I was invited recently by serial entrepreneur/business columnist John Warrillow to review a complimentary copy of his new book “Built To Sell: Turn Your Business Into One You Can Sell”. While I was intrigued to read his book because of its subject matter, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Warrillow chose to use a fictional story in which to outline the steps one needs to take to transform your business into a sellable one. It was also interesting to note how many of the ideas shared in this book can also be used to help business owners gain more freedom from some of the daily operations of running a company, even if they have no interest in selling their business.
“Built To Sell” tells the fictional story of Alex Stapleton, the owner of a small marketing agency. At the start of the book, we find Alex jumping through hoops to cater to the whims of his agency’s biggest client, getting news that his best designer is leaving the firm, and once again trying to figure out how he was going to pay for all his bills thanks to an unsteady cash flow from his customers. After putting eight years of his time and effort into his business, Alex finds that it hasn’t lived up to the vision he had for what he’d gain from being his own boss and so he decides to sell his business and move on.
Not knowing how exactly to go about doing this, Alex approaches his friend Ted Gordon, an entrepreneur who had successfully sold a number of his businesses, for advice on how to sell his agency. After listening to Alex describe both his business and asking him questions about his current operations, Ted informs Alex that his business is unsellable in its current form. Ted offers to meet Alex every week to help him make changes to his business to transform it into one he can sell.
As the story progresses, Alex learns through Ted how to hire and motivate a sales team, how to shift his clients’ dependency on him to working through his team, why he needs to turn down projects despite potential revenue gains in order to develop a specialization for his business, how to create a long-term incentive plan to keep your management team in place when you sell, and when the time is right, how to find a broker and what to expect when getting a offer from a potential buyer to when you finally have a binding deal to sell your company.
In using a fictional story to demonstrate the process one needs to go through to ensure you have a sellable business, Warrillow not only makes the information accessible and easy to grasp, he also provides a context that many entrepreneurs and small business owners can easily relate to. The struggles Alex faces in dealing with a difficult and overly demanding client, trying to chase down well-past due payments from other clients, and settling for hiring mediocre talent due to a limited cash flow are issues many small businesses have faced at one point or another.
By walking through how Alex moved past these problems and transformed his business from a struggling agency to one that he was able to sell in a multi-million dollar deal, readers of this book can not only appreciate how they themselves can implement these steps, but also the sacrifices and changes that will need to be made for this process to work.
Indeed, this book makes it very clear that this approach is far from being a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. As Ted points out to Alex during one of their weekly sessions, it can take about two years after making these changes before you’ll be able to demonstrate to potential buyers that you have a business model with sustainable growth potential that’s independent of you or anyone else in the company. Likewise, you’ll have had time to prove that there are new markets that can be tapped into with the help of the resources of a larger company that might consider purchasing your business.
In addition to presenting the steps one needs to take to make your business attractive to potential buyers, Warrillow’s book also provides some valuable lessons on the importance of communication in business, as well as the value entrepreneurs can find by seeking out an outsider’s point-of-view to determine if there are changes you can implement to make your business operate more effectively.
With his use of a fictional storyline and clear, straight-forward directions, Warrillow’s book is a valuable guide for entrepreneurs and small business owners, whether they’re interested in learning more about how to go about selling their company, or if they simply want to apply these lessons to help transform their business into one that is both easier to manage and more enjoyable to operate.
You can buy “Built To Sell: Turn Your Business Into One You Can Sell” on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca for Canadian readers.
Thanks Tanveer, I am looking forward to reading it. Reading your post reminded me of some great advice from a portrait painting mentor shared years back. She impressed upon me to always leave your work in a state of completion. With that in mind, our work is always in a pleasing and saleable form all the time. Even if we decide never to part with it.
Small business owners are often so “busy” that we forget to step back and look at the big picture.
Thank you for sharing this book with us.
Rich.
This sounds fabulous Tanveer! I’m so glad I read your review – because I would not have considered this book as an option for me based on its title and cover alone. (Yes, judging a book by its cover is part of my decision making process when it comes to reading.)
I think sharing critical information on the platform of a story allows the reader to absorb the content differently than they might if presented didactically. Like we’re one step removed – and more willing to acknowledge that we could be the protagonist with no defensive reactions.
Great review!!
@Richard – Hi Richard, I think you nailed it on the head. The challenge most people don't realize when they go into entrepreneurship or becoming a small business owner is that more often than not, you have to be able to wear many hats that have no connection to one another. At any point in time, you have to be the accountant, the salesperson, the product development manager, etc.
As you pointed out, this has the effect of us focusing less on the big picture and more on just getting things done. This is why I think Warrillow's pointing out why you need to get your business to be less dependent on you is key because it doesn't mean giving up control or being in charge. It simply means learning how to delegate to others, stepping back and letting them take the lead. The irony of entrepreneurship is that while you need that can-do attitude to start the process, over time you need to pair that back and transform it into a can't-do-it-alone one.
Glad you enjoyed the review, Richard and thanks for sharing your friend's insight.
@Sally – Thanks Sally, I'm glad you enjoyed the review of this book.
The great thing about Warrillow using a fictional story to impart his knowledge and experience is that through Alex, many entrepreneurs and small business owners will feel validated about their own experiences; that they can say “I'm not the only one going through this mess”. Also, when Ted shares his insights with Alex on how to improve his business, you really do feel like he's talking to you as opposed to at you.
I'll admit there were many times where I stopped and thought – wait, I'm not just reading a story, I'm actually learning something at the same time. Warrillow's book is a great example of how effective a vehicle storytelling is to impart information to others.
Thanks again for kind words, Sally. I haven't done many reviews since BSG went off the air, so it was nice to be able to stretch out those legs again.
Sounds like a great book. I guess I don’t really buy the “get rich quick” schemes. Success is hard work that needs time and effort. Seeds do not grow into big trees overnight. (except for Jack) I like the idea of a fictional story. I’ve seen it done in other how-to books. And it’s very effective, like you said, makes us think we’re not the only ones going through the whole thing. But I believe there is more credibility if it were actually true. People love to hear success stories and to hear how they come out of the mess and massive failures along the way.
Hi Megan,
Actually, I think this story is in many ways a true story as the writer is combining his past experience in selling four of his companies into this story. Also, the point of this book is not to highlight the writer’s successes, and thereby serving as a source of inspiration for readers, but a practical guide on the steps one needs to take to increase the value of your business and after that, how to go about selling it. In that light, I don’t find this approach makes it less credible than one where we were to read about the writer’s personal experiences; it’s just a different way to transfer information and lessons learned to others.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this review, Megan.