Why Not Ask? Negotiate for More

During COVID-19, many small businesses are exploring exit options, especially family-owned companies. However, according to today's guest, Livia Jenvey, an Operations Excellence Expert at Jenvey Consulting, the reality is that nearly 80% of entrepreneurs and founder-owned companies will never be able to sell for the price they feel their business is worth. Join Christine and Livia as they discuss how to prepare for the sale of your business and level the playing field at the negotiation table. Be clear on how you operate, get organized, and be prepared!  

Every growing company needs capital. Many entrepreneurs turn to outside investors (e.g., angels, venture capitalists) for that capital. These investors expect a level of rigor, reporting, and, more importantly, a specific return. So, what do you do when you realize the company won't generate that return? How do you renegotiate with your investors? Join Christine McKay and today's guest, Chris Selland, the CEO of DipJar, and hear how he led renegotiation efforts with more than 40 investors and guided DipJar through two recapitalizations in a year only to sell the company a year later. Whether you have investors, are looking for them, or are curious about what to do when a deal isn't working for you, you'll learn a lot from this episode.     

What do you get when you combine a lawyer, a comedian, and a chocolate maker? Today's guest, Nick Yousif, of course. Nick tenaciously pursues his dreams across his varied interests and frequently proves his naysayers wrong. In this episode, he joins Christine McKay to share his exciting journey. Nick talks about how he sees himself taking on the big guys in his chocolate business and what he's doing to maintain control of his products, vision, goals, and how that informs his negotiation strategy.  He also talks about how he used comedy to relieve tension in difficult conversations.   

Beverage trends come and go, but tea is the most widely consumed beverage globally, next to water. It is a big business with a lot of small business players. Today, Christine McKay sits down with Brenda Sterling Meyers, a master blender and the Founder and CEO of Sterling Tea®. Brenda shares her journey from selling to big grocers to creating her path in the industry focused on blending. She shares key takeaways from the lessons she learned from her logistics and shipping experiences and how to manage supply chain risk as a small business owner. Whether you love tea or not, you'll want to hear Brenda's fantastic insights.   

A seasoned corporate executive, today's guest, Nicole Kalil, realized she had a passion for something different from corporate life. So, she set out on her own and launched a business dedicated to helping people, especially women, become more self-confident. Join Christine McKay as she interviews Nicole about the critical elements of building confidence and dealing with the noise in our heads. Nicole shares some tips on how you can negotiate with confidence and stay aligned with your life's purpose and be your authentic self, including the importance of embracing your failures. 

Knowing what problems you are solving for your clients and giving them the highest service level allows you to discover opportunities to negotiate more successfully. Today's guest, Che Brown, helps entrepreneurs maximize their sales by offering some of the world's best sales training programs at Sales Team Guru. Che is the Founder of The Happy Entrepreneur Network and the host of the Happy Entrepreneur Show. Listen as he joins Christine McKay in a conversation that explores the intersections between sales and negotiation and teaches us how to be even better in both. Whether you're a business owner who still hates selling or someone convinced that selling is essential but doesn't know how to proceed, you're going to walk away with one or a dozen ideas you can implement today! Think you've heard it all? Not the remix, you haven't. 

When you're building your business through partnerships, some will say you need an iron-clad contract, not so with today's guest. In this episode, Christine McKay is joined by Kevin Thompson, the Co-Founder of Tribe for Leaders. Kevin has built a multi-million-dollar business without using formal contracts. He's grown his business by discerning the right people to call partners and then simply shaking hands.  Kevin elaborates on why and how he has done that. He shares some of the successes and tribulations he's experienced and lessons he learned along the way while building a very successful business and collaborating with partners all over the world. 

Idan Shpizear began 911 Restoration with nothing but a Volvo and a carpet cleaner that barely fit in the backseat. Recently, he's launched a community focused on helping people to Get Out of the Truck! On today's show, he sits down with Christine McKay to talk about how knowing his numbers helped him 'Get out of the Truck' and successfully negotiate with his first franchisees and build a business with more than 100 locations. Today, Idan's franchise model thrives with his company's famous orange trucks parked outside homes all across America. Idan also shares a bit about his books, Get Out of the Truck: Build the Business You Always Dreamed About and Get Out of the Truck: How to Transform Your Mindset and Become a Self-Made Success Story. Tune in to this episode to hear more about how to scale your business.  

Mark Twain once said, "Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." Even the strongest relationships have conflict, and sometimes negotiation has conflict. But why not laugh when it happens? This is the question that Christine McKay explores with Chris Tabish, author of Comediology and CEO of The Comediology Company. Chris talks about the magic that laughter can bring and how it can be a useful tool for mitigating conflict. He also shares his thoughts on how comedy serves as a critical element in successful relationships and negotiations.  

Be more confident in every negotiation by learning from insiders that will empower you to get more of what you want while building long-lasting relationships. Welcome to In the Venn Zone with Christine McKay. Tune-in as prominent business leaders, founders, and celebrities share their behind-the-scenes stories of real-life negotiation failures and successes. Discover insightful negotiation concepts you can apply in every area of your life right now. Listen to In the Venn Zone every week to unleash the powerful negotiator in you.