by Pamela Dennis | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog, Car Love Affairs, Entrepreneurs, Growth, Growth Challenges, Leadership, Planning, Start-Ups, Transitions
In my last blog post I began with a picture of a classic ’57 Chevy Bel Air. It was a metaphor for the need to let go of some of the things you loved about your company’s Good Old Days of go-go growth. My point was that each stage of company growth has its strengths;...
by Pamela Dennis | Jun 16, 2017 | Blog, Car Love Affairs, Entrepreneurs, Growth, Growth Challenges, Leadership, Planning, Selling a Business, Start-Ups, Transitions
Growth and the Good Old Days This is the first of a two-part blog post on Surviving Growth, based on a workshop I’ll be presenting this month for the Denver Business Journal. Part 1 looks at the characteristics and challenges of four stages of growth. Part 2 will look...
by Pamela Dennis | May 11, 2017 | Blog, Boomer Perspectives, Planning, Selling a Business, Transitions
I’m speaking soon to a group of business advisors about helping their clients gain a sense of urgency about exit planning, since only about 15 percent of business owners have a written plan. I was asked to be sure to think about the role of insurance. Insurance!? I...
by Pamela Dennis | Mar 30, 2017 | Blog, Buyer Options, Car Love Affairs, Customers, Planning, Selling a Business, Transitions
Last week I sold my favorite car. It was a 1998 Audi A4 Quattro with only 110,000 miles on it. It lived for 10 years in Boulder, and then 10 years tucked in a rust-safe garage at our beach house in San Diego. It was pearl white with creamy leather seats and barely a...
by Pamela Dennis | Feb 28, 2017 | Blog, Boomer Perspectives, Encore, Growth, Planning, Selling a Business, Transitions
Getting Older, Letting Go, Moving Forward When I was selling my company, I was frequently asked, “What’s next?” or “What are your goals now?” I was only 55; surely I had big plans. When I was writing Exit Signs, I heard a constant question from Boomer owners young and...
by Pamela Dennis | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog, Growth, Planning, Start-Ups
Is the Ultra-lean, Non-employee Company the New Way? When I was writing Exit Signs, I interviewed many small business owners. They all had employees and most had revenues of half a million or more. Their stories of selling their companies, or thinking about selling,...
