Latest podcast episodes
Episode 203: A Successful Owner Chooses an Innovative Exit
A Successful Owner Chooses an Innovative Exit
TIME TO LISTEN: 57:07

This week, special guests Laura Anderson, founder of Local Ocean, and Peter Koehler, her succession-planning advisor, explain why Laura decided to sell her thriving seafood business in a transaction that created a business model that is neither widely known nor widely understood. It’s called an employee-ownership trust, and there are only about 50 of them in the United States. But their numbers are growing here and abroad, and for good reason. The trust model offers owners something of a choose-your-own-adventure option that can allow them to sell for a market rate in a relatively uncomplicated transaction that makes it far more likely the business will remain true to its established mission—especially when compared to selling to private equity or even to an employee stock ownership plan. Of course, there are challenges, including getting a bank to consider financing one of these deals. But in this episode, Laura explains why, with Peter’s help, she decided to trust the trust.

I Used to Sell to Consumers
TIME TO LISTEN: 54:43

This week, Paul Downs, Jaci Russo, and Sarah Segal talk about how they wound up pitching their products and services not to consumers, but to other businesses. They all agree that selling to business is more profitable, and they all agree that it has other advantages, as well. “In general,” says Paul, “it's easier to sell to businesses because the person you're talking to, it's rarely their money.” But some aspects of selling B2B can be harder. For example, how do you break through and reach the right person at a business, especially if you’re trying to reach the owner directly? And of course, there’s always a learning curve: Selling to a big business requires a level of professionalism that can be challenging, especially early on. Plus: Sarah explains why—even though she had to lay off people last year—she’s doubling her office space this year. Jaci is exploring what policies make hybrid offices most effective. And Paul, who says he’s having his best year ever, spells out the way he calculates when it’s time to add employees, as he had to do earlier this year.

This Is Not How This Ends
TIME TO LISTEN: 48:56

This week, we bring you what we’re calling an Entrepreneurial Fish Bowl with Chris Hutchinson. As you may remember, we recorded one of these at our 21 Hats Live event in Fort Worth, where I shared some of my challenges trying to build 21 Hats and got feedback from the group. We recorded that conversation and turned it into a podcast episode. This time, we’re doing the same thing except it will be Jaime Echt, founder and CEO of The Crafters Workshop, who is going to explain her challenges to a virtual group of 21 Hats entrepreneurs. As you’ll hear, Jaime’s challenges are real: Her sales are down. Her customers are aging. Her lease is up. And she’s not sure what she should do next. We’re going to see if a group of 21 Hats Founding Members can offer some support and advice.

What Will Businesses Do if SEO Dies?
TIME TO LISTEN: 51:52

This week, Shawn Busse, Liz Picarazzi, and Jaci Russo talk about how the marketing world is turning upside down. For decades, business owners have treated search engine optimization as something of a religion. They may not have been able to explain it, but they had faith that, if they obeyed the rules, Google would discover their sites and rank them. But search engines are getting a lot less generous about sharing links, and Shawn fears there’s an apocalypse coming for businesses that rely too heavily on SEO. Jaci’s a little more optimistic: “There'll be some other places to go get free traffic,” she says. “There always are.” Plus: Liz gives us an update on her recent trip to Vietnam in search of a contract manufacturer. And in a case study ripped right from the subreddit headlines, I ask the three owners: What do you do if a loyal, hard-working employee starts a side hustle selling a product that doesn’t compete with your product but looks a whole lot like it?

I Decided to Slow Our Growth
TIME TO LISTEN: 55:57

This week, Jennifer Kerhin tells Shawn Busse and Jay Goltz that she finally managed to take her first real vacation since starting her business almost 20 years ago. The vacation is part of a decision she made last year to regroup a bit, in part by backing off on her sales and marketing outreach. The goal is to give her team and herself a bit of a respite while they catch their breath and while Jennifer institutes processes that will improve operations. Of course, that raises an obvious question: Will she be able to turn the growth back on when the time comes? Plus: Shawn and Jay explain how they’ve eliminated negotiation from their hiring regimens. And all three debate who’s really responsible when owners pay for a marketing plan that doesn’t work: Is it the salesperson who pitched the plan? Or the owner who fell for the pitch?

