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.
Is 2006 going to be your company’s breakthrough year? Upsize has an offer for you to make it so.
Enter the third annual edition of the Upsize Growth Challenge, presented by Clientek, the Minneapolis technology consulting firm.
How does it work? Business owners tell us about their growth goals. Go to dev.divistack.com, and click on the Upsize Growth Challenge logo to get a nomination form. Do it today so you don’t miss the deadline: Jan. 10, 2006.
Our judges consider the entries in February, selecting three winners based on the ambition of the goal and the quality of work already completed to meet it.
Those three winning companies receive two workshops with experts, in which they get hands-on advice to help them achieve their goal. Their progress is covered in two articles in the magazine. And they are invited to present their story at an event in June, where they also compete to be named by audience vote the contest’s overall champion.
It’s a lot of fun, it’s interesting, and when the winners finish the process they have achieved a significant goal. There’s nothing like a little friendly competition, complete with a deadline and a mandate to report progress, to turn a dream into a reality.
Past winners are an impressive bunch, as you may recall if you read their stories or met them at the events.
Remember The Retrofit Cos. in 2005? They entered the contest with all legal work completed to begin selling franchises throughout the country, but needing advice on how best to roll out the plan. By the end of the contest, they had a detailed marketing plan and had nearly closed their first sale.
P.M. Bedroom Galleries in 2004 completed its first survey of customers to get a better idea of their needs, and went on to open a new store armed with that information.
Innovatech Labs had paid down a load of debt before entering the contest in 2005, then used expert advice to learn how to identify which customers were most profitable, and so which business lines to pursue or downplay.
Floorworx in 2004 used negotiating advice from our legal expert to complete a distribution deal with a local manufacturer.But those are somebody else’s goals. I want to hear about yours. Take the Upsize Growth Challenge today.
— Beth Ewen editor and co-founderbe***@*******ag.com
