the end game » running

Marathons and Exit Planning – A Different Approach

Michael Oleksak — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:45:23 +0000

While you read the above, you were probably thinking “that’s fine, but a marathon is over after 26 miles and 385 yards, but a business doesn’t have a finish line.” A common reaction, but it’s wrong.

That’s what exit strategy planning is all about; it’s creating a finish line for your business. If you are raising venture capital for a start-up, you know the investors are going to want to know how and when they are going to cash out, whether by merger or IPO. Every owner should have an exit strategy, if simply for their own sanity. “I’ll do this for five years, then evaluate”…”I’ll prepare my business to be sold to a competitor in seven years”…”I’ll pass it on to my children after they get out of college”…”I’ll sell to my management team”…by developing a plan you will aim your business in that very direction.

Of course, these days many owners are just looking to survive. Their banks are more demanding, their customers are paying more slowly, their suppliers are hounding them for payments. It is hard to focus on the future, the finish line, when you can’t see past this week. But without an exit plan in place, the decisions you make today may actually be pulling you further away from your goals.

So, if you do not have an exit plan, make it your personal goal to create one or get an advisor to help. Your plan will help you align your resources to get the business where you want it to be, ensure you have the right management team, and that you are targeting the correct market segments. Your company’s technology, brand, customer base, systems, processes, business model, and other intangible capital will all be affected by the exit plan. Your personal exit plan will cover your personal finances as well as transitions in your lifestyle (“What are the tax implications of your exit options?” ”What will I do when I am no longer running my business?”) – even more reason to think through and plan for your exit.

Remember, to get to the finish line successfully, you’ll need a plan.

Marathons and Exit Planning

Michael Oleksak — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:43:59 +0000

When we named our consulting business, a number of years ago, we decided to call it “Trek Consulting”, because building a business can be an arduous journey. This is something our many clients can attest to. It’s a journey, not unlike a 26-mile marathon.

As noted at the bottom of last month’s Trekking, I completed the Baltimore Marathon on October 10. Finishing the marathon achieved a personal goal, after a few months of long training runs (three over twenty miles) and overcoming a little nervousness. My time of 4:37 means I ran an average of about 10:30 per mile, which isn’t really that fast, but with the hills and the humidity, I’m satisfied. I’m proud to have completed the run and have the pictures to prove it.

The easy thing to do here would be to compare the building of a business to the running of a marathon. So let’s do it.

For both, they start with an idea or a spark. Maybe the idea for your business came out of nowhere or maybe you prepared for it for what seems like ages. For me, the idea of running a marathon arose after a challenge in a watering hole after a short 5-K race in Somerville, MA last December. But that’s another story for another time. I’m sure you can just as easily remember when the idea, or spark, for your business first came to you.

For both, you need a plan. Everybody recommends that business owners should have a business plan as a way to address financing needs, management depth, market analysis, required resources and the production and distribution process. For a marathon, your plan will call for you to start months ahead of the race so you can build up mileage to get in a few long runs of 20 plus miles and not get hurt. Let me tell you, my running plan looked daunting at the outset as I’m sure your business plan seemed when you first outlined it.

For both, you need to execute the plan. The running of the business is a demanding, all-consuming process. The running of the marathon is all-consuming for the time you are on the roads in training as well as during the race. And for both, even though you have a well thought out plan, you’ll need to be flexible and willing to adjust your plan as you move forward with it. Even the best laid plans need to be tweaked.

For both, the performance and outcome will be a direct result of how well you trained and executed the plan. Your success will mirror your ability to deal with the bumps in the road, in the economy, and in your life (and hopefully the issues of dehydration and cramping will only relate to running a marathon). At the completion of both, hopefully, you can look back with pride on your accomplishments.

Mike Oleksak 2009

Marathons and business ownership

Michael Oleksak — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:43:31 +0000

Why am I writing about road running and racing in a business-y newsletter? When it comes down to it, road running is quite similar to running your own business. Good runners and business owners engage outside influences to help them attain their goals.

Business coaches are very popular these days. The purpose they serve is to keep the executive or owner focused on achieving goals. For example, with one of my business-owner clients, we structure our meetings to focus on the following five areas:

Recent sales and pipeline
Marketing efforts
Customers
Personnel and Operations
Cash flow

This structure allows the owner to prepare for each meeting. She takes notes during the meeting and comes up with a to-do list—many of these action items she reports on the following week as we go through the five topics again. And this goal-setting approach gives us the ability to look back and see the progress over the years. It’s also cathartic for her as she gets to share with someone, who is involved with her business as a coach/consultant, the issues that may not be appropriate to share with her subordinates or of interest to her husband.

Building a business, like running, is easier if you’re not doing it alone. If you’re not hitting on all cylinders for business (or your career), consider getting a proven business coach to improve your results. Remember, in down business cycles, you have to think differently to achieve outstanding results. Mike Oleksak 2009

Marathon commitment – help from my friends

Michael Oleksak — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:40:48 +0000

Last week I ran my seventh half-marathon (13 miles). While I’m not a real speedster, I have finished around two hours in each race, at about a 9:00 minute per mile pace. If you’re a runner and can do a half-marathon at a faster pace than that, I bet you run and train regularly. In other words, you probably have made a commitment to train to this goal of running races at a pretty good clip.

My running group is my conscience. They meet at 5:45 in the morning at the town green six days a week (7:00 in the morning on Saturdays, if you care to run with us). The runs vary each day—speed work on Tuesdays, hills on Thursday, 5-6 mile runs on other days of the week with a long one on Saturdays. I don’t run with them as often as I should, but my commitment to the group means that I’ll send race reports after each significant event (they all just sent their Boston Marathon reports from April). They give encouragement to one another. But even if I’m not running with them, I work at it because they help me stay focused and are interested in my progress.

I committed to run my first marathon, in October in Baltimore (OK to ask here, “Is Mike nuts?”). Well, Baltimore is far enough away so my family doesn’t have to feel like they should watch. But I’ll have to pick up my weekly mileage. I’m going to be joined by three other running friends for their first marathon, and we have a Facebook page to encourage one another and to share our training progress. This is yet another form of discipline while adding a fun element. Not to mention that I just announced this marathon commitment to all Trekking readers… Mike Oleksak 2009