Ultimately, your ability to get top dollar for your company may depend on your ability to create an employee incentive plan that will motivate and keep good management. An important characteristic of any successful incentive plan is that key employees earn the incentive bonus based on a performance standard that, when attained, increases the value [...]

One constant of successful companies is a stable, motivated management team. This quality not only contributes to corporate success, it is also key to increasing the value of your business and your successful business exit.
Should you decide to sell your business to a third party, you’ll discover that potential buyers place significant value on the [...]

Stan Briggs was perplexed and that’s why he told his advisor, “My son, Patrick, has worked in the business for the last twelve years. In that time, the business has tripled its revenues and its profits. I’ve started to think about scaling back my activity and I realize how important it is (for my own [...]

We have all heard the old proverb that it’s dangerous to put all of your eggs in one basket.” But does the proverb apply in the world of business ownership? Specifically, is it a valid warning or just a worn-out cliché? It seems to make good sense to concentrate all of your business effort and [...]

Many, probably most, business owners would like to sell their businesses to their employees, but for one nagging problem: Their employees have no money. The desire to sell out to employees collides with the overarching need for financial security. Owners simply cannot risk selling a business to employees who have no cash.
Take James Johnson, owner [...]

Previously I outlined the four characteristics of a successful Employee Incentive Plan. Namely, such plans should:

Be specific, not arbitrary, and be in writing;
Be tied to performance standards;
Make substantial bonuses; and
Handcuff the key employee to the business.

Here I will focus on the last characteristic; handcuffing the key employees to the business. The goal of the handcuff [...]

Too often, owners discover that the compensation plans they’ve put in place for key employees are sadly inadequate only when those key employees leave their companies for greener pastures. The departure of one or more of these key employees can not only complicate your daily business life, but it can slam shut the door on [...]