"There's a time when an exit is going to be inevitable — there may not be a time certain, but there is a time." Host Laurie Barkman reunites with Chip Scholz, founder of Scholz and Associates and author of Small Decisions, Big Shifts and the upcoming Handoffs, for a deeply personal and insightful conversation about the hidden leadership mistakes that quietly destroy business succession plans.

Chip has spent nearly 30 years coaching executives and family business leaders through some of the most complex transitions in business — and he first met Laurie 13 years ago when she was a CEO candidate in a third-generation family business. Together they explore what great leadership evaluation looks like, why founders hold on too long, how hubris silently collapses delegation and decision-making, and the three stages every leader goes through on the road to retirement. Chip shares what he's learned — and what he's still learning — about the small decisions that ultimately create the biggest shifts.

Key Insights

1. Culture fit is the foundation of every great leadership hire. The best organizations are people-oriented and performance-driven — in that order. When performance leads and people follow, bad things happen. Every hire, especially at the CEO level, should be evaluated through three lenses: strengths, motivations, and fit.

2. Viewing the business as an asset — not a legacy — is what makes a clean exit possible. Founders who treat their company as an asset can make clear-headed decisions about growth, transition, and sale. Those who treat it purely as a legacy often hold on too long, stall the next generation, and turn what was once a strength into a bottleneck.

3. Hubris is the silent killer of succession. When leaders believe they are the only ones who can run the business, delegation collapses, decision-making centralizes, and the organization becomes dependent on one person. Chip has seen companies where no one could spend $100 without CEO approval — and half the leadership team couldn't survive the transition when that CEO finally left.

4. Retirement has three stages — and most founders only plan for the first one. Vacation, depression, and meaning and purpose. The honeymoon phase fades fast. Founders who haven't built outside interests, hobbies, or identity beyond the business hit a wall — and without a plan, depression follows. The goal is to reach meaning and purpose before a crisis forces the issue.

5. Crisis is often the catalyst for transition — but it doesn't have to be. Whether it's a health scare, a lost client, or a market shift, crises force the introspection that should have happened years earlier. Chip advocates for doing that work proactively — in your 50s or early 60s — before external pressure removes your options.

6. A hobby isn't a luxury — it's a succession strategy. Finding something outside the business that gives you purpose, community, and a sense of leadership is one of the most practical things a founder can do to prepare for transition. For Chip, it's woodturning. The point isn't the craft — it's the identity that lives outside the company.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction of Chip Scholz

02:26 Reconnecting After 13 Years — A Personal Story

03:02 Leadership Evaluation: Strengths, Motivations, and Fit

06:37 Family Business Succession: Common Challenges

07:33 Asset vs. Legacy — The Mindset That Changes Everything

12:16 The Third-Generation Company: A Shared Story

14:04 Phantom Stock and Making 100 People Millionaires

16:00 The Five C's Framework for Leadership

17:42 Why Letting Go Is So Emotionally Hard

18:11 Hubris and Delegation: When Founders Won't Step Back

20:14 The $100 Approval Story

21:50 Why "Retirement" Triggers an Allergic Reaction

22:25 The Three Stages of Retirement

23:34 15 Years Preparing for Retirement — A Coaching Story

24:52 The Real Risk of the Depression Phase

26:44 What Does Retirement Really Mean?

29:33 Finding Purpose Outside Work: Woodturning

30:51 Handoffs — The Upcoming Book

35:02 Three Takeaways for Every Business Owner

Is your business truly ready—and are you? Take the Succession Readiness Assessment to get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to focus on next.

https://btsherpa.com/succession

P.S. Most owners don't realize where they stand until they're already in a transition. Take a few minutes now to understand your readiness—and give yourself more options later.

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Chip Scholz: Website: https://scholzandassociates.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chipscholz

"Don't just sit there and coast along thinking your financial prowess is going to win the day." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Susan Latremoille, Founder of Next Chapter Lifestyle Advisors, and discusses the retirement myth and the conversation that the advisors are missing. Susan spent nearly four decades in financial services watching well-prepared clients fall apart emotionally after selling their businesses — and watching their assets walk out the door with them. After losing a $100 million client post-transaction to the bank that handled the deal, Susan pivoted her entire career to answer the question the financial services industry had been avoiding: what happens to your client — and your relationship — after the money lands? Laurie and Susan unpack the ugly myth of retirement, the factors affecting exit regrets, and exactly how financial advisors can turn this gap into their greatest differentiator.

