of where you think you your current writing abilities are. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that's EA publishingmethodbook.com Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, Jessica Fjakovic. Jessica, how are you feeling today?

I'm feeling great. Thanks for having me on the show.

Oh, it's my pleasure. I have no doubt you're a wealth of wisdom. So I'll let you just share. Why exiting companies, what drawn you to this?

Yeah, so similar to you, I've, I've owned businesses since I was young. Not, not quite as young, young as you, but I started my first business when I was 24 years old. And through the exit of that business, it really inspired me to help other business owners prepare for and eventually sell their companies. I'd have what you would call an adequate experience selling. Selling my first business we had a great financial exit, but I felt like we were treating, treated just pretty poorly because we were a small business, quote unquote. Right. So we weren't the unicorn exit or anything like that. So very few advisors were willing to work with us. And that was really my inspiration is why can't small and midsize businesses have the same expertise and the same experience that larger businesses do when they're preparing to exit?

Yeah, it's interesting that, you know, it reminds me of investing when people are like, I want to invest, I want to do this, I want to help other companies. And it's like, but there's this threshold you have to hit in order to be able to even start. I'm like, I would have been toast if there was requirements for really starting a business. You know what I mean? You, you need 10, 10 million in the bank at 12. Like really? Really?

Yeah, exactly. I actually, I think is a great metaphor, right? Because it, it's the same thing with selling a business is like some clients will only sell one business in their lifetime, right? Most, most people will, but there are serial entrepreneurs and it's the same thing. It's like, why would you create this barrier of like, oh, well, your business has to be worth at least, you know, eight figures for me to talk to you or you have to be producing at least 10 million in revenue for us to have a conversation. So that, that was my inspiration for exit factor into really niche into helping small, small to mid sized businesses prepare for their eventual exit.

I want to unpack what you said in the beginning because it, I mean, it's masterclass already. So you started your first business at 24?

Yep, I started my first business at 24. It was in the midst of the 2008, 2009 recession. My husband and I had gotten laid off from, you know, Safe Company, a large, big conglomerate out of New York that we thought we would work for for years. And we did.

And I'm sure you're not going to say the name right?

No, I will not.

How about, how about the initials?

It was a large corporate real estate development company that was backed by Lehman Brothers. So we'll leave it at that. But. Okay. Yeah, but so that was like an eye opening experience for me. I had been raised to think that if you worked for these large companies and you did a good job, you would be safe. Right. And here we both were losing our jobs because we were just a name on a list from some guy in a tower. He had no idea who we were. And that Was the line item.

Right.

You were totally just a line item. So that was my realization is actually the safest path for a career is, is to build your own business and you know, protect your own career. So.

And how long after you started it did you sell it?

30 months. So I call it my early life crisis. I, I was in business to business previous to this business and my husband and I started a wine store. So we started a wine boutique wine bar, retail wine. And then we, we got into trading high end wine to collectors all around the world. So we're doing like some online collectors markets and things like that. So yeah, it was like my early life crisis. I had a friend that was in the wine business. I was like, oh, that'd be super cool. Drink wine all day, hang out with cool people. And so, so we did that in 30, 30 months and then we were ready to get back into the B2B world. So.

So 30 months later you decided to exit and you said you didn't feel you were treated appropriately.

Yeah, so we went to our attorney at the time, who was a great friend, but he just, he had not done transactions. He was not an M and A attorney. So he referred us to a couple people in the small town we were living in and a lot of them said, you're too small, like we can't work with you. And we were at about, I think just about three to three and a half million at that point. And I was like, well, wow, I mean, I've built this business. I thought, yeah, we're still a small business, but very few people get here, especially in this time frame. And so a lot of the brokers, the investment bankers, even the attorneys that we spoke with just flat out turned us down. They're like, we don't work with deals like yours. It's too small. No one's going to want to buy it. So that was our experience. We were able to convince one business broker to take on our listing and fortunately we're able to sell just 60 days later and for a full asking price.

Wow, that's not too long of a time at all.

No, no. So like I said, it was a good, financially, it was a great transaction. I mean, we got all the money that we asked for. We got almost all of it up front with very little seller financing and it took very little time. Like now I know that the average transaction takes nine months and all this stuff and but you know, at the time it just, it just didn't feel right, the customer service aspect of it or just Just the whole overall.

