When Scott Raymond started buying real estate, he looked for a property management company to maintain his buildings. He couldn't find anyone to care as much as he did, so Raymond decided to start his own property management business. Despite falling into the business accidentally, Raymond built his property management company to 25 employees and $2 [...]
Wes Winham was a co-founder and shareholder in PolicyStat, a software company that helps hospitals keep track of their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including everything from dress codes to how to handle life and death procedures. The platform was sticky with more than 99.9% of contracts renewing each year, which is why PolicyStat was quick to [...]
As we enter the 21st century’s third decade, it’s fun to look back on the companies that have stood the test of time. Despite a few well-financed chicken-focused start-ups, mounting pressure to reduce our dependence on meat, and our growing addiction to fancy coffee, McDonald’s has managed to thrive. This year McDonald’s is celebrating its 80th [...]
Marc-Andre Seguin launched JazzGuitarLessons.net in 2009 to share his knowledge as a guitar teacher. Seguin started by offering YouTube videos and PDFs but soon realized his content could be stickier and more profitable if he transformed his business into a subscription-based company (which was strikingly uncommon in his industry). In this episode of Built to Sell [...]
Dr. David Bach is a Harvard-trained scientist, physician, and serial entrepreneur. Bach has founded and built three healthcare companies, each of which grew to over $100 million in value. His most recent exit was from Leprechaun LLC which became the fastest-growing company in America before it was acquired delivering a 90X return for his shareholders. What [...]
Zain Hasan started an insurance agency called National Insurance Consulting Group (NICG), in 2014. By 2019, Hasan had built NICG to more than $2 million in revenue, earning him a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies. Hasan figured his company was worth between 6-8 times Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization [...]
Jean-Eric Plamondon was in the scrap metal business where the stereotypical operator is a shady character buying metal by the ton with a blow torch in one hand and a wad of cash in the other. Plamondon decided he wanted to do scrap metal differently and discovered farmers were keen to clean up their land. Plamondon [...]
If you find yourself in a position where your customers always insist on speaking with you directly instead of your employees, then you might want to consider shifting your structure so you can improve the value of your business. Here's why: a business that can thrive without the owner at the center of all its operations [...]
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey built Barefoot Cellars to sales of more than 600,000 cases of wine per year when they got the attention of E&J Gallo, America’s largest winemaker. Gallo was impressed with how quickly a $7 bottle of Barefoot moved off retailers’ shelves and were intrigued by Barefoot’s use of grassroots sponsorship to grow [...]
Upon selling your business, the benefits of a successful sale most likely out-weigh any downsides. After closing, you should have a nice financial windfall to pad your bank account, less stress, and more leisure time to travel or spend time with family, for example. I sold my conference and event company in 2012. In the seven [...]
