Poised for Exit

Building a People Focused Enterprise with Culture at the Top Today on #PoisedforExit we talked with Kyla Hansen and Andy Knutson , partners at JAK CPA's. They've done some impressive work in creating and sustaining a strong culture within their organization. Accounting isn't the most likely of industries to excel in this category, but JAK has it figured out.  They shared some intere...

Your Most Trusted Adviser is not Who you Think Our #PoisedforExit episode today featured Brian Adamek , Founder and wealth adviser for E Wealth Partners . E Wealth Partners works with business owners, especially when exit planning is in the mix.  Brian has a long history of helping owners achieve financial security through his advice and expertise. His background includes acquiring his exit planni...

Business Transition Planning: Are you Ready? MNCEO's online course! Today on #PoisedforExit we talked with Sue Crockett , Executive Director of the MNCEO , which is a non profit organization working to help business owners navigate employee ownership options through education and free resources. They recently launched a new program for owners that teaches them the basics of what transition pl...

How your CPA  is Your Most Trusted Adviser Today's episode of #PoisedforExit featured an interview with Andrew Knutson , partner and 4th generation successor of JA Knutson CPA's in Falcon Heights MN. JAK is a firm that specializes in working with owners of privately held companies and has done so for many years.  Andrew says that JAK has been a strategic partner for clients in numerous w...

Systematize Your Revenue Streams Through Digital Automation! In this episode of #Poised for Exit I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Theresa Ashby , Founder of Kaleidoscope Media Services . On top of running a successful firm, "Dr. T" is also an author, professional speaker, and podcast host. We talked today about how businesses today should strongly consider adding digital products and...

Pre Due Diligence Leads to the Best M & A Outcomes! This #PoisedforExit episode features a conversation today with KG Graminschi , Senior Associate with True North M & A .  We talked about how the work I do as an Exit Planner impacts an owner's exit outcome and how being prepared well in advance ensures that the owners will have more options and sell for a higher multiple !  KG says t...

Making Sense of Value Creation for Business Owners This #PoisedforExit episode featured Mariano Jurich , Product and Project Manager with Making Sense LLC .  Making Sense takes the ideas of founders and business executives of middle market companies and works to bring them to life. Through software programs, apps, digital optimization and other forms of technology , Making Sense is all about incre...

Minimizing the Payment to Uncle Sam when You Sell your Company Today's episode of #PoisedforExit featured Lance Madson , CPA and Tax Partner with Boulay. Lance got his start in tax and stayed there. Imagine his level of  expertise when working with business owners!  We started out talking about one of the basic quandary's owners face when selling their companies; should it be a stock sal...

Choosing and Preparing Your Successor This week's guest featured Heather Parbst, Director of Owner Transition Services with CliftonLarsonAllen. Heather has worked with family businesses in transition for several years and prior to that work was an entrepreneur with her own set of ownership issues. She's also educated in counseling and psychology, becoming an adviser and consultant that p...

Women-Owned Start-Up's Have a New Advocate! In today's #PoisedforExit show we featured Lucas Root, a Wallstreet M&A adviser turned entrepreneur. Lucas spends his time speaking, teaching and mentoring women entrepreneurs of startups and established businesses. His access to various types of capital and connections in the M&A world have been integral in getting this endeavor off th...

Lessons and Strategies from a Serial Entrepreneur Today on #PoisedforExit we featured Brian Slipka , CEO, founder and acquirer of numerous companies in various industries, with a common foundational thread: "help people and success will follow".  Brian's business philosophy, which permeates his entire life, was born out of watching his dad run his manufacturing company. Brian referr...

Making Sense of Long Term Care for Business Owners In #PoisedforExit today's episode we interviewed Stephanie Searle , industry expert in Long Term Care solutions . Stephanie has been in the financial services industry for many years, having started as a financial adviser and stock broker for Prudential and working there for a number of years, before going into Long Term Care.  She said the a...