The experience.

Yeah, the whole experience. Culture of the deal world, everything like that.

I think that's something that's lost at all levels. I got to be honest. Like, if someone wants my business, if they're just like, treat me like that transaction. Absolutely not. I mean, there's people, I've paid substantially more just because I knew it would be a better experience. Because it's like, I don't know about you, but this is like fun. Yeah. I didn't want a job. I, the business is like what I do and it's like, okay, so I talked to you. This part of my life now sucks. I talk to you. This part of my life not, it's like, it might not be a job, but it feels like it. So why wouldn't you give someone a great customer journey? Client journey, whatever you want to call it, Like, I can't even wrap my head around it. Why? You'd just be like, here, here's the email. Sign this. Buy, we'll talk in three months. Sign this. Like, really?

Yeah, yeah. It's so important and like you said in every industry nowadays. And, and so that, that's what was important to me too and what set me on my path now, that's over 10 years ago now. So there have been some strides in the industry and some major players making a big difference for small business owners. But 10 years ago, that was, was not the experience for businesses like mine.

But look at the opportunity you now have.

Yes, yes.

I, I, I can, I, I have not done what you've done, but I can relate to the, I see problems. I'm going to fix it and make it better for everyone else.

Yes, yeah, exactly. That's, and that's, I saw the opportunity, but I also, you know, I saw the opportunity not just for business, but to really change the dynamic for small business owners. Because I think because of that customer experience and that journey, a lot of small business owners chose not to go down the path of exit. Um, which obviously, you know, there's so much money that could be that's left on the table just for that. From that one decision.

Do you have any stats on what percentage of entrepreneurs do exit, even if it's just once in their lifetime?

Yeah, so it's, it's not a really well backed stat. It's more of an estimated one. But it's estimated that only 13% of all business owners are able to sell their companies. So 87% end up closing their doors instead of exiting.

That's higher than I thought I was guessing around four or five.

Yeah, no, it's, it's actually, it is pretty, it is.

Thirteen is pretty good.

Yeah. Especially when you think about like versus entrepreneurs that are able to hit the million dollar mark. I think it's only like 4% or something like that. Right.

So, yeah, so 13, you're talking just under 6% of the market and they end up closing their doors. And what would you say, let's go back to when you sold your business and all that. Were they looking for 5, 5, 10 mil minimum to get their business to that point? Is that generally what the exit's around? And that's why they, you know. Why do you think most businesses can't exit?

Yeah, I think there's this misperception over who actually buys businesses in the marketplace. So most entrepreneurs and you know, I'd say some, some, some brokers and bankers that are, are more focused on this buyer group. But most entrepreneurs think that a competitor is going to buy their business or a private equity firm or investment fund is going to buy their business. And when you're looking at those buyers, they want like a million dollars in earnings, not even revenue. Like million dollars in earnings is what they're looking at. Sometimes they'll dip down to a half a million. But we're talking about like fairly large size small businesses to midsize businesses. So the perception from most entrepreneurs is that's that's the only group that buys businesses or the majority of business buyers. But the truth is that group represents probably about 20% or less of the marketplace. Most businesses are bought by individuals. So people like myself that were leaving corporate or laid off from a corporate job and instead of starting their own thing, what they want to do is, is they want to enter entrepreneurship by acquisition. And those people are looking for smaller businesses. Right. Because they're purchasing them out of their own personal savings. Their real thing is they want to buy themselves a career that's going to be stable, give them a good return on their investment, but also give them a career, a job, and that's 80% of the market. And I think if entrepreneurs and small business owners knew that, they'd be more inspired that yeah, my business is sellable because this group isn't going to be so focused on having, you know, multi millions of dollars in earnings. They actually just want a good income for, for their life and their family.

What would you say for most people that would, that good earning would be.

It really depends. Like. Right, because you're trying to predict what somebody needs to live. I will say that small businesses, very small businesses, sell all the time. So in. In the clients that we worked with in the last few years, the smallest transaction we did was probably 10,000 do in value. They go up to like 30 million. But, you know, I'd say right around a million in annual revenue is kind of the average size. And then if you look at this small business market as a whole, if you look at all the transactions done for small businesses across the US Biz by Sell, which is a very active marketplace, reports that the average business sells for just about $350,000.

