Poised for Exit

Let’s Talk Culture with Super Bowl Champion and Chief Culture Officer, Ben Utecht In this #PoisedforExit episode I had the distinct honor of interviewing Ben Utecht , who’s not only a Super Bowl Champion with the Indianapolis Colts, but also a winner of the Tony Dungy Award for Servant Leadership and now works as Chief Culture Officer for several mid-size firms, including my sponsor, Sunbelt Busin...

Comparing the Deal Market: Today vs a Year Ago We had the pleasure of talking with Dave Pederson in this #PoisedforExit episode, who is a partner with Dunlap Seeger Law Firm in Rochester, MN.  Dave's background in business finance and law brought him to a place where structuring deals was part of his job when working for a large commercial lender in Chicago. Fast forward to today, he's b...

A 43-yr-old Startup! When 'Exit' Takes a 180 Turn On this episode of #PoisedforExit , we featured the founder and president of National Theatre for Children , who happen to be former clients of mine and friends as well. Ward Eames , Founder of NTC and Pat Rowan , President of NTC shared the story of how NTC came to be and how they were able to so nimbly pivot after the onset of the pande...

When is it Time to Explore ‘What’s Next'? Today's episode featured Josh Bobich , partner with Best & Flanagan Law in Minneapolis, and supporters of the 2nd Edition of Poised for Exit ! We focused our conversation on what Josh is seeing come across his desk in today's market and on the Resource he created for our Poised for Exit readers and listeners that can be accessed for down...

In this episode, Julie was interviewed by her producer, Bob Sansevere and announced the launch of the 2nd edition of " Poised for Exit "! So much has happened since the book first came out in May of 2020! In the 2nd Edition there are new legal resources   for business owners from the Best & Flanagan Law Firm and Dunlap Seeger . Both firms will be featured guests on the show in upcomi...

New Tequila Coming to Town! Back in December of 2020, we featured Nicole Anthony on the show to tell us about her start up " COYABLU Premium Tequila Cocktails ".  Today, we caught up with her and one of her equity partners, Nicki Vincent . They've made quite the leap in progress over the past 15 months, despite setbacks from the pandemic and the supply chain! COYABLU is hard at work...

Proactively Take Control of your Future Exit On today’s episode of #PoisedforExit, we interviewed my long-time colleague, Dyanne Ross Hanson on this episode of Poised for Exit. Dyanne is a CEPA like me and specializes in working with families looking to transfer to other family members or employees. She has a process that is worth learning! Dyanne's mission as an adviser is to monetize an own...

Better HR Delivers Better Business Results Our #PoisedforExit guests today featured JB Lloyd and Jill Petschl of Oasis . With the abounding matters that business owners deal with everyday, HR matters are at the top of the list. Oasis publishes an annual survey of business owner responses to various questions about owning and operating in today's business environment. In this way, they keep a...

I Didn't Think My Business Was Sellable Today's episode on #PoisedforExit is a special interview between Brad Peterson of Sunbelt Business Advisors and his clients, Janet and Keith McCarty , who recently sold their business called " Virtual Bookkeeping ".  As Janet put it, " we didn't think our business was sellable !" Being a professional services company, their...

Your Price is Too Low Today's #PoisedforExit episode featured pricing expert, radio host and speaker, John Ray . John's expertise in how to price your services is far reaching, and we only touched on the tip of the iceberg with this episode, but you're sure to glean some valuable nuggets from this interview just the same! He says most professionals price their services too low . The...

Chief Stripe Changer Talks about Finding your Fire! Today on #PoisedforExit we interviewed Cat Breet , Chief Stripe Changer, whose mission is to help people get more freedom, fun and money out of work! Cat's work brings her into Board rooms, executive offices and group coaching sessions where she works to help her clients " find their fire ". Too many people are living their lives u...

Next Generation of Manufacturing: Challenges to Transition Our guest for this #PoisedforExit episode has a long history in manufacturing, as an owner and now as the President of Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association . Steve Kalina and I had a great conversation about what his organization specifically does to help manufacturer's grow, educate their teams, retain talent and plan for tr...

Extreme Focus: Benchmarks over Goals On this #PoisedforExit episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark LeBlanc and it's loaded with nuggets of wisdom and action steps! Mark is a national speaker and author. He also consults for professional sales people. He's had many years to perfect his process for his clients and his presentations are more than impactful. Can you tell I'm a...