Our #PoisedforExit show today featured Tim Olson , Business Development professional at Honour Capital . Tim's background in equipment sales uniquely positioned him as a great fit for the typical client at Honour Capital, a firm getting its start just after the pandemic hit, but whose growth has seen quite a trajectory!  Honour Capital's motto is " purpose driven capital ". Par...

Our guest today featured Henry DeVries, Publisher and Owner of Indie Books International. Henry's firm published my book "Poised for Exit" two years ago already.  Henry founded Indie Books after helping 50 people write their own book , finding it as a calling to continue the work. Fast forward, he's published 150 authors and helps each one "write the right book" .  Wr...

In today's episode we interviewed Scott Plum, Founder and President of MN Sales Institute . Scott is a two-time author, podcaster and sales training expert. He shared some really great advice today. According to Scott, sales people are assumptive people. They assume that the prospect has a problem, but what if they don't? Prospects want to maintain control , so trying to blast them with...

Our guest for this episode featured Nike Anani, Founder of African Family Firms , which is a non-profit community of family business owners of African descent from around the globe. Nike' got her start as a member of her own family's construction firm when she lived in Nigeria . Born there, but raised and educated in the UK , she went back to work in the family business with her father i...

In today's episode of #PoisedForExit featured Alec Broadfoot, CEO of Vision Spark , a consulting firm that specializes in selecting and placing leaders for strategic growth.  Alec's firm uses a proven process for helping his clients hire the right fit for their open leadership positions, using data, science and assessments to make smart decisions . Measuring things like business acumen,...

In our #PoisedForExit for episode today, we featured Jason Early, President of BizEquity , which is a software service that advisers use for valuing a privately held company . If Valuation has been on your mind, this episode is for you! BizEquity was founded to "democratize business valuation" for privately held companies who are not backed by Venture Capital or Private Equity . It is a...

Today's episode of #PoisedForExit featured Chris Steffl and Daniel Metcalf, partners at Cyberfin , a firm who offers complete Cybersecurity protection for small to middle market companies across the globe.  Chris comes from a c ommercial insurance background and saw a great need for Cybersecurity among his many insurance agency clients who were lacking proper protection from the dark web. Cyb...

In this, our 100th Episode of #PoisedForExit , we invited Lisa Meyer , adviser with Sunbelt to interview a client of hers, who's growth strategy has been to acquire other companies in his industry. He's got a system for that, and a strategy that works.  Jeff Rahn , President of On Time Service Pros began his career as an employee and he worked his way up, as they say. But, not without is...

Today's episode of #PoisedforExit featured Bruce Werner , author, private equity investor and family business advisor . Bruce and I met through our book publisher "Indie Books International" a couple years ago. Bruce recently published "Your Ownership Journey" that highlights his expertise in scaling your business during various stages of growth, ending the book with exit...

In this episode we interviewed the father and son team, John and Marc Sylvestre of Sylvestre Remodeling and Design, who shared some of their transition planning journey with us which started at the onset of the pandemic! Through many trials and unforeseen obstacles, they created a plan for John's eventual transition by bringing in Marc in a leadership position, working alongside John for the...

In this #poisedforexit episode, we caught up with Aleesha Webb , President of Village Bank . Aleesha has been on the show a couple of times in the past and always has great insight to share with you, our business owner audience, and this time was no exception.  Aleesha said that business acquisitions have slowed down from her perspective and that there seems to be less "blue sky" in deal...

Craig Siiro , CEO and Founder of Integrated Consulting Service s, got his start in the 1980's as a CPA working for a Tax and Audit firm . He spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs and learned that he really liked the advisory side of the business. Fast forward to 2010, when Craig launched Integrated Consulting Services or ICS , who provides fractional CFO work for owners of privately held com...

Today on #PoisedforExit , we caught up with Melissa Johnston , Co-Founder and Chief Credit Officer of EntreBank , a brand new community bank, located in the Twin Cities. When we last interviewed her, EntreBank did not have an official name yet and their founders were working through the approval process with the appropriate governing bodies, which she will tell you was quite grueling. But that was...