BREAKOUT
BUSINESS OWNER
Achieve Personal and Financial Freedom
with Richard Mowrey
Imagine that your business is vibrant, healthy, and gaining in value and you are now financially free.
Picture your business a few short years from now being worth two to three times more than today. You can create this result.
The choice is yours.
You can increase the value in your business...and gain the financial benefits to secure the future lifestyle of your dreams.
Knowing you developed and effectively executed a highly successful, long-term exit plan...can be a reward in itself. This outcome can also provide the intangible benefits of building a more profitable, easier to manage business that delivers: independence, recognition and a feeling of total personal satisfaction!
You have no doubt put all your heart and soul into your business. And…you do not want to find out too late that your efforts have not been sufficient for you to retire in style.
If you are like most business owners you want to be assured that you are creating a profitable, easy to manage, highly valuable business. A business that will produce increasing cash flows year after year. And…a business that you can sell at your price, on your terms, when the time is right!
Too many hard-working owners find the frustrations and burdens of day-to-day operations keep them from focusing on the planning and actions required to confidently achieve all of their personal and business goals. Given that most business owners have over 80-85% of their personal wealth in their businesses, deferral of value creation can have devastating consequences.
So why do too many business owners struggle to survive and others seem to easily thrive?
It is often due to the frustrations associated with daily activities. It is very hard to concentrate on the driving factors of your business when you are buried by a pile of seemingly demanding tasks.
Improving vital outcomes is almost impossible to do well without the specific knowledge of priority actions and the skills required to optimize decisions. Decisions that ultimately control future value growth.
You’re dragged deep down into the minutiae of your business, which leaves you very little time for deeper thinking and value planning.
You’re not making current decisions based on sound “value-building” principles.
You’re not working “ON your business” and it’s long-term health...and at some level you are worried about your largest personal investment.
There are demonstrated methods to grow cash flow and increase business value...without incurring significant costs in time or money or exposure to undue risks.
It’s also likely that you just don’t know exactly how to do the work of building the long-term value of your business. Very few owners are truly able to clearly focus on the management of business value without a supporting guide for use in critical decisions.
In addition, owners simply wait too long to adopt the view that their businesses are major investments …and that they must be managed with that central fact in mind.
This may be your situation.
The good news is that you have probably already done a lot of the hard work. You may be 80-90% of the way toward creating a significantly more valuable business. Don’t delay turning this corner.
You have the power to radically increase the value of your business. You just need to put the right tools, techniques and proven planning strategies to work each day.
You can increase profits (free cash flow) and assure your future success by making incrementally better strategic and capital investment decisions. Consistent use of performance enhancing processes can make an immeasurable difference in your work life and in the “someday” value of your business.
By learning, combining, and applying value-building principles to critical judgements, business owners, like yourself, have been able to double or triple the value of their businesses.
And…to concurrently, dramatically reduce the stress experienced in handling both investment and operating management responsibilities.
You do not have to make a lot of changes in your business to increase value.
You just need to:
Adopt a focused thought process (mindset) to work on your business ...which is something you can certainly do.
Accept that measurable, meaningful results will come from use of a proven set of valuation principles and processes.
Bridge the value gap knowing you can get from where you are to where you want to go...and simultaneously reduce your daily struggles.
I have seen many business owners, who apply key principles and adopt vitally important decision-making models, create personal wealth beyond their expectations.
The “secret” to both stress reduction and great wealth creation is hidden in a “mindset change.”
It is all about combining a lot of the things you are doing right every day to enhance the rewards of ownership while consistently reducing business risks.
Let me give you a fundamental illustration of “Breakout Business Owners” in action:
In one of our engagements, we were able to outline a decision-making approach for management to take to improve financial performance. (I did this over and over for many clients.) In this case, the owners followed the advice and increased gross margins by over 3% and concurrently reduced overhead by 2%. In addition, by focusing on key statistics, they reduced their vendor concentration risks and increased inventory turns by over 50%. These changes increased net income (measured by free cash flow) from just over 4% to in excess of 9% of growing sales revenues...while reducing the total required inventory.