Okay, so people. So I want to ask you about the people who are buying them, because I've actually seen ads quite a bit that's like, why start a business when you can buy one? I'm like, Well, I was 12, but I didn't even know this existed. But it makes sense now. What. What would you say are the businesses that get sold the most, bought the most? And who is buying them? Is it a doctor who has the money, you know, half a mil lying around, or. I would. It just sounds like it would be more of a corporate background that would have a million dollars lying around of their own money to be buying them.

Yeah. So first, I think unpacking, again, like, how businesses are financed is super important at first, because there's not. People don't just buy businesses for cash. Like, we don't buy houses for cash. Right. So there's a lot of lending programs available through the Small Business Administration, actually through the SBA that is much easier to access than startup loans. So through SBA loans, traditionally a buyer has to put down about 20% in order to purchase their business, and then they're able to get a loan for about 10 years. So if we're looking at that, you know, most of these buyers are putting a couple hundred thousand dollars down or less. Right. It's hard to say who want one specific type of buyer, because there's people from all walks of life, a lot of people are leaving corporate care from the business world, either in management or sales. You see a lot of those types of individuals trying to buy a business. But you'll also see people that have worked in a trade for their entire life, and now they want to control their. Their own company. So that could be a doctor, it could be a roofer, it could be a general contractor, and, yeah, those are great businesses. Yeah, and it spans the gamut. You know, we see college students come out of college and buy businesses, some finance by them themselves and their savings. Sometimes Their parents help them out. But it's.

It.

It's really hard to say, like, oh, this is, this is the typical buyer because it's so widespread and there's not one category that dominates over another. And then in terms of types of businesses sold, it's same thing. I mean, restaurants and retailers sell all the time consistently. They're a huge chunk of the marketplace. But, yeah, you can buy construction companies, trade companies, information technology companies. Anything and everything you can think of is available for sale.

Maybe one of each. Like Monopoly.

There you go. Exactly.

Okay. I didn't know if the market favored one over the other. And I think it's going to come down to the passion, too. If you have no idea what you're doing in XYZ category, maybe getting into that business might not be smart unless you're literally just investing in a portfolio going, I'm going to have people running this stuff. It's, you know, maybe it is just a line item to you or maybe a little bit more than that. But have you seen people do that where they're. They have no, I don't want to say no desire for the company, but it's not their background.

You see that more with the investment groups and the private equity structures. When we're talking about individual buyers. They want to be involved in these businesses, right?

They have some affinity to it, right?

Yeah, they have some affinity and they want to typically work in the business. They want to work to grow the business. So they have some passion around it, whether they've worked in that industry before. Before, or maybe they had a family background in that before they got into their career. They have some tie to the industry is why they're jumping into it.

Okay. I was just gonna say, even if it's loose, there is some tie to it.

Yes, exactly.

Who's been your biggest, funnest deal you've done?

I mean, biggest and funnest are two different. Right. So.

Okay, yeah, let's do both. One of each.

Yeah. So one of the more, I would say, rewarding transactions that we, we recently worked on. So we had a client come to us. She was in the medical spa world, and this was one where she was not passionate about this business. She was actually passionate about real estate and tried to jump on the med spa trend like everybody else. And so what we do with at exit factors, we help prepare people to get ready for the sale process. We don't actually take them through the sale process and by focusing on increasing valuation. So she came to us and she was not prepared for sale. There was just a lot going on the business that she didn't care to deal with because she wasn't passionate and involved in it. And we were able to help her over the course of nine months increase her value by about 80%. And same thing similar to my business. The day she hit the market with her broker, she had three different offers, bidding war, and she sold the business in 30 days.

Wow.

And just the relief from her, that conversation with her after the fact is like, oh my God, now I don't have to worry about the med spa and people not showing up and bill credit cards are planning. I could just go work on my real estate float projects. And I was like, yeah, that's just, that's now your life. And she was just so grateful and so relieved that that was off of her plate.

Yeah, I can imagine.

