We look for the factors that we believe are necessary for them to achieve a successful acquisition. Many entrepreneurs want to get paid for their innovations. There’s a ton of legal services out there that are only too happy to sell them patents, trademarks, and copyrights. They’ll even put together licensing agreements and provide introductions. But from our experience, the way you make the most on your concept is to wrap it in a product, wrap the product in a business, wrap the business in a brand, and build your brand to the point that it attracts your acquirer.

It involves a lot of inglorious hard work and takes longer than you think. The sales cycle alone may be more than your budget can tolerate. But if you have what it takes, it’s doable! What does it take? Well, aside from persistence, excellent cash flow management, excellent personnel management, and excellent distribution management, it takes a certain kind of business.

We can’t help everybody. But everybody we help has to succeed. Our reputation is based on it. How do we mitigate our risk on the front end? How do we know when we are looking at a business that can benefit and will benefit from our advice? These are the requirements we look for in any new potential client.

Coachability

Simply, are they coachable? Will they take advice? Will they listen and apply? Are they willing to do what’s necessary even if it’s work they hadn’t planned on? Do they have respect for the experience being shared? Are they willing to work hard and long hours and make personal sacrifices? And lastly, the most important, do they take responsibility for their own actions and that of their business?

Scalability

Is their business scalable? Is there a product, service, or application that can be duplicated and achieve an increasing volume of sales? Is their product codifiable, mass-producible, and widely marketable? Does it satisfy a market-wide need or solve an unaddressed problem? Have they distinguished themselves with a product that has little or no competition?

Seasoning

Do they have some previous business experience? Do they have experience with their own product or market? Have they either achieved a breakeven or positive cash flow yet? Do they have at least some customers? Have they learned about what changes their product needs to be more acceptable to the market? Do they understand the value of sales overproduction?

Auto-Pilot

Can their business ever run without them? Are they willing to delegate? Do they know what they are good at and what they are not? Are they willing to admit it? Have they ever considered replacing themselves? Are they writing down everything including job descriptions, policies, procedures, checklists, and sign off sheets? When they make a mistake, do they learn from it and improve their documents to make a reoccurrence less likely?

Acquirability

Are they in business for the expressed purpose of eventually selling their business? Do they know who the top 5 potential acquirers are in their field? Do they know how big they have to be to pique the interest of an acquirer? Have they researched the metrics necessary to achieve before they would be considered as an acquisition target? Can they ultimately part with their business? Do they want to sell in 2-5 years (even if it takes 10)? Will they make the strategic moves to get the attention of an acquirer?

If they have something that improves their industry or makes the world a better place, if they can answer yes to most of these questions, and if we have good chemistry, then we can make a big difference, save them tons of money and time, and relieve a lot of the fear of the unknown. We want to use our experience to help others succeed faster!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post The 5 Requirements We Look For in a New Client appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

When we ask, “Why,” we usually get answers like, “Well, to get rich, of course!” or “It’s always been my passion” or even, “I’ve always wanted to be my own boss”. Yet none of these popular answers really address the only three practical reasons why you can be in business: You can create a job for yourself; you can start a legacy; or you can build a brand and monetize its brand equity.

If you create a job for yourself, your “paycheck” is only as good as your time “on the clock.” If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. Sure, you can hire people to work for you to keep the business going in your absence, but this type of business is limited to trading time for dollars. You may build up some equity which someone may pay you for. But essentially, you have created a business that is operating on daily income and profits, with no long-term plan to monetize the brand equity through a sale or merger.

People who choose this kind of business usually tell us they are following their passion and well they should. But many also say they never want to sell and act like they can go on forever. If and when they do decide to sell, it’s usually because they have to due to age or health, or they finally tire of the work. Selling for them is an afterthought to achieving a business that expresses their passion.

The other group that “has no intention of ever selling” are the folks who think they are starting a legacy. Their plan involves their kids becoming vested in their business and wanting to continue their legacy.  This is a wonderful way to include your family’s future in your business. But only a small percentage of planned legacy businesses succeed beyond the first generation.