The Business of Robots: Coming to an Industry Near You! On this episode of #PoisedforExit , we spoke with two partners at Durabotics , Ron Jost and Tim Hedlund who are expanding the robot systems they manufacture to new industries. Their primary focus has been industrial robotics , and it will remain as such, however they're breaking new ground with the medical and hospitality industry ! Imag...

Build a Sustainable Business by Putting Yourself Out of Job Our guest in this #PoisedforExit episode featured Leslie Holman , CEO of Pinnacle Performance Group . Leslie bought Pinnacle in 2012 and has since expanded into providing services that help owners execute their growth strategies .  Leslie comes from a background in consulting and in Private Equity, which truly set her up for building the...

In this #PoisedforExit episode, we met with someone who has found great success in owning a number of different franchises and living a life he loves at the same time.   Ben Cowan , owner and CEO of 360 Wow Inc ., is not stranger to owning a business and his big success strategy is happiness.   Ben owns several 1-800-Got-Junk franchises, along with other franchise labels such as Shack Shine and Yo...

How to become Poised for Exit in 2022: Advice from a CPA We welcomed back Kyla Hansen today as our featured guest to talk about planning for 2022!  So much to consider in that loaded topic, but we focused on budgets, projections and what to do with excess cash from PPP funds.  Kyla recommended investing in your business in several ways: * Technology : how can you become more efficient and producti...

Our show guest featured Sam Eicher , partner with CRE Partners . A firm specializing in commercial real estate representation for buyers and tenants. Sometimes business owners aren't sure if they should lease, buy or move on when it comes to location and expansion decisions. Sam shared some great advice and stories of what he's seeing in the market today, as well as what his crystal ball...

Our #PoisedforExit episode today featured the host of Poised for Exit, Julie Keyes !  Interviewed by Bob Sansevere, Julie highlighted her picks for 2021's best interviews. Among the most notable: Wahi Water's Peter and Sam Blankenship, Manufacturer's Alliance President, Kirby Sneen, HR Consultant Amy Crews and many more.  What's she up to in 2022? Well, Julie's online cour...

What do we Need in 2022? Leaders & Problem Solvers! I had the privilege of interviewing Kirby Sneen in this #PoisedforExit episode, who is the president of Manufacturer's Alliance in the Twin Cities. Kirby leads a large membership of manufacturing firms with various specialties who seek to develop and grow their companies and their next generation of leadership .  To that end, Manufacture...

Our show today featured Sandy Hansen Wolff , founder and owner of several companies, including a consulting and speaking firm.  Sandy shared the story of how she and her husband, Randy battled his Leukemia just after they got married. Randy owned a feed business that Sandy knew nothing about, but after his passing, she had to learn it, turn it around and all while grieving the loss of her husband....

What if Your Top Sales Person Became Disabled from COVID? This episode featured Dave Toeben , Founder and Owner of Insight Insurance Services .  Dave's firm specializes in coverage for business owners , their partners and key personnel. If there's one thing that's caused his phone to ring lately, it's the onslaught of COVID cases creating disability situations for his clients....

Business Owners and Divorce: A Valuation Conversation. Our guest today on #PoisedforExit featured Corey O'Connell , CPA and Business Valuation specialist at Boulay Group . Corey helps owners of businesses determine Fair Market Value of their companies in dispute and divorce situations . Corey's background in Finance and Accounting suited him well for doing this kind of work, and he becam...

This #PoisedforExit episode featured part two of our series with guest interviewers from Sunbelt Business Advisors ! Today's interviewer was Mike Slater , a long time M & A adviser and former business owner, who specializes in the hospitality industry. Mike interviewed his client, Jim Armstrong , who sold  his numerous Subway restaurants over the course of 3 years, with Mike's expert...

Poised for Exit produced a special edition show and  invited Randy Krivo of Sunbelt Business Advisors to be a guest interviewer and feature a client of his who successfully sold her business during COVID!   Amy Frischmann and her brother Dan, took over the Wild Mountain Ski Resort from their parents in 1995, who bought the business in 1972. Amy and Dan sold the business to an owner operator in Mar...