Yeah, the biggest one. So we, we worked with a medical device company, so they sold devices in operating room things like that. And that was our biggest increase in valuation. So it was a husband and wife owned company and they started the business together 20 years ago. Really became intertwined in the business. Right. So almost every decision ran across their desks. So it was very hard to facilitate a very high value sale for them as they were currently operating the business. And over the course of 18 months, we were able to help them step back and address some other issues that were going on in the business. And they were able to exit for 89% more than what they were originally valued at just 18 months later, which resulted in about an extra million dollars in their pocket.

Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. So another rewarding scenario. Yeah, that was their retirement. Right. Same thing. They didn't, they didn't plan to sell. They were actually planning to sell to internal buyers, their employees. But after, you know, having some conversations, the employees didn't want to buy the business, so. But they were very, very happy and still in contact with them. And I know they're enjoying their retirement, traveling often, spending time with their grandkids and just loving their life. Wow.

How rewarding.

Yeah, it is fun. And we, you know, there's just so many, there's so many heartwarming stories. You think when you get into this business that people are going to be focused on the numbers of their exits, like how much money are they going to make out of it? And what I found fascinating is through my career is that's, that's usually the last thing they're worried about. They're worried about what the transition is going to be like for their employees and their Customers what the legacy of the company is, you know, if it is money, how they're going to use that money to help people in the future. So you just, you meet so many fascinating people and you hear these stories that they're so passionate about the people that have gotten them to the points where they are. And it's not as much about the numbers as everyone thinks.

Yeah, I'm having some deja vu here. One of our author clients, Tim McNeely, his new book, Dental Wealth Nation, when we were helping him with that, he works with high level dentists and it was the same thing. I'm asking them like questions like I am with you. And he's like, these people really don't care about the money. They've got plenty of it. They want to leave their legacy. They want, it's like not verbatim, but very similar to what you're saying. It's like, how can I have this for the generations? And how can I have help, you know, local charities and do more? Like, I would say Anyone after over 50, 55, they're looking at, what do I do that for the second half of my life and pass it on? I mean, making 5 million a year, you're not like, oh man, I made an extra 100 grand. Like, you're not waking up for the money.

Yeah, yeah. And that's, I mean, very similar. It's, it's, it's like a charity project or it's you giving some bonuses back to their employees. Like I said, the people that got them there. It's maybe setting their kids and their grandkids and their great grandkids up for great schooling and things like that. That's what their passion is. It's not about the dollars and cents. It's more about what the dollars and cents can do for people.

Have you seen anyone exit their business to roll it over into a new one?

Yeah, that happens quite often. So sometimes you'll have someone sell to a buyer, a larger company, and they'll do what's called Rollo. They'll roll equity into the new company and be part of a larger conglomerate. We also see people that exit their businesses. And I always think, this is funny when I talk to an entrepreneur and they're like, I'm going to retire. And this, this varies based on 40 year olds, up to 70 year olds. And entrepreneurs have a very hard time with the concept of retiring. So oftentimes we'll see someone retire for a year or two years and then they come back, they're like, I think you're going to buy another business. And then once they're exposed to the transaction process, they're like, they are more, I'd say, more conducive to buying a business than restarting it, because they just went through that whole process and they're like, oh, I'm not going to start from scratch. I can just buy something that's existing. So we see those, those retired entrepreneurs come back after a couple years, too.

Yeah. And that, that must be nice too, because if you, if you're even thinking about it, you can go, hey, I want to start back up in six months from now. Then you get the ball rolling and maybe you could have something ready to go by the time you're ready.

Totally. Yeah. And that's something I recommend with our clients too, is have I say have something that you're running towards. Because the process of preparing for exit and the exit itself is actually, it's a lot of work and it's stressful and it's emotional. And if you're just focused on running away from your business and getting it off your plate, but you don't have something in aspiring that you're running towards, whether it's a charity project, a new business that you're starting, it can be a little bit of a slog to get through that process.

That's good advice, and I think that's applicable whether anyone's selling their business or not. You, you could take it down a notch and say, if you're working on a project that you're just trying to get through in your business and you're not excited about the next stage, it's like, yeah, that's. Anytime you're not excited about something, it's like, oh, great, get to do this again tomorrow, the next day, not fun.

That's actually a really good time to start thinking about selling the business is when the passion starts to die. It's just like, okay, if you don't have the energy to invest in it anymore, that's a good indication that you need to move on to something else that is more inspiring to you.

