ClarityBV Blog

Whether you run a service business or any other kind of business, it’s important to focus on your target market.

Matthew Hoffman just posted a terrific Client Worthiness Index cheat-sheet for assessing potential clients. Especially when times are tough, a tool like this could be the difference between selling out and staying true to yourself and your business!

Speaking of being true to yourself, Automotive News ran a great story this week about the top-selling Volkswagen dealer in the U.S. They do it by, “offering cutthroat deals and breaking lots of rules”!

If an attitude of gratitude contributes to personal longevity, wouldn’t it apply to the life of a business?

Consider the work of Charles D. Kerns, PhD in Gratitude at Work. He believes, “Counting your blessings will benefit yourself and your organization.” His research indicates there are three proven tools to enhance gratitude:

1. Reflect on Three Good Things
2. Want What You Have
3. Communicate Gratitude

Do you routinely practice any of these things personally or professionally? Have you instituted “systems” to incorporate an environment of gratitude in your business?

One option might be to develop a Referral Recognition Program that helps automate the communication of gratitude.

We welcomed a little boy into the world this past weekend. Along with many other thoughts and emotions, it caused me to reflect on the similarities of starting a business and parenting. It may involve sleepless nights, financial challenges, a roller coaster of highs and lows, etc. But, somehow, it is all worth it! My hope for my children and my business is that we leave the world a little better place than we found it.

Behind every financial statement and tax return is a story. For me, getting a glimpse of the human side of business is one of the most enjoyable parts of the valuation profession.

• Did you know the wealthy business owner, who seems to have been born with a silver spoon, worked two jobs for 20 years?
• Did you know the couple that looks exactly like a “Harley stereotype” are multimillionaires?
• A family business just had a massive drop in sales. Why is the father still demanding top dollar from his son to transfer control of the company?

Working with numbers can be fun, but they take on a whole new meaning with context. “Data” took an “emotion chip” to feel emotions and understand human behavior. The classic “Tin Man” story highlights the tension between mind and emotion. Without these human elements, valuation could be distilled to a single formula, markets would be perfectly efficient, and we might be robots…