With more “free cash flow” and “renewed energy”, the owners continued to increase sales and more than doubled the value of their business. (This transition took almost two years to complete, but it positioned the business for an attractive sale…which occurred a number of years later when they decided that the timing was right!)
The business owners in this typical successful example came to us “burned out” and ready to sell.
After the business and personal transitions, they were enjoying the benefits of ownership and the ease of management so much that they decided to continue operating this growing company for another five years...before they exited at a notable higher price.
I can promise you that if you broaden your horizons, adopt the Breakout Business Owner’s Mindset, learn and apply the
Value Creation Decision System to crucial actions you too can dramatically increase the value of your business.
And…maybe more importantly in the short term, you can radically reduce the risk to you and your family of an untimely, unplanned transfer of the ownership of your business.
I have put my extensive knowledge garnered from decades of personal business ownership and my experience advising business owners into a new learning opportunity… a new 7 week course.
It is unlike any other educational experience you have ever participated in. This is your chance to acquire easy to understand and useful information to address the problems that impact too many businesses. – problems that stem from a lack of early preparation that keeps businesses from reaching their real potential value.
There is never going to be a better time to “take the temperature” of your business than today.
The course will address the established methods to assess the financial health along with the strengths and weaknesses of your business. These are the key steps required to start carefully planned actions to prepare your business and yourself for a very successful ownership transfer…when the time is right.
You can immediately expand your knowledge and put it into practice in the most important areas of business ownership.
You will:
Uncover secrets to drive current cash flow and long-term value improvements
Learn a process to make effective operating business-building decisions
Better understand the key steps to reduce frustration and shrink distractions
Acquire knowledge of a simple method to improve strategic planning
Realize how to increase the return from your capital investment decisions
Gain insights into the importance of preparing yourself early for any transition
Lock on to the three critical parts of the preparation process for a business sale
Amazing things happen once you adopt and implement the powerful BreakOUT” Business-building System.
It is based on old fashioned common sense and proven value-building processes, coupled with a commitment to work “on'' your business. It should be more comfortable and simpler, in some aspects, than what you have been doing.
By the time you complete the course and take the recommended actions you will be on your way to building a practically perfect, significantly more valuable business.
If you need justification of your personal time and energy to focus on the course:, ask yourself:
What would it be worth to you to reduce your personal frustrations and stress?
What will key business risks modifications do to facilitate a ownership transfer?
What can dramatically increased wealth mean for your “retirement” lifestyle?
In just 7 weeks, you can confidently start the journey to increase the value of your business, develop financial security, and achieve peace of mind.
The result will be a business that will be much manageable.
A business that will provide superior benefits – both short and long-term – to you, your family, and your community.
A business you can sell, at your price on your terms, ...when the business is ready; you are ready; and the market is ready!
When I was playing competitive tennis, I focused too much on techniques and rarely allowed time to learn how to develop a winning game plan. Consequently, I missed my ‘Andre Aggasi moments’, and was not able to reach my personal goals!
I had, like many business owners, similar regrets during the ownership of my first business. I got buried in daily operating problems … and… found I was nowhere near where I thought I was when it came time to sell that business. I learned too late that my business had a lot less value than I had anticipated. Do not let that happen to you!
I eventually learned, while operating my next two manufacturing businesses, that there are simple, systematic steps that can make a significant difference. It took me some time and the help of some great advisors to acquire the knowledge and mindset, along with the tools and techniques, to make transformative changes. I discovered in this process, with some efforts and a lot of help, how to reduce the stress of decision-making and to make my business easier to manage. By improving my focus on the “controlling decisions” that ultimately drove productive changes, I learned how to dramatically increase long-term business value.
By the time I had sold these manufacturing businesses, I had discovered not only how to survive business ups and downs but how to build stronger, more valuable, more transferrable businesses. With those experiences I was ready to take on the challenge of helping a variety of business owners.