Yeah, I really have a low tolerance for that, whether it's projects, guest, whatever it is. I've told many people, I'm like, it's not, you know, they're applying to be on the show. We got a wait list. They're like, I. And it was right when I was starting the first six months. I was just like, why? Why don't I want them on? It's not that they're not Qualified. It's just that I don't like them. Yeah, there's a lot of people qualified, but it's like what are you like, everyone knows the type. I'll leave it at that. But so I want to ask you about if someone's thinking about exiting. One, how would they know if they're ready to exit? And two, if their business is in the point where it is sellable, what are the top three things you would say? All right, here's what you need to do before we're even considering about negotiating this, doing that.

Yeah. So in terms of timing, in my experience in the last 10 years, and I think we've over seen like 700 deals, 95% of those people couldn't predict the timing of when they're ready. And the reason is because it's not, it doesn't happen like a business plan. Right. You don't lay out this perfect exit plan and then it happens according to your timeline. It, it's more about what's going on in your personal life. So we're talking about entrepreneurs and small business owners here, right? Small to mid size. And our business is so much a part of our life and our life part of the business. That's what triggers the sale. It's a personal new opportunity. It's maybe a spouse having to move across the country for a new job. Burnout is the number one reason people sell. And those aren't items that you can predict. Right. You just wake up one day. Actually the reason I sold my first company, the wine store was because I was burnt out. And I woke up one day, I was like, I'm done, I just can't do this anymore. And we hear that from so many business owners. It's the number one reason, like I said, that people end up selling. And for that reason we, we recommend that you start preparing your business for sale before you think you need to. So you hear all these timelines of like, oh, start to three, three to five years out, all that, that's great if you know when that day is going to come. But if you start structuring your business like it could be sold any day from the very beginning ideally. But if not the beginning, like now start today, then when that day does hit, whether it's burnout, whether it's just you're presented with an unsolicited offer, an opportunity, you're ready to go and you're not taking a back seat in the negotiations, you're actually designed a company that's desirable and it's going to create competition around it.

I could totally see that playing out in a movie like, I've been waiting for you. And then you hand them a binder with like everything completely systematized. And.

What would you say are a couple things people should I have a few. Few on my mind. But what do you think are a few.

What do you think are the top things people should consider fixing now, whether they plan on selling or not?

Yeah. The first, there's three major mistakes I see business owners make that affect their sellability and their value. And the first is focusing on revenue over profitability. So valuation is super complex. We call it part art, part science. But ultimately values of all companies come down to how much money it earns, what the net profit is, what the EBITDA is.

I'm just gonna ask you that.

Yeah. Which is a, which is a function of net profit. So that's the number one issue that needs to be fixed in most businesses is the profit margins are not high enough to sustain the type of value that a business owner wants. They're more focused on growth at all cost than they are actually. What the ROI is in the business.

What should the profit mar? What's the minimal profit margin? Someone should have it if expectant to sell.

So that is very dependent on industry. Right. So if you're a general contractor and you're running a lot of expenses through the business and you have a really low gross profit margin, your net profit margin is going to be way different than a services company. So. And that's why we talked about this in a minute. But why I typically recommend is the first step is having an exit assessment done or evaluation of the company to understand what those metrics are for your industry at your size company. So that's the number one mistake I see. The second mistake I see is that the business is too dependent on the owner and not operating as a system. And we hear this a lot in business circles and consulting circles, but it's really, if you start to think about it, like when you sell the business, you're leaving, you're going away. Right. So if you're designing a business like our past clients I told you about the husband and wife, that every decision came across their desk. I mean, it's hard to sell a business. It's hard enough for you to take, even to take a week or two vacation. Right?

Yeah. When you're the decision maker, you are the business.

Yeah. Yeah. So putting somebody else in that seat that has your exact skill sets, your exact talents is very difficult. And then the last one, the last big mistake I see is not focusing on financials and record keeping a lot. And this is, you know, I think this is the bane of most entrepreneurs existence is they don't want to look at their financials and things like that. But when you go to sell your business, there's an inspection phase called due diligence. And that whole inspection phase is very reliant on your financials. Direct keeping the boring parts of the business that we all want to ignore and just hand off to our bookkeepers and our accountants. And if you don't have clean financials, you don't know your numbers, that really does affect whether or not the business can be sold.