Key Insights

1. The Hollywood version of retirement is a myth — and your clients believe it. The idea that selling the business means sailing off into unlimited golf, travel, and happiness is exactly the opposite of what many business owners actually experience. The sooner advisors challenge this narrative, the better positioned they are to serve their clients.

1. 75% of business owners regret exiting within the first year. This figure has been consistent across surveys since 2013. It points directly to a planning gap that advisors are uniquely positioned to fill — if they're willing to have the harder conversation.

1. The conversation about identity and purpose is not "soft" — it's the most critical planning work an advisor can do. When a founder exits, they don't just lose a company — they lose their social circle, their daily structure, their title, and their reason to get up in the morning. Laurie and Susan emphasize that advisors should stop dismissing this as someone else's job and start treating it as a core part of the transition conversation.

1. Silence on the personal side has real, measurable consequences. The aftermath of an unplanned exit can show up as depression, broken marriages, health decline, and worse. This key message to advisors is clear: you are in the room, you have the relationship, and you have the responsibility to ask the harder questions — not just review the portfolio. The higher the achiever sitting across from you, the more they need someone to have that conversation with them.

1. A $100 million wake-up call: the relationship ends at the transaction if you're not in the room. Susan lost her biggest client the day he sold his company because she had no role beyond managing his retirement money. Advisors who aren't engaged in the personal planning conversation have no seat at the table — and no leverage to retain assets after a liquidity event.

1. Up to 80% of business owners change financial advisors within one year of a liquidity event. The advisors who survive that window are the ones who went beyond portfolio management and helped their clients build a life plan that outlasted the deal. This is the next frontier for advisor differentiation — and AI is accelerating the timeline.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction of Susan Latremoille

01:40 - The Retirement Myth

02:21 - Bucket List vs. A Real Plan

03:00 - The Ugly Truth About Retirement

06:25 - Personal Planning to Avoid Exit Regrets

07:31 - The Four Core Losses After Exit

12:41 - The Five Consequences of an Unplanned Exit

15:29 - Personal Transition Process and Coping with Exit Regrets

20:09 - The Financial Implications of Exit Regret

20:46 - When Should These Conversations Start?

23:24 - The $100M Lesson: What Susan Lost and Why

25:51 - How Financial Advisors Can Stay in the Relationship

26:28 - Why Early and Consistent Transition Conversations Matter

27:31 - The Financial Advisor's Role Is Shifting

Is your business truly ready—and are you? Take the Succession Readiness Assessment to get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to focus on next.

https://btsherpa.com/succession

P.S. Most owners don't realize where they stand until they're already in a transition. Take a few minutes now to understand your readiness—and give yourself more options later.

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa

Connect with Susan Latremoille:

Website: https://nextchapterlifestyleadvisors.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlatremoille

Email: [email protected]

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

📖 Grab a copy of The Business Transition Handbook, go to https://lauriebarkman.me/book or search in Amazon.

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa® Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls!

"Don't do what you think the world needs, do what makes you come alive." Most entrepreneurs sitting on decades of hard-won expertise have no idea that knowledge alone could be their next business. James Allen is the founder of Profit Your Knowledge, a platform helping coaches, creators, and experts turn what they know into scalable, freedom-based online businesses. He left a six-figure union construction career at 22 with no roadmap, just a belief that he'd only make money doing things he enjoyed. James shares the frameworks, mindset shifts, and practical systems behind monetizing expertise and why this conversation matters deeply for founders thinking about what comes after their current chapter.

Key Insights

1. The Expert Paradox is real — and it's costing you. The more qualified you are to solve a problem, the less impressive it feels to you. What seems ordinary to you could be exactly what someone else is desperate to learn and willing to pay for.

2. Use the Income Intersection Framework to find your profitable idea. The sweet spot lives at the intersection of three things: something you have experience with, something people are actively paying money to learn, and something you genuinely enjoy teaching. All three must be present.

3. You can't figure out your niche in your head — you have to talk to people. Worksheets and solo brainstorming only go so far. Real clarity comes from getting into conversations, working with people, and discovering who energizes you and who doesn't.

4. Charge for outcomes, not hours. Packaging your expertise into a high-value offer — rather than selling single sessions — is what creates both income and freedom. One $10,000 client beats a hundred $100 sessions every time.

5. YouTube is the most leveraged long-term system for coaches and experts. Consistent, niche-specific content compounds over time, brings the right people to you, and converts viewers into paying clients — even at 12 subscribers and 17 videos.

6. Your next chapter doesn't have to be a cold stop. For founders stepping back from their current business, monetizing expertise creates a natural on-ramp to what's next — a way to stay alive, relevant, and financially active without starting from zero.