My subsequent endeavor was development of a boutique investment banking business with the goal of teaching this strategic approach to the often neglected task of increasing the business value. I refined this focused, early value planning system and shared it successfully for three decades with numerous business owners. These owners transferred their businesses to new hands on their timetables on attractive terms, at their target prices.
I would like to do the same thing for you. That is why I developed the BreakOut Business Owners Course so you can more consistently build wealth for you and your family while concurrently reducing your stress from day-to-day management frustrations.
I know from experience that Richard packs timeless and illuminating principles into his books, workshops, and courses. Don’t hesitate to discover and apply Richard’s teaching so you will be able to move with intelligent action to increase the value of your business.
~ William L. Loftis, Managing Partner BLUE RIVER
Rich Mowrey has done it again. He has taken complex ideas related to selling a business and turned them into practical tools for the business owner looking to reap the maximum value from their life's work. Don't be disappointed and discouraged with the future valuation results. Learn how to take the actions to reach your desired number.
~ Denise Logan, The Seller Whisperer and author of The Seller's Journey: How (Smart) Sellers Navigate the Obstacles to Exiting Their Business.
Richard is a nationally known expert M&A intermediary, appraiser, and consultant in the sale of slightly larger businesses ($5MM Annual Sales +). His work offers a crystal clear explanation of the process, ideal for a business owner as they start to think about the business selling process. Richard’s simply explanations make his teachings relevant to the small business owners as well as those in the "middle market".
~ Glenn Cooper, Founder and Managing Partner of Colorado Business Brokers
It certainly can be difficult to determine the when and how of preparing to part with ownership in a business. So, starting early to learn how to do it at the right time for you and at the right time for your business can make a huge difference. Don’t pass up the opportunity to gain new knowledge from Richard who is known in the industry for getting the job done, quickly and quietly, at the right price and at the right time.
~ Keith Chapman, President and Managing Director of Horizon Business Group
The ownership of a privately held business is unique in many ways. This bigger picture look is designed to provide you with the full knowledge of how business owners can truly benefit from this course. This module provides a solid foundation to keep your efforts on target by revealing:
How to picture the biggest sale of your business life
The building blocks of business value
The three keys to a successful transaction
How to identify gaps in your financial plans
The “Secret” to help you start early transition planning
An in-depth look at business value and valuation principles will provide the tools to effectively adopt a “value-planning” approach to your business. This approach to your business will set you apart from most owners. By learning how to manage your assets in this manner you will become better prepared to make major decisions. As you work in this module you will:
Gain the knowledge to set and achieve valuation goals
Acquire insight into the Working Capital “Elevator”
Recognize what “Goodwill Value” really is … a how to create it
Identify separable assets that can add a value increment
Grasp the potential power of operating leverage
This uniquely important knowledge enhancement in this module will elevate your tactical tool box so you can more consistently improve value. By gaining an appreciation of “readiness” as a measure of your labors you will find it easy to adopt the “Value Decision Triangle” as a basic process tool. Preparation of your business early for that “someday sale” is the foundation for ultimate success. You will:
Learn how to assess and improve “readiness
Increase your awareness of manageable business risk
Gather the true sense and importance of “Enterprise Value”
Truly comprehend the power in the “1% Solution
Extend your knowledge of the Gordon Growth Model
This is a clear look at the rewards and risks of business ownership as both an owner and as a potential purchaser. Unlock and use of the expanded “BreakOUT Decision Matrix”. This is the methodology that, when deployed consistently, delivers dramatic valuation increases. This module will help you:
Learn what the business owner can and cannot control
Develop a focus on “Balance Sheet Positioning”
Discover how “Invested Capital” fits into the value equation
See how to make your day easier with a new decision systems
Stabilize growth with Human Resource do’s and don’ts
This is a clear look at the rewards and risks of business ownership as both an owner and as a potential purchaser. Unlock and use of the expanded “BreakOUT Decision Matrix”. This is the methodology that, when deployed consistently, delivers dramatic valuation increases. This module will help you:
Collapse your fear of the Dismal D’s
Reduce your daily frustrations with a simple list
Reduce risks via management development
Clarify the big picture of the family and your business
Use the “buyer exercise” to bubble up your real preferences
A mid-sized business is like a small boat in the ocean. The larger economic waves can enhance or restrain forward progress. In addition, “the market” can have a notable impact on the value achieved in a transaction. Basic knowledge of how to assess and time a sale can make a measurable difference. This module will prepare you to:
Learn what enhances value in your market segment
Set up a simple monitoring system to prompt actions
Grasp why interest rates are not the driving variable
Focus on the market’s impact on key assets and risks
Understand what motivates different types of buyers
Adoption of the “BreakOUT Mindset” and full integration of the decision process will set you apart from the crowd. Major increases in value come from consistent focus and actions. The application of what you have learned will make a big difference for you and your family. As you work your way through the course you should clarify the benefits from:
A commitment to a “BreakOUT MindSet” to reduce daily stress
Setting up and testing your business value and personal goals
Confidently adopting a high performance “value planning” approach
Using the “Value Decision Triangle” in every critical decision
Employing the “Risk Reduction Building Blocks” impact test in decisions
Developing strategies and systems that reduce personal frustrations
Picturing the business “when it is done”…and the smile it gives you
Richard’s vast experience and sound advice has for years helped businesses not only succeed, but thrive. He is great at condensing that knowledge into very easily understood and applied processes for business owners to put to effective use.
~ Dan Brownlee, CEO, Brownlee Lumber, Inc.
There is so much to be gained from what Richard teaches. The key principles for long-term value creation for all the company’s stakeholders are now always front and center in all of our decision-making processes.
~ Pam Miller, President, Miller Home, Inc.
Just knowing that companies with a real “value-focused” plan outperform those who do not by 20% or more should be a big wake-up call and a great benefit to every business owner. The need to have a thoughtful plan followed by decisive actions is carefully emphasized in Richard’s approach to this important and too often overlooked area of ownership responsibility.
~ Frank Roberts, Retired President of Frank Roberts and Sons, Inc.
Learn the secrets to creating a practically perfect business through a unique educational process. You will uncover the opportunity to build a much, more valuable business in a confidential environment with other business owners...just like yourself.
Part of your effort is within the “knowledge modules” which you can access and consume at your own pace. The balance of the learning takes place in the live sessions to lock-in the principles and techniques you can use to dramatically increase the value of your business. This combination will keep you on track over the course schedule so you will quickly begin to reduce your daily frustrations and to apply a focused, value-enhancing, decision-making process.
7 Modules filled with the Course Material Documents and Training Videos so you can review and study all of the content each week. These modules provide the knowledge base to drive the changes to your decision-making that incrementally increases business value.
7 Weekly Live Online Teaching Sessions to build on the information in each module. These virtual meetings will provide additional insights into the materials to set the stage for an interactive discussion and open questions to lock-in the approach required for success.
Exercises and assignments to prompt practice to enhance learning in various key areas of the course as it develops. These worksheets are short enough to do easily and targeted to engage your most powerful asset... your mind.
A Private Group for participants to interact, pose questions, share experiences and insights with each other along with the instructor’s support on different topics. (This is an area of optional involvement designed to provide maximum flexibility.)
Recording of all live sessions will be available for access within 48 hours for your convenience and follow-up efforts. These replays complement the course materials and are a stress-free way to review key points within a discussion.
A Custom Course Website that houses all of your course material and gives you access to the video materials and the weekly recordings along with all of the course documents and bonuses. You will have access to this site for one full year from the start date of the course.
Special bonuses to add to your course experience. These tools, worksheets, videos, and references are set up to enhance the learning environment and to expand your thinking in critical management areas.
