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.
“The company’s controllable. It’s not running us, we’re running it,” says Tom Meacham, owner of Landmark Creations, which makes huge inflatables for sports teams and high-profile events.
Meacham is in an enviable position, as owners know who have tried to wrestle their company onto a manageable growth path.
Nearing $2 million in sales, Landmark Creations positions itself as the high-quality producer, and the one that will counsel customers not to buy too big of a balloon, lest it prove too difficult to handle. He relies on skilled staff who have been with the company for years to combat competition from abroad.
He’s one of the business owners profiled in this special edition, the Upsize Business Builder, our third annual encyclopedia of articles on how to build a bigger and more profitable small business.
The advice is contributed by more than 25 local experts on everything from data security to valuation, or gleaned by our reporters from more than a dozen business owners who are learning every day how to do business better than the day before.
Our goal is to address the finer points, because our readers run well-established companies and need sophisticated advice to get to the next level. Here are some things you’ll learn:
• How to avoid new anti-spam headaches, which e-mail marketers have to worry about in the wake of federal legislation. A Faegre & Benson expert says there’s still plenty of room to operate; you just have to know how.
• How to become a bankable risk faster, so you can get a business loan. As Highland Bank’s CEO points out, you have to live like a pauper in the beginning, and slow, steady growth is preferred over the wild kind.
• How to use patents to carve out future market share. Even if your current products aren’t suitable for patents, something under development right now may be, a Patterson Thuente intellectual property expert says.
• How to decide whether to write a business book. A half-dozen who’ve done it say the point isn’t increased revenue from the book itself, but rather more open doors from the accompanying credibility.
• How to attract and keep large customers. Before you even consider going after big corporations as clients, you have to figure out how they like to do business and invest in any infrastructure you need.
I am grateful to all of the people who wrote articles for this edition, sharing their wisdom in the practical way that Upsize readers demand. I am motivated by all the owners who tell it like it is as they pursue new revenue streams or assess their investments.
I guarantee the advice in this edition will keep you busy building your business well into the year to come.
— Beth Ewen
Editor and co-founder
Upsize Minnesota
be***@*******ag.com