Chapters:

00:00 - 01:35 - Introduction and James's Origin Story

02:20 - 03:28 - Growing Up, Personal Development

03:29 - 05:30 - Leaving Construction & Taking the Leap

05:55 - 08:02 - The Knowledge Monetization and The Expert Paradox

08:03 - 09:10 - You're Undervaluing What You Know

09:11 - 10:38 - Real Client Stories: Landing a deal even with 12 videos

11:25 - 16:49 - Building a Business & Finding Your Niche

16:50 - 17:50 - Time Saving & Creating Your Own Process

17:51 - 25:10 - Systems and Pricing: How to Work Less and Earn More

25:37 - 26:20 - The On-Ramp/Off-Ramp for Founders Eyeing Their Next Chapter

26:21 - 27:38 - Rapid Fire: Books, Tools, Mistakes, and Best Advice

27:39 - 29:16 - What Succession Means to James Allen

Is your business truly ready—and are you? Take the Succession Readiness Assessment to get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to focus on next.

https://btsherpa.com/succession

P.S. Most owners don't realize where they stand until they're already in a transition. Take a few minutes now to understand your readiness—and give yourself more options later.

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with James Allen: Website: profityourknowledge.com YouTube: @ProfitYourKnowledge Email: [email protected]

📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook https://lauriebarkman.me/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa® Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls!

"Exit planning is good business, not just about exits. Doing exit planning is going to help your business today." Too many founder CEOs pour years into scaling their company without ever building a plan for what comes next — and it costs them. Bruce Eckfeldt is a former Inc. 500 CEO who scaled, led, and exited his own company, and now coaches founder CEOs to do the same with intention. He faced the reality of an unplanned post-exit life firsthand — and what he discovered changed how he coaches everyone who comes after him.

Key Insights:

1. Exit planning improves your business today, not just at the finish line. Treating your business as if it could be sold tomorrow forces clarity in strategy, leadership, and operations — giving you a stronger company whether you sell or not.

1. Develop a compelling post-exit vision first. When founders have a clear, exciting plan for what comes after, they become more motivated to grow faster, set tighter timelines, and make better decisions leading up to a transaction.

1. Founder dependency in sales is the riskiest — and hardest — constraint to break. When the founder is the rainmaker, it suppresses valuation, complicates deals, and is fueled by a dopamine cycle that's genuinely difficult to step away from.

1. Institutional knowledge must replace individual knowledge to scale. Brilliant technical founders often are the smartest person in the room — but a company built around one person's intellect cannot scale or transact at full value.

1. Know where you fall in the valuation range — and move the levers. The market sets the multiple range; what you can control is whether you land in the bottom, middle, or top third of it by addressing the fundamentals buyers care about most.

1. The "keep-sell posture" protects your negotiating power. Being genuinely ready to either sell tomorrow or hold for another decade removes desperation from the table and ensures you're choosing the right deal — not just the first one.

Chapters

00:00 - 01:51 Introductions

01:52 - 05:24 Bruce's Founder Journey as Inc. 500 CEO

05:25 - 06:48 The Architectural Thinking Behind Scaling a Company

06:49 - 08:04 Why Scale and Exit Planning Are Connected from Day One

08:05 - 09:25 Building a Post-Exit Vision That Motivates Faster Growth

09:26 - 10:51 Founder's Identity and System Building

10:52 -12:30 Founder Dependency: The Sales Dopamine Trap

12:31 - 14:46 When Intellectual Capital Is Trapped in the Founder's Head

15:22 - 18:56 Exit Readiness and Push & Pull Factors across Generations

18:57 - 21:19 Legacy Building

21:20 - 24:33 What makes a Business Valuable

24:45 - 25:45 Bruce's Three Takeaways for Every Founder

26:00 - 26:36 Life After Exit: Himalayas, Adventure, and What Comes Next

Is your business truly ready—and are you? Take the Succession Readiness Assessment to get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to focus on next.

https://btsherpa.com/succession

P.S. Most owners don't realize where they stand until they're already in a transition. Take a few minutes now to understand your readiness—and give yourself more options later.

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Bruce Eckfeldt Website: https://www.eckfeldt.com Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/beckfeldt

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa® Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls!

"The day you start your business, you should know your exit strategy." Host Laurie Barkman sits down with Amy Veltri, Co-Founder and CEO of NGE, an environmental and geotechnical engineering firm. Amy built the company with her brother nearly 20 years ago, and made the deliberate choice to transition to 100% employee ownership through an ESOP. Amy shares the personal journey of weighing a third-party sale, doing nothing, or choosing a path that protected the people who helped build the business.