Jump Start the Preparation of the Sale of Your Business (30 minutes virtual ...1 on 1 ... meeting with Richard). You can schedule this session after you complete the course or at an earlier date to help you move toward your learning objectives. (Valued at $300)
A brief look at the business valuation process from a business owner's perspective. Uncover the foundation principles of value determination and put them to work in your business. (Valued at $97)
BreakOut Business Owner’s Mindset Short Video Series (Valued at $100)
BreakOut Business Owner’s Management Performance Video Series (Valued at $500)
Limited Strategic Plan Outline to Focus Business Improvement Efforts (Valued at $100)
Paperback Editions of Richard’s Three Must Read Books (Valued at $60)
Mindset Change By Understanding the Secret...to early “Readiness” posture (Priceless)
Choose the payment option that works for you.
BreakOut Business Owner 7-week Course (Regularly $997)
Replays of All Live Amplification, Question and Answer Sessions
Custom Course Website with Full Access to Videos and Materials for One Year
BreakOut Business Owner’s Mindset Short Video Series (Valued at $100)
BreakOut Business Owner’s Management Performance Videos (Valued at $500)
Limited Strategic Plan Outline to Focus Business Improvement Efforts (Valued at $100)
Paperback Editions of Richard’s Three “Must Read” Books (Valued at $60)
BreakOut Business Owner 7-week Course (Regularly $997)
Replays of All Live Amplification, Question and Answer Sessions
Custom Course Website with Full Access to Videos and Materials for One Year
BreakOut Business Owner’s Mindset Short Video Series (Valued at $100)
BreakOut Business Owner’s Management Performance Videos (Valued at $500)
Limited Strategic Plan Outline to Focus Business Improvement Efforts (Valued at $100)
Paperback Editions of Richard’s Three “Must Read” Books (Valued at $60)
With our 100% risk free satisfaction guarantee. You can try the course for 30 days and if for any reason it is not for you we will issue a refund. And… the video bonuses will be yours to keep and enjoy.
Richard Mowrey is an expert in the valuation and sale of privately-held businesses with a reputation for getting the job done quickly and quietly, at the right price. He has shown countless business owners how early access to comprehensive, easy to use information can be effectively applied to dramatically increase the value of their businesses.
He has decades of experience and is a recognized expert in business valuation and ownership transfer issues found in the private market. He is well known for his ability to easily navigate complex valuation and business sale issues.
Rich has owned and operated four businesses, and bases his books on the knowledge acquired from over forty years as both a business owner and a hands-on ownership transition advisor. He has been an active member of the board of directors of many businesses and has a wealth of knowledge and practical experience from his personal ownership of closely-held businesses over the years. Rich has had varied direct management responsibilities in public companies and private enterprises, in addition to proficiency in start-up companies and turnaround situations.
He has had a unique combination of experiences from counseling businesses in transition that prompted the development of the Priority Seminars and the specific educational materials found at www.MergerMentor.com. Rich is a sought-after speaker on valuation and ownership transfer topics.
Richard has presented educational seminars in valuation and transactional planning, and has taught at Wentworth College, Rollins College and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, as well as for the IBBA and the M&A Source, the largest international organization of business intermediaries. He is a Fellow of the IBBA and has held the following certifications: Certified Management Accountant (CMA) from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Certified Business Appraiser (CBA) from the Institute of Business Appraisers, and Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) from the International Business Brokers Association. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Management Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
As an on-line course these sessions are designed to deliver curriculum to you on a weekly basis to give you control over the best time and way for you to do the work. In this course there are 7 live 1 hour classes, once per week over seven weeks, supported by a foundation of topically targeted videos and printed course materials for easy access and use within each extensively developed module.
Course materials are provided in videos and PDF formats so you can access them at your pace to prepare for each live session. The videos and print reports are set up to lock-in the management principles and actions before or during the live sessions. Each live meeting provides an overview of the information within each module followed by a question and answer session to help you refine and apply your new knowledge.
The course is structured to be easily completed in seven weeks. All materials (videos, reports, and replays) will be available to you for review and reference for one year from the beginning date of the course.
