Small Business Talk

The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster

The Sales Process & Learning From It with Phil Fraser

Show Notes

Background

Phil went from a kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey and now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach, Business Mentor, and ‘personal NED’). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Most business owners look for outside help when they reach a ‘next stage/step up’ point in their business journey.

Phil’s mantra is ‘It doesn’t need to be lonely at the top.’ As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.

Make Yourself Redundant From The Business

You cannot be the key focus of your business if you want to be able to sell it.

The people that buy your business from you are not paying for you, they are paying for a business that works and is successful. They are paying for your systems, employees, clients, profits and processes, but not for you. A business that functions without you is far more profitable (and sellable) than one that only works if you are there.

Focusing on Delegation

Delegation may be more difficult than it seems. Do you trust someone else to do as good a job in your business as you do? You may need to learn if you can’t, because delegation is an important tool to making sure your business can be sold.

If no one knows how to do the things that you can do, they cannot do them without you. Even if you are not planning or preparing to sell your business, you need to be able to leave every now and then. No one wants a business they can never take a break from, and you need to be able to delegate to successfully manage that.

Make sure you train another person to manage your tasks in the business.

Are Your Contracts in Order?

Having a more informal relationship with your suppliers, customers and employees is a great way to get started, but you need to back it up with a formal contract. If someone buys your business from you, they don’t have the same connections that you have with the people you are working with. Making sure that you have all your paperwork in order is a must.