Celebrating 6 Years of Succession Stories

This episode is part of a special milestone—celebrating 6 years of the Succession Stories Podcast. Thank you for being part of this journey, where we explore the real stories, decisions, and strategies behind building, transitioning, and exiting businesses.

This episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience in partnership with the Exit Planning Institute Pittsburgh Chapter, bringing the conversation to life with an engaged community of advisors and business owners.

Key Episode Insights

• Co-founding a business with a sibling requires clear operating agreements to protect both the relationship and the company
• Drive may be an innate entrepreneurial trait, but skills like communication and judgment can be learned
• Knowing your exit strategy from day one shapes how you build and grow your business
• An ESOP can be financially compelling — tax savings alone can nearly offset transaction costs
• Employees who become owners are motivated to grow company value for themselves and future colleagues
• Leadership succession planning requires intentionality — and starting the search early enough to find the right fit

CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and the Entrepreneurial Gene

02:00 Co-Founding NGE with Her Brother — and Making It Work

08:00 Scaling from $50K to $5M in Five Years

09:15 Challenges when scaling the business

11:30 The Three Exit Options for a Service-Based Business

14:00 Why a Near-Closing Third-Party Sale Changed Everything

15:30 Understanding ESOPs and the Feasibility Study Process

17:00 The ESOP Magic — Tax Benefits and Employee Engagement

21:00 Leadership Succession and the Search for Amy's Replacement

22:25 What's Next: Retiring, Grandbabies, and Letting Go

Is your business truly ready—and are you? Take the Succession Readiness Assessment to get a clear snapshot of where you stand and what to focus on next.

https://btsherpa.com/succession

P.S. Most owners don't realize where they stand until they're already in a transition. Take a few minutes now to understand your readiness—and give yourself more options later.

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Amy Veltri:

Website: https://www.ngeconsulting.com

Email: [email protected]

"Profitability rewards the founder. Transferability rewards the future." In many founder-led businesses — especially those under $10 million — the owner is the strategy, the rainmaker, and the decision-maker. But what happens when the business can't operate without you?

In this episode of Succession Stories, Laurie Barkman is joined by Steve Preda, Founder, Summit OS Group, to explore the role of structural capital in succession planning and exit readiness. They unpack the difference between building a profitable business and building a transferable one — and why reducing owner dependence is critical to increasing enterprise value.

You'll learn:

• What structural capital really means for small, founder-led companies

• Why being indispensable can hurt your exit strategy

• The early warning signs that your business is too owner-centric

• How to build leadership, systems, and processes that increase valuation

• Why succession planning should start long before you're ready to exit

Whether you're actively planning a business exit or simply want more freedom as a founder, this conversation will help you shift from operator to architect — and build a company that thrives beyond you.

Because succession isn't an event. It's a design decision.

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa®

Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls! 📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook https://lauriebarkman.me/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Steve Preda:

Website: https://stevepreda.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevepreda/

"No one's promised tomorrow." Host Laurie Barkman talks with Scott Arden, Chairman of Controllers Ltd and Managing Partner of Generational Wealth Solutions, about the intricacies of financial strategies for business owners. Controllers Limited focuses on advanced strategies for asset protection and generational wealth.

Focusing on growth, succession planning, and the importance of legacy, Scott emphasizes the need for business owners to prepare for transitions, whether through exit strategies or succession planning, and highlights the significance of teaching financial literacy to future generations. The conversation also touches on the psychological aspects of business ownership and the value of experiences over mere accumulation of wealth.

Key Insights

• Business owners often procrastinate on succession planning due to a false sense of security.

• Crucial to identify who will run the business in case of an owner's incapacitation.

• Protecting asset value can be as important as building asset value.

• Experiences and memories may be more valuable than simply accumulating wealth.

• Financial literacy is essential for future generations to manage inherited wealth.

• Engage the next generation in business operations or governance.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Financial Strategies for Business Owners

02:35 Understanding Business Growth and Exit Strategies

05:28 The Importance of Succession Planning

10:30 Psychology of Business Transition and Legacy

14:34 Rethinking Wealth: Experiences Over Accumulation

17:19 Teaching Financial Literacy to Future Generations

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa®

Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls! 📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook https://lauriebarkman.me/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Scott Arden:

Website: https://generationalwealthsystems.com/

Website: https://www.controllersltd.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottarden/

🎙️ Business growth and succession planning start long before an exit. In this special Succession Stories swapcast, Laurie Barkman introduces the B.U.I.L.T.™ Method, a practical framework for building value and preparing for business transition.