The last group, in which we count ourselves, is interested in monetizing their brand equity. They want to use their ideas, concepts, and products to build a viable business that attracts an acquirer. They take acquisition of their business very seriously.

These are the people we can help the most. These are the kinds of businesses that are designed from the get-go to have all the hallmarks of an acquisition target. They grow into something saleable. They can run without the owner. And they are set up from day one to satisfy their acquirer’s due diligence.

One of the guiding principles of the Barefoot Spirit approach to doing business is to ask yourself why you are in business in the first place. If your answer is to build and monetize your brand equity, then you must assemble a short list of who would want to buy your company, why and when. You must organize your books, records, and reports to reflect your acquirer’s due diligence. You must reinvest your “profits” into expansion. And you must determine how, when, and where you expand to get your peanut in front of the elephant. We share what we learned about this fine art in our Guiding Principles for Success.

We’ve been through it, from ideation to monetization. These are just some of the business decisions that become heavily influenced by your early decision to eventually sell. if monetizing your brand equity is why you are going into business, we can help!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Why Are You Going into Business? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Today we are constantly bombarded with stories of the new business that launched this week. There’s the press release, the launch, launch party, and even the launch lunch! Seems like everyone in the startup world is always celebrating. We don’t know why. Their concept has yet to be proven. The market has yet to accept them. They are a long way from positive cash flow. And their crew (staff) has yet to prove themselves seaworthy. The business plan is about ready to be scrapped for the cash flow plan. And no acquirer is in sight. What lie ahead are uncharted waters with many perils waiting to make themselves known. What’s all the celebrating about?

Are they celebrating the fact that they raised the capital to open the doors and stay open for a quarter or a year? This is a temporary fix. Sooner or later businesses must make more than it costs them to stay in business.  Are they celebrating the creation of a business that promises to change the world? Promises are not bankable.

So what is the sober approach to a launch? We think apprehension, humility, and down right fear are some good starters. We think understanding the basic navigational skills are essential. We think starting small with a careful shake down cruise to knock out the bugs is crucial. Here’s our short list of business navigational questions that beg to be answered.

1. The Port. Why are you launching this business? Do you want to create a certain lifestyle? Do you want to build a legacy? Or do you want to monetize on your brand equity? If it’s monetization, who are the 3-5 potential acquirers and why do they want your business? How big does it have to be before you become an acquisition target? And how long will it take you to get there? This is the port your Entrepreneur Ship is headed for. You won’t do a good job of navigation until you know your destination. Where are you now and where are you going?

2. The Currents. What’s going on with the market? What are the trends in your space? Can you overcome the pushback from the gatekeepers? Are you agile enough to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves? Can you change course quickly to avoid disaster and can you recognize favorable alternatives and have them buoy you along? Can you stay the course when you own staff begins to doubt you? Do you have a map and do you know how to get though the obstacles?

3. The Captaincy. Can you choose the right crew? Can you orient them, train them and inspire them? Can you engage and empower them to be their best? Can you create a team that can pull together to get through the rough seas ahead? Can you “sell” your decisions to your own people? What about your vendors? Are they strategic allies? Will they watch your back? Are you willing to learn, improve, and not make the same mistake twice? Are you a leader? Can you make the tough decisions? When you have a bold new idea, will you be able to captain your shipmates, or will they move towards mutiny?

The answer to these questions and much more are waiting for you, not in the classroom, but in the board room. They are not coming to you from a professor, but from seasoned, and successful business navigators who have actually done it. We have experienced firsthand what you are about to. You can learn by our mistakes, see them coming on your own horizon, and successfully navigate around them. It cost us plenty, but it can save you time and money. Before you launch your entrepreneur ship, get the admiralty skill and experience to bring you safely to port from folks who have successfully navigated the rough waters. Don’t wind up like one of the ships in the Spanish Armada!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Preoccupation with the Launch Can Sink Your Entrepreneur Ship appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey of Barefoot Wine have spent 20 years building the famous brand that has done over a quarter of a billion dollars in sales for the last five years. Since selling their company to E&J Gallo, they have focused on helping millennials build and monetize their brand equity.

Read more…

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Do These 5 Things To Turn Your Company Into A Massive Success appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.