At some point in a business owners life there comes a time to make the decision to sell the company. We discuss how and when to recognize that this might be the time and to act on it. The best way to understand this is to plan for the eventual sale of a business, understand how much the business might be worth, evaluate whether that amount supplies the assets necessary to complete your retirement plan and start to formulate a spending program for post retirement. It is seriously important to invest carefully, conservatively and with a protection of assets mentality in order to successfully navigate this next chapter in your financial life.

This podcast explains why using a personal assessment tool as sophisticated and easy to use and the Predictive Index can be helpful to business owners in hiring employees and understanding their talents and abilities helps you to put them in a position to be successful within your business. It also is valuable in understanding who they are and how to manage them so that both the employer and the employee are happy, productive and successful in their relationship.

We finally get to the point where we can discuss the actual structure of a portfolio after taking into account the other topics covered with Mr Fee. Long term financial planning, the personal side of the issue, perfect planning with Pension TRAC™, behavioral economics, selling a business and risk tolerance and investing. Tom shows us how to take, risk, tolerance, time factor by category of monies, investment goals, complexity of investment options and diversification into account in building a portfolio

We discuss the basics of taxable entities including sole proprietorships, corporations (C and S), partnerships and limited liability entities. We cover the manner in which the taxation of these various types of entities affect the owners and the non tax considerations that may play a role in the decision on which type of entity to choose when setting up a new business. This is a must listen for new businesses.

This podcast describes a financial analysis and planning tool that Mr Fee has created that allows you to understand your financial life better than you can imagine. This tool starts with the collection of data such as IRA’s, 401K’s, social security, investment funds available, real estate and all other assets that you own or expect to own during your working career. Mr Fee then conducts an interview to understand at what age you might want to retire, sell certain assets, collect on pensions and social security and inputs all of this data into the PensionTRAC tool. Once this process is complete you are able to use the information to project the amount of passive income that will be available at certain ages and divide up your assets into categories with differing life spans.

It is easy to understand why most families would want to keep a vacation property in the family for the use of future generations after years of wonderful memories. It is harder to understand the potential problems that might arise when the founding generation is no longer able to take care of the property. We discuss many of the problems that might come up for succeeding generations including maintenance issues, payment of bills and real estate taxes, scheduling issues, ownership of the property and estate planning options. There are some great suggestions here for dealing with these issues and more in order to have the opportunity to enjoy the property for some time to come.

One of the most important parts to the commercial real estate transaction takes place during the due diligence phase. In this podcast, Stan explains all the important things to consider during this phase.

In this podcast, Mr Lyons tells us how to determine the right time to sell and how to go about it. He discusses the team, confidentiality, the sale process and how to get a transaction closed in a manner that minimizes the taxes and results in a deal that is fair to the seller and to the buyer.

Mr Palmer shares his insights into the world of negotiations. He walks us through the steps of negotiation and how to leverage every step to your advantage. He explains due diligence and how the negotiation becomes a process rather than an event. His main point to remember is that everything is open to negotiation. Serious investors will gain important insights with this podcast from Stan Palmer.

In this podcast, Mr Barr tells us how to protect you credit. We also discuss how to fix your credit report in the event there is a mistake on it and how to communicate with creditors who have filed reports on your payment history. We cover how to deal with lenders if there is a problem on the horizon and how to re-establish your credit in the event of a bankruptcy.

In this podcast Sheila Ronning tells us how she has developed the idea of staging networking events for business people to attend to meet and get to know other business people in the Twin Cities. The entry fee to the event is a business card and if you want to you can rent a space to display your business to the visitors. She has approximately 450 people attend each of five annual events. She has also started a Leadership lunch series that is held quarterly and features a speaker to help develop the leaders of the future.

Happy Thanksgiving

In this podcast, Mr. Palmer explains the advantages of commercial versus residential real estate investments. He shares his insights gained over many years as both an investor and a broker. He also gives advice for those considering real estate investment and his thoughts on how to get started, how to manage the properties and how to leverage real estate investments.