🔓 This episode features Laurie's guest appearance on The B2B Growth Podcast with Mark Osborne, where the mic is turned around and she shares the thinking behind the B.U.I.L.T.™ Method for Business Growth and Transition. Designed for founder-led and closely held companies, the framework helps owners reduce dependency on themselves, strengthen operations, and prepare for leadership transition or exit — on their terms.

🎯 This conversation is especially relevant for owners in the built environment, including construction, engineering, architecture, and related professional services, where complexity, people, and relationships make transition planning both critical and challenging.

📊 The B.U.I.L.T. Method explained…

• Why succession planning should be integrated into business growth

• How the B.U.I.L.T. Method helps build transferable enterprise value

• Common transition challenges for built-environment companies

• How owners can prepare for what's next without rushing an exit

💬 Standout insight: "Gen X business owners have seen what happens when owners never step away — and we want something better." - Laurie Barkman

🧭 If you're thinking about business growth, succession, or transition planning, this episode offers a clear, structured approach to building a stronger, more resilient company — long before an exit is on the table.

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa®

Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls! 📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook https://lauriebarkman.me/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa

In this episode, Laurie Barkman is joined by Dr. Brianna Rhue, optometrist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Dr Contact Lens. Brianna shares her journey from a private practice owner to a tech maven, driven by the need to solve a critical "leaky bucket" problem: doctors losing contact lens sales to online retailers. She discusses the "entrepreneurial gene", the power of a "chip on your shoulder", and the lessons learned in building a full-blown tech platform from scratch. 💬 Quote from Brianna: "You have to get a really thick skin... as an entrepreneur, you are going to pave roads and you're gonna get arrows shot at your back. You're gonna get knocked off, you're gonna get made fun of... And if you don't have that core belief in yourself of your why, it makes those days really, really hard."

Key Takeaways: 💡 How the "entrepreneurial gene" is planted by early exposure to risk and observing the "ups and downs". 👥 Why a "chip on your shoulder," often formed from childhood experiences, can be essential energy for an entrepreneur. 💰 The steep transition from medicine to tech, and learning a new language of SaaS, CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), and LTV (Lifetime Value). 🏦 How Doctor Contact Lens solves the "leaky bucket" problem of doctors losing recurring revenue to online retailers. 🤝 Brianna's "Three Frogs" method for daily productivity: one joy, one easy, and one hard task to move the business forward. 🎧 Tune in to Succession Stories to learn how to identify a major pain point in your industry and build a tech solution to solve it.

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa®

Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls! 📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook: btsherpa.com/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Website: https://lauriebarkman.me LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman YouTube: @LaurieBarkman_BTSherpa Connect with Dr. Brianna Rhue: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannarhue

🎧 Tune in to learn the realities of entrepreneurship through acquisition, from the search process to surviving economic uncertainty in the first year.

Laurie Barkman sits down with Aashay Kumar, owner of Tri-Form, Inc. Aashay shares his story of leaving a corporate career to buy an existing manufacturing business. He demystifies the process of entrepreneurship through acquisition. Listen in as Aashay reflects on his acquisition journey including stealth search process, securing an SBA loan, diligence misses, and the ups and downs of the first 15 months of ownership. 💬Quote from Aashay Kumar: "Take the approach of being a learner from day one. Always ask questions. Always do more research than you think you have to, and be humble throughout the process." ________________________________________________________________________ Key Takeaways: 💡 Why buy vs. start: The value of buying a business with positive cash flow, especially if you don't have a specific problem you are trying to solve. 👥 Independent search vs. search fund: Why Aashay chose an independent path to maintain full ownership and control, rather than being diluted by a search fund. 💰 How to finance the deal: A look at navigating SBA loans, negotiating with multiple banks, and using a seller financing note to structure the deal. 🏦 The diligence "misses" to watch for: Aashay shares what he overlooked, including the condition of the building and smaller assets like a company truck. 🤝 "Fit first, financials second": Why the cultural fit and relationship with the prior owners (and their family members in the business) was a critical, non-negotiable part of the deal.

This Show Is Sponsored by The Business Transition Sherpa®

Learn what every entrepreneur needs to know about building value and avoiding pitfalls! 📖 Get your FREE digital copy of The Business Transition Handbook: btsherpa.com/book

📣 Write a Podcast Review: ratethispodcast.com/successionstories

Connect with Laurie Barkman: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: in/lauriebarkman Book: Free Download YouTube: @TheBusinessTransitionSherpa Connect with Aashay Kumar:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aashaykumar

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tri-form-inc/