Summary:
Listen to the story of a man who watched a company start great but then with a series of bad decisions, run aground. Jim took those lessons and launched several successful businesses from that learning experience. He is a font of information of how to keep things in check to make good decisions when you have your own company and are thinking of buying or selling.
Main Questions Asked:
- What was the business, what were you doing?
- When you sold the company back in the dot.com days, did you stay with it through all the owners?
- Did these guys have stars in their eyes when they took stock?
- You’ve developed a real point of view on how to run a company, tell us about that.
- When an entrepreneur comes to you and talks about selling a business, what is your advice?
Key Points made:
- I got into sales after college because I couldn’t get a job in my field. (:46)
- We got the attention of several dot.com companies. (2:10)
- We made these CD’s and multi-shaped business cards and presentations. (2:50)
- It was toward the end of the dot.com phase and they just sucked all the money out of us. (3:39)
- What they ended up getting was stock options, which were completely worthless in the end. (5:39)
- Making a decision without knowing all the facts and getting excited about something, usually results in a bad deal. (8:09)
- Learning how to control your emotions when buying or selling a business is a skill. (8:59)
- 98% of CEO’s say their current business model is unsustainable. Things are changing so fast now. (11:17)
- I do coaching and consulting to help others not make the same mistakes I made. (12:10)
- If you don’t know what you are trying to sell, then you are probably going to make emotional decisions that lead you where you don’t want to go. (14:06)
- Understand your end game. (14:15)
- For entrepreneurs it’s hard to stay still. (15:05)
- If you don’t have to sell your business, you make more rational decisions. (18:35)
- Use good competent accountants and attorneys and pre-qualify people who want to buy your business. (20:30)
- Managing your emotions is very important. (21:59)
Resources Mentioned
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Tennessee Valley Group
Jim Cumbee established Tennessee Valley Group to help business owners fulfill their dreams for life after business ownership.
It’s a mission that his 30+ year career history had prepared him well for—in addition to being an attorney, transition mediator and business broker, Jim has been a buyer, seller, and entrepreneur. His broad range of experience gives him unique insight into how business buyers and sellers can achieve their goals.
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