How a payroll service company can make keeping up with ever changing federal & state requirements for payroll and unemployment an easy issue. Assistance with federal & state new hire reporting and social security number verification. SAS 70 internal controls and insurance & bonding of payroll service companies. Access to HR assistance and fraud protection issues.

Support Our Troops

In this podcast, Mary Rothchild and Joe Mulford from MN State Colleges and Universities tell us about programs available at campuses all over the state of MN that are available to help businesses maintain a skilled workforce. This is done in conjunction with their customized training and continuing education departments. These are not canned programs, but are customized to help businesses with all types of issues from training programs to helping businesses ramp up for new business opportunities.

In this podcast we learn how tough economic times and unexpected decreases in asset values can and do create problems for business owners. Problem loans, unanticipated situations, theft, poor management practices, decreases in sales can all lead to cash flow problems and defaults. These issues are best handled within a very organized business that anticipated future problems when originally drafting the corporate documents to provide the systems to resolve problems. We discuss this and more in this podcast.

This podcast discusses the ways to achieve efficiencies with your payroll service company. Customizing the input utilizing the maximum amount of technology a business is comfortable with. Considering an all paperless payroll using electronic reporting, employee online self view and debit cards or direct deposit. Data integration with 401K plans, HRA’s, workers compensation and banking issues.

Chad explains the potential liability exposure that can hurt a business if something bad happens and there is no coverage. Errors & Omissions is a type of exposure that is not typically covered under your general liability insurance. We usually think of E & O coverage as something that Doctors, attorneys and accountants need to have. However is a coverage that all businesses should contemplate such as a trade business: contractor, plumber, electrician or HVAC firm in the instance of participating in the design of a system that ends up not functioning properly and leading to litigation. It should be considered by all businesses as he explains in this podcast.

John Cameron helps us understand business governance and dispute issues that can come up in the operation of a business. The type of entity, hierarch of positions, i.e., shareholders, directors and management of a business and how they are empowered to act on behalf of a business organization. The need for good corporate record keeping including minute book, resolutions and authorizations to take actions. He also covers the process for raising and resolving concerns and disputes between owners and managers of a business.

Jeff W Jiang leads the China Strategies Consulting Group at his firm and is a native of China. His practice helps introduce business owners to China via seminars, organized trips to China and in helping them utilize his network of contacts in China to locate suitable partners to do business there. He tells us about the China economy and how to avoid problems doing business half the world away.

Workers compensation insurance is administered on a state by state basis and has generally been enacted across the USA since 1949. This podcast explains how the premium is calculated using gross payroll, employee classifications and claims history. We discuss in detail how loss prevention techniques like drug testing, safety training, plant conditions, return to work plans and generally operating a safe business environment can help control the costs of workers compensation insurance.

This podcast discussed the change from producing active income to passive income in the transition from work to retirement. It goes into detail to examine the amount of risk that can be tolerated in terms of the amount of time the various blocks of money can be invested. For instance, money needed in the short term must be invested much more conservatively than money the is allocated for legacy issues for heirs. By carefully examining the nature of assets and breaking them into time sensitive categories it is much easier to choose appropriate investment options and the amount of risk that can be tolerated.

If a business owner is interested in rewarding key employees with various types of “golden handcuffs” to incent them to stay with the company, it is essential to do it carefully to avoid the problems that can result due to Section 409A rules established by Congress in 2004. When contemplating the use of phantom stock, bonus deferral plans and other incentive plans you need to be aware of the rules contained in 409A. If not done correctly there are large penalties that can be assessed and the plans can be reversed and taxed in prior years.

This podcast is a discussion of Intellectual Property Rights. These include a general discussion of patents, what they are used for, the rights they include, how to obtain them and the cost of doing so. We also cover trademarks, what they are, why they can be important, how to use them and the cost of obtaining them. We also cover copyrights and trade secrets so that the business owner has a good idea of how they work.

Description

Description

In this podcast, Mr Cameron tells us that business litigation is a last resort to solving problems between businesses, vendors, customers and lenders. There are many ways to try to resolve disputes prior to engaging in litigation and we discuss many of them here. We then review the possible venues for litigation, how long it might take and the possible costs of entering into a law suit. This is a refreshing discussion of the actual cost of and possible outcomes of litigation that can be helpful in contemplating how to resolve business issues with the help of your attorney.