So handing them a box of receipts probably isn't in your best interest.

Probably not. Look, there have been businesses that sell like that, that have shoe boxes of receipts. I can tell you some crazy stories of people like buyers sitting outside dry cleaners and just counting people that go in the doors. Like it can be done, but you don't get a whole lot of money for those companies. Right.

They're gonna have to ask for double the profit margin just for all the time they lost figuring it out.

Yeah, yeah.

I had a client years ago when we were solely marketing. It was. I don't even want to say what industry it was great. Guy in the bookkeeper was super nice, but I went to the meeting and everything, we're talking to him, you know, how do we increase business? All this stuff great. You know, we came up with great ideas, he wanted to execute. And I'm like, okay, we need to let. Because for marketing, if anyone doesn't know this, have a list and use it. So I go, where's your list? How many customers do you have? You know, how much can we talk to existing customers versus acquire new ones this and that. And he's like, I have no idea. I was like, don't you have an email? No. I go, do you have any record anywhere that we could pull the emails, phone numbers? Just. We need a starting point of data. And he's like, I'll be right back. And he came back and it was all he had. 30 years of customers. Like, all the receipts were printed out, but it wasn't digitized or it was written up. I mean. And I'm like, impressive. Like, you have a. I would estimate that in the thousands of customers. He's like, oh, yeah, at least. I go, you're going to love me, you're going to hate me. And I looked at her and I go, we need to digitize this in the next few weeks. And she was like, but they had the data. So for anyone listening, if you're really 1999 in it, like, get to 2000. At least computers exist now.

Yeah, yes, definitely.

So is there a hidden fourth one? You're given some good ones here, but what would you say the next thing is if there's a hidden fourth one that people trip up on? And I wholeheartedly agree with that at the, the recordkeeping. I can't tell you how many businesses we've talked to over the years where it's just like.

You have no idea what you're even. You know, you want to triple in size or quadruple in size, but you don't even know what your current size is like.

Yeah, yeah. I, I think the hidden fourth one is the entrepreneurs that tend to be more successful in their transactions are educated about the process they're about to go through. Right. So like you said at the top of the show, most people only go through this once in their lives. Right. And only 13% of entrepreneurs do. So none of us are experts in this area. So the entrepreneurs that do have the best exits, they educate themselves through books, programs, good advisors. They know that they're not going to be an expert in something they're only going to do once or twice in their lifetime. And, and that's a big difference because they know what the expectations are of them. They know, you know, what the company's worth, what a good offer is, what a bad offer is. And I, I don't see them. We'll call it blowing up deals over things that are completely normal in the negotiation of the sale of the business.

Mismanage expectations. Yeah, they get all emotional or they misunderstand something when really, you know, like if someone said, what's the EBITDA of the business? And they get offended by it. Like, why are you trying to steal data from me? Or something like.

Yeah, exactly. Which is a typical question. There's nothing confidential about ebitda, right? No business secrets you're giving away. But that is, that is something that uneducated sellers will sometimes freak out about. Right? And they'll say, why? Why are you trying to steal my confidential information? You're like, that's just the baseline of how we measure, you know, which category even to put you in, in terms of how we're going to market the business for sale. So.

That'S fantastic.

Why did you want to write your book? You clearly already have a successful business. You've had it for a While you are the expert.

Yeah.

Why did you want to do the book?

I one, I've always wanted to write a book. It's something I've wanted to do as a young child. And I was kind of thinking, I think I was just waiting for the right topic. But I get asked questions like we went over in this interview a lot, you know, like, you know, what's my business worth? How do I sell it? How do I get more for it? What? And people would ask me to coffee to pick my brain and things like that. And I was like, this is not something I can cover in a coffee meeting. Right.

And it's not the highest and best use of your time.

No. So. But going back to how I wanted business owners to have the best advice, the best experience, just like I wanted for my first sale. I wanted to put that all in an easily digestible format. So started keeping notes on the book about three years ago. Finally published it earlier this year in April. And that, that's my answer to the question of when people are like, how can I best prepare my business for sale? That's my long winded answer. About 150 pages long.

