Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Upsize magazine is excited to roll out the Upsize Growth Challenge 2012, presented by Winthrop & Weinstine, in which two winning business owners receive advice from experts about reaching their business goals, and coverage of their efforts in two editions of the magazine.
So how can companies win this chance, as Maia Haag (left) of I See Me did last year? Every time we publish coverage of our contest winners I’m deluged with e-mails:How could my company or my client’s company get selected? What are the judges looking for? What should I include in my entrance form? Here is what you need to know:
Decide if you’re right for this contest. The essence of the Upsize Growth Challenge is the interaction with experts, so that the winning business owners can learn from their advice on how to reach their goals. Business owners who are open to such give-and-take, who value the time and knowledge that the experts give to them, and who are prepared to make efficient use of the limited workshop time, draw great value from the sessions. Plus they have lots of fun interacting with the experts, fellow winning CEOs, and Upsize writers and photographers. Business owners who enter just for the publicity, and have closed minds to any ideas other than their own, don’t.
Enter by May 15. Nominations are now open; forms are at dev.divistack.com. Companies must have fewer than 100 full-time employees and be based in Minnesota. You’re asked for company contact information, which is the easy part. Then you’re asked for a short description of your growth goal, and the actions you’ve already taken to try to reach it. That’s the tough part, but here’s how to rise above the crowd.
Describe a specific and ambitious growth goal. Our judges are business journalists and business people who have covered and advised hundreds of business owners. They (and by “they” I mean “I,” since I take the lead in $19 million currently, through the opening of 5 to 8 more locations in the Midwest.”
Include the steps your company has already taken to reach the goal. This is the key criterion that drives our selection process: the quality of the work already done. Such description lets us know how committed your company is to your plan and how many key people are involved in the effort. Winning the Upsize Growth Challenge should be viewed as the final push you need to complete your efforts, not the initial launch to undertake them.
I look forward to seeing your entry, and sharing your quest with Upsize readers.