Description

Mr Kralick is the director of search engine marketing for FirstScribe. In this podcast Mr Kralick pulls together the web site design and use to ensure that the search engines can find your business web site when potential clients are looking for your product or service. It is essential to understand how the search engines operate in order to have your web site come up first at each search. It is also important to utilize the best available analytics to understand who is coming to your site and what they are responding to so that you have an idea of what needs to be improved in order to have an opportunity for a sale.

In this podcast Mr Perrill describes for us how the use of a web site has changed over the years. We see how deliberate the construction of the web site is tied directly to the clients that we want to connect with. Utilization of key words and correctly building each part of the site along with links, pages and content all have an impact on the success of the site.

At about the same time the internet was getting started Mr Perrill founded and started his firm. Over the last 18+ years his firm has evolved just as the internet has and he has gone from making web sites to understanding how to use the internet as a source for new business for his firm and his clients. He gives us an overview of how to effectively create a web site, attract traffic, optimize web sites and analyze its use.

Lee Skaalrud and Pat Berg tell us about their SkillSoft training services. SkillSoft consists of online college-level and general business courses that can be taken from your desktop computer. Businesses can use this for employee retention, cross training, to help attract new hires and for career advancement purposes. This helps with certifications, continuing education, workforce development, legal compliance issues and can help to achieve business goals, workplace efficiency, interpersonal skills and time management purposes.

This is a discussion of the role of an attorney in the sale of a business. We go over the process from beginning to end including: letter of intent, purchase agreement, warranties and representations, loan documents, consulting and non-compete agreements. We also discuss what is involved in a properly executed due diligence process. This podcast will give you a good general idea of what will be involved in the sale or acquisition of a business.

In this podcast we review the laws regarding layoffs, furloughs and terminations that apply to business owners. We discuss the “at will doctrine” of employment and how to ensure that you are not in violation of discrimination, whistle blower or retaliation rules which may apply. Mr Cameron shows us how to be fair and honest making transparent decisions and how to document the file so that everything is handled properly. In tough economic times we sometimes have to let people go in order to save the business and there is a proper way to do so and limit the repercussions of these unfortunate events.

In this podcast Mr Poole tells us a bit of the history of the JJ Hill Business Reference Library. We cover the how the library was started 80 years ago and how it has been used in this community to help businesses ever since. We learn about the HillSearch tool as a way for business to access research databases and librarians through the internet. This information can be accessed in the library or on your desktop computers and is a valuable resource. We also discuss the fantastic building that houses the library and why it is one of our favorite places in the Twin Cities.

Description

In this podcast Pat Berg discusses the process of executive coaching to enable supervisors to have the ability to successfully work with teams to achieve the business goals they are tasked with. We also discuss how roles have changed today with two couple working families and the pressures we all have on us to perform in a fast moving society. Ms Berg also tells us about some upcoming initiatives with the College of St Catherine’s.

Durwin A Long, Ph.D. leads the development and delivery of executive and professional development programs at the University of St Thomas. These programs build the leadership capacity of individuals and the organizations they serve. In this podcast we discover that thousands of participants benefit from more than 200 programs offered thru the Opus College of Business.

Description

In this podcast we discuss today’s professional approach to executive transitions and outplacement. This includes updating resumes, career coaching, using technology to research possible positions, temporary office use, networking and developing useful interview skills. Lee Skaalrud shows us how to engage and find the next position in your career using all of the tools available today.

Description

Description

In this podcast Mr Lyons tells us about the process of planning and preparing for the eventual sale of a business. He discusses the importance of contemplating retirement and the amount of passive income necessary to have a long and fulfilling retirement which will involve financial planning, risk assessment and careful investing with a protection of assets mentality in order to protect your net worth. He also discussed estate planning, preparing the business for sale, the process of selling a business and how to put together a team of advisors to help you along the way. All of this is a brief overview of the process which is formally presented in his book: Exit $trategy: Maximizing The Value of Your Business.