So.

Yeah. And it's great. And I, I like it with mine. And it's why we publish books for people. It's like if someone doesn't have 20 or 30 bucks, but they expect you to sit there for hours and hours and hours giving away thousands and tens of thousands of dollars worth of advice. Millions in your case.

I think it's that mismanage expectations. It's like, you know, what's that quote? Givers have to put limits because takers never do.

Oh yeah, I've never heard that before, but I like it.

It's some variation of that by someone smarter than me. But I'm like, oh, I can relate to that way too much, unfortunately. But yeah, it's a great way. And I'm glad you did. I have one other question before we thank our sponsor, but it's the wheel of whatever. Yellow or black?

Yellow.

Okay. Look at that. Just happened to stop on the one you wanted. Question for you. What's a business you haven't bought yet that you want to.

I've always wanted to own and operate a spa with my sister. And there's a specific kind of spa. So it's this old finish technique where you have heat exposure and then into cold dunks like Wim Hof style.

Okay.

And there's very few in the US Like I can count on one hand how many, but that's you know, if I. If I could hang out a spa all day and run it with my sister and. And do that.

Drink the wine from your first company.

Yeah, exactly. That. That would be. That's my retirement business. I think that's what I'll be looking at.

Excellent. That sounds fun.

Yeah.

All right, we're going to thank the sponsor and come back for the imperfect action round. You've heard me say every business needs a book, including yours. And it's true. And that's why I'm launching my new book@eapublishing method book.com so you can learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. But you know what? Don't take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lori, I went from having.

An idea and a possibility to actually getting my book published.

Or Catherine, thank you for making my mom number one best selling author. Or Mary Alice, what he got done.

For me in three days regarding my book launch.

Unmanageable John Cody. I've worked with Mario over the phone and online and he's been very helpful in getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books.

Rocio, there's no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else again. I've attempted it in the past. It didn't serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than anything. So this has been a very seamless process. Adele, if you're looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Ficini or Bill Benner.

I can't make a higher recommendation for me than to work with Mario Ficini. He has been great for me and right now I won't work with anybody.

Else except for Mario.

Hey, their words, not mine. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get your copy and I look forward to hearing your transformation as our next video success story. Once Again, that's EA publishingmethodbook.com and we are back with the imperfect action around. Jessica, are you ready to take imperfect action?

Yes.

First question for you. What's the fastest path to the cash?

Fastest path to the cash is to reduce your expenses by reviewing your P. Ls regularly on a quarterly basis.

Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it?

Biggest problem is delaying the important versus what's going on urgently in their business and they just need to make a decision.

Number three, what's the best way to Maximize customer lifetime value.

The best way to maximize customer lifetime value, which we already addressed is designing a really good customer service and experience journey.

Yeah, I like that you mentioned that.

We were talking about books during this and you know, I love them and you wrote one. What books would you recommend?

So one of one of my favorite books is called Traction. It's by Gino Wickman. So I, I love that book because a lot of the stuff we talked about systematizing your business, creating, you know, processes for your business, that's really addressed in that book and gives business owners a playbook. My other non business favorite book that I read every year at the beginning of the year is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. And it's just a really great reminder for me of, of, of gratitude and having gratitude in your life.

Excellent. Appreciate the recommendations. Where would you like people to learn more?

Yeah, thanks for asking. So we have a landing page we set up for the listeners. If you go to exit factor.com backslash podcast, there's a free downloadable and you can get in touch with us via email and social media there as well.

All right, well Jessica, thank you so much for sharing everything you have. Congrats on your book and business. It's been a pleasure.

Thank you so much.

All right, Expert Authority World. We have another great episode here today. I'll see you on the next one. Have a great day and God bless. You're already the expert, but have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate qualified leads while increasing profit for you 247 and if so, how well are you promoting it? With my new book, the Expert Authority Effect Publishing Method, I take you through my process step by step. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get started. Now. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.Com thanks for listening to today's episode. I would love to know what you enjoyed most from it if you haven't done so already. I invite you to connect with me on my new LinkedIn. You can go to it directly at eainterviews.com LinkedIn Once again, that's eainterviews.com LinkedIn lastly, check out the full eainterviews.com site for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you on the next one.