The course will begin in early 2022 and the live sessions will be scheduled on Tuesday afternoon, at 3:15 PM EST… to fit into the end of the business day.
All you need is your computer, an internet connection, and a good webcam to effectively access the course materials and to participate in the live sessions.
This is a comprehensive course to help you shift your “mindset”, requiring three to four hours of review and preparation each week (in some weeks you may want to do more!). The study and personal preparation and related actions are at your convenience. This includes reading, internal “work on” your business, watching videos, as well as use of reports and checklists. (The live classes are at a specified time each week.)
If you are a business owner and have operated your business for five years or more, you should have the baseline knowledge of operations, financial statements, budgeting, and planning to gain significantly from the step-by-step approach within each of the different modules.
Do not worry! Recordings of each class are posted within 48 hours so you can “attend” each class as if you were there. Some students (especially those outside of the United State) attend all classes by recording due to the time of the classes (3:00 PM EST). Our systems are designed so we can stay in close communication with all students and follow everyone’s progress so no one gets left behind.
Each week, you can monitor your own progress in your personal “learning panel”. There will be discussions during the live training sessions to ensure you have absorbed the material. Richard is available to students and is very responsive to help you keep on track.
No. Detailed written instructions, transcripts of lectures, detailed weekly work instructions within the Learning Management System will deliver all the written, audio and video materials you need for each week. Naturally, your full attention to the class presentations and Q&A will give you the best results. (You are certainly welcome to take notes if you wish. Some students learn best by doing so.)
All participants are in the course to “learn what to do”, “how to do it” and “when to take actions”…these critical topics will not venture into any confidential business areas of your individual business. This course is an invitation to gather and use broadly applicable expert advice.
To assure a comfortable and productive environment develops all course attendees will be asked to execute a simple confidentiality agreement which states they will reserve the information gathered during the course for only their personal use and will not share anything of a confidential nature beyond their advisors. Your experience within the course will remain confidential.
You will be the one to determine how openly you want to participate in the live sessions. (You will have an option to pose questions in advance of each live session.) We do encourage fully open participation at this level of discussion on principles and best practices. What you ask or share in that learning environment will be kept confidential and can help you as well as other participants.
The case for this change will be effectively presented! The transition is up to you! We know that the way you approach your business each and every day makes a huge difference in the wealth you can create. Differences are in the ease of management, reduced frustrations, as well as operational improvements all accumulate as a result of your “Mind Set”.
Small improvements in revenue growth rates coupled with reductions in direct and indirect costs are changes that, in the right combination, can generate multiples of current business value. The actual magnitude of these value improvements will be related to the state of your industry and your actions… once you adopt a value-planning mindset.
Three to four hours per week is the typical time required to complete the course and meet the high standards of the training. If you know you can’t reserve the required time and energy to breakout now, please delay applying until you can develop the focus that will deliver the dramatic value increases that are possible for you and your family.
No, you can finish the course at your pace on your timetable. You will probably get better near-term results if you can stay close to the planned schedule. But…if you get caught up in daily business activities you can catch up later by going back to the videos and other materials. You will have full access to all of this information for a year following the start of the course.
Your “Return on Effort” (ROE) should significantly out strip the modest cost for this course. There may be a budgeted expenses you can defer until you begin to realize the improved cash flow that should follow application of the course principle and practices. (A payment plan is available on the registration page, extending payments out over two months.)
We cannot promise this, of course, because it depends on what you bring to the course, and how rigorous you are with your application of the “Secret” and the “Decision” Processes. Massive value increases when you improve cash flow and reduce risks are not only possible from this training, they should be your goal!
It is always possible to discover that the course is not a current match for your state of mind, or where you are in your business learning journey. If you choose to withdraw from the course, before completion of the first two scheduled live class sessions, you will receive a full refund. There are no refunds if you withdraw after the third live class begins.
Richard is available for personal consultation following your completion of the course. You will be able to arrange additional private expert advisory services for an additional fee. All information will be kept confidential.