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The Year So Far? It’s Difficult Out There
TIME TO LISTEN: 48:21

This week, we get updates from Laura Zander, Sarah Segal, and Jay Goltz. Laura wonders whether the time she’s put into integrating her latest acquisition might have been better spent focusing on her core businesses. Sarah, who has shifted to pursuing smaller clients, asks Laura and Jay to articulate the PR pitch that would interest them. But how do you evaluate the effectiveness of a PR campaign? Does it have to generate sales? Plus: Jay explains why he views confronting his current business challenges as a matter of triage. He also says that if he could write a check for $200,000 and solve his technology problems, he would do it in a heartbeat. Any takers out there?

How to Sell a Business That Won’t Sell
TIME TO LISTEN: 47:52

This week, we discuss what we’re calling a We-SOP. The term, coined by Jay Goltz, refers to a business transition that is something of a do-it-yourself ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan, but without the expense and complication and debt of a full ESOP. It’s a transition that lets owners get money out of what has been their life’s work. It’s a transition that lets loyal employees keep their jobs and preserve the company’s culture. And it’s a promising solution for the Silver Tsunami of retiring Baby Boomers because it can provide a sales path even for owners who have never managed to extricate themselves from their day-to-day operations. And in this week’s episode, we take you through an example of how it can work. Jay introduces us to Jill and Paul Choma, co-owners of a business, Gilded Moon Framing, that Jay recently guided through the We-SOP process. As you’ll hear, all three believe that what has worked—at least so far—for Jill and Paul could also work for many other business owners.

How to Waste Money on Marketing
TIME TO LISTEN: 56:68

This week, Shawn Busse, Jaci Russo, and William Vanderbloemen talk about a whole slew of marketing challenges. From strategizing for trade shows, to whether your logo has to tell a story, to understanding what constitutes a brand, to whether that iPad ad that Apple pulled was terrible or brilliant, they discuss what makes marketing so difficult. It all starts, Jaci says, with the industry’s refusal to set standards: “I can't find another industry that treats themselves so badly. Electrician, CPA, Realtor, hairdresser, nail salon tech, everybody else has some semblance of something to say, ‘I am a legit entity.’ Except our industry.” Which is part of the reason, Jaci says, that this is the constant refrain she hears from frustrated business owners who hire agencies: “We paid them all this money. And we got nothing for it.” Plus: how do owners get past that feeling that they need to be the hardest worker in the office, the first one in and the last one out?

Yeah, I Can Hold Myself Accountable
TIME TO LISTEN: 52:44

This week, Mel Gravely tells Jay Goltz and Liz Picarazzi about his recently executed succession plan, including what’s worked and what could have gone better. The main thing that could have gone better, Mel says, is his purchase of another small business where he says he misdiagnosed the challenges the business is confronting: “I thought they just had a bad model and they weren't managing it well. It was worse.” All of which leads to a discussion of the role that a board of advisors can play in helping an owner build a business. While Mel has said he wouldn’t run a lemonade stand without a board, Liz and Jay—like most business owners—have taken a different approach. The notion of having a board of advisors, Jay tells us, is something he struggles to get his head around. “I’ve been doing this for 45 years,” he says, “and I’ve never had anybody to answer to.” Plus: with the talk of tariffs getting louder, Liz updates us on her search for an alternative to manufacturing her trash enclosures in China. “We really have to have a Plan B,” she says. “We'd be stupid not to have a Plan B.”

I Don’t Hate Regulation, But …
TIME TO LISTEN: 46:36

This week, Shawn Busse, Jay Goltz, and Jaci Russo talk about the new rules that may—or may not—ban non-compete clauses, increase the number of employees who must be paid overtime, and eliminate TikTok in the U.S. How much would those changes matter to each of their businesses? What might the owners do differently? Do the changes make sense? And why does it so often seem as if it’s small businesses that get caught in the cross-fire when the government tries to rein in abusive big businesses? On the question of non-competes, Shawn says he thinks they are often used by lazy businesses that haven’t done the real work of building loyalty with employees and customers. Plus: Do Shawn, Jay, and Jaci ever regret starting a business? Have there been times when they’ve thought about packing it in and trying something else? And also, are the terms “business owner” and “entrepreneur” interchangeable? Or do they carry different connotations? Might there be a better term? Jay thinks there is.

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