August 27, 2025 • 23 mins
Jessica Dragan is a seasoned entrepreneur, veteran, and business buyer specializing in acquisitions of companies generating $2M–$5M in revenue. With over 20 years of experience owning and operating businesses, Jessica now helps founders explore confidential, seamless exit options—whether they're ready to move on or simply want to take chips off the table. In this episode, we unpack what makes a business attractive for acquisition, how founders can prepare for a profitable exit, and what Jessica looks for when buying businesses. If you're a business owner considering a sale or just want to understand the mindset of serious buyers. This episode is packed with insight.
🔑 Topics Include:
What makes a business worth buying
The $2M–$5M revenue sweet spot
Navigating off-market, confidential deals
What founders often get wrong about exiting
Lessons from two decades of entrepreneurship
Whether you’re buying, selling, or somewhere in between, Jessica brings real-world advice you don’t want to miss.
Listen on Podbean:
https://brainworkframework.podbean.com/
Connect with Jessica Dragan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicadragan/
Company Website: https://www.corporatewellnessandretention.com/
Connect with Chris Troka:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-troka-3a093058/
Website: https://focused-biz.com/
Website: https://christroka.com/ #brainwork #framework #business #entrepreneur #veteran #buying #selling
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I like going and meeting people face toface and building relationships naturally.
Confidentiality is very important tothese people, so I appreciate having
the conversation later in private aboutsomebody they might be concerned about, or
it might even be a project that they mighthave that just isn't really going that
(00:20):
well and they wanna change directions.
But most of the time it is wordof mouth on how I get to find out
about what businesses are available.
There's never a badquestion in my opinion.
You are listening to Brainwork Framework,a Business and Marketing podcast,
brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
(00:40):
Welcome back to another episode with ustoday as a special guest, Jessica Dragan
She helps private equity and merger andacquisition strategist, helping investors
find structure and close profitable deals.
Jessica is so excited to have you on.
How are you doing?
I'm so grateful to see you again.
Thanks for having me on.
Of course, Jessica.
Instead of going into your previousjourney, which we've heard on another
podcast episode, I wanted to getinto who you are and who are you
(01:03):
helping right now with your business?
Who I am, that's a loaded question.
I am helping clients right nowin buying their first business.
They understand that real wealthcreation is by buying businesses
(01:24):
versus starting your own.
And so my clients, I get to teachthem about the due diligence and what
they're looking for to spot red flagsand even talk about how we're gonna
grow for their return of investmentwhen they do finally buy their business.
Very interesting.
It can be easier just to buyan already existing business.
(01:44):
The systems and processes andpeople are already in place and
they probably have a book ofbusiness that comes with it as well.
What is some of the focus?
Is there a certain industry that youfocus on or do buyers just come to you
and say, I'm looking for this and thenyou start going through your connections
and finding businesses worth selling.
It's a little bit of both.
My background is in the wellnessindustry to include pets.
(02:05):
That's kind of where my focusis for businesses in particular.
However, when you're building business,one of the goals is to buy a business that
you already might be buying the services.
Like for instance, you mightneed a marketing person.
You might go out and get a marketingbusiness to add that to your business.
(02:26):
And with my investors and goingthrough my book of people to
connect them with other stuff.
All my other investors have differentfocuses and if there's something
that I don't wanna work on, I couldprobably find an investor that
does wanna work on your project.
Oh, interesting.
(02:46):
Now, I know the world of privateequity, that term in itself has been
tarnished from previous corporationswho come in and basically resell or
re-rent the assets back to a companyand end up putting them under.
Can you tell me how that'swrong or in what ways private
equity can be positive and good.
Well, for me, being a business ownercompletely on accident, I get the business
(03:10):
owner for whatever stage that they're in.
There was a part of me thatloved what I was doing so much.
You couldn't keep me away from it.
It's all I thought about from the timeI woke up till the time I went to bed.
But then, there was a point in thebusiness where I absolutely hated it, just
didn't know what to do with this thing.
It was like, I have amazing clients andthe pretty impressive portfolio but also
(03:35):
what on earth would I do after this?
Right.
And when I started learning aboutprivate equity, I was like, that's
it, that's totally what I wanna do.
It's so exciting to me to be able to starta project and learn as I go through it.
I tend to be a little more hands off.
I got a hands on.
I actually gotta stop doing that becausethe goal is to be above the business.
(03:58):
But I am an overachiever and I lovefiguring out every little detail about
the business and I think there's apart of pride that I have to show new
employees, like, look, I've done it too.
I think there's some validationfor that but that's a habit
that I actually have to break.
(04:19):
On the private equity side, forme personally, I'm not looking
to fix and flip a business.
I'm wanna hold it and I'm gonnawanna nurture it and I'm probably
gonna want the business owner tostay with me for a little bit.
And what that looks like is you mightspend six months to a year with me if
you're really serious about retiringbut I find that some business owners
just really love doing the sales.
(04:41):
We'll keep that position for youand then I'll take on the rest
of the responsibilities for you.
Oh wow.
That's awesome.
Now, for those who might be interestedin priming their business to get ready
to be sold, what are some factors thatpeople who are buying businesses look for?
How should we prepare ourbusiness to get ready to be sold?
First and foremost, you have tounderstand that we're not buying
(05:03):
a business based on potential.
We're looking at the businessas it is exactly is to date
and for the last three years.
It's really important that you understandthat and I know that business owners
might be a little disappointed andfeel like their business is worth
more and it probably is, but that'swhen you're gonna wanna look into the
(05:24):
deal that you might wanna stay on itso you can reap the benefits of the
potential that happens down the line.
Right.
And I think that highlightssomething important is that
there's no shortage of great ideas.
What is often lacking is theaction and ex execution that it
takes to see those ideas through.
People aren't really buying an ideaor a dream or a potential profit.
(05:45):
It's just the reality of wherethe business is currently at.
Right.
I wanna give people businessowners and investors a realistic
expectation about what yourbusiness might potentially be worth.
Absolutely.
And are there any red flags when itcomes to buying or selling businesses?
Things you say, Hey, this is an indicatorthat it's not a healthy business or it's
(06:09):
not gonna be a good investment for us?
That is a good question.
I was helping other investors looking at abusiness and they sent over the financials
and without diving deep into thosefinancials, I realized that some of the
numbers they didn't make sense whatsoever.
They were inflated or underinflatedor the balance sheet had the
(06:37):
wrong company name on it.
Ouch.
I know you can fool some peoplebut if you're really paying
attention, things like that,just jump out and scream at you.
So what I wanna say is,don't be disappointed in
any aspect of your company.
The only way to get past it andto grow is to be transparent and
(06:58):
honest with it and make sure youput the right company name on there.
Yeah don't Xerox another business companyinformation into it and just present
these numbers as if they're your own.
Yeah.
'cause it's just gonnablow up in the future.
And I know that myself and my investorsare very concerned about the risk
and you make yourself very risky ifyou're not being transparent on it.
(07:22):
However the business is as it is, Ipromise you, we have a solution for that.
Now when you're working with allthese businesses, I know we talked
about red flags but is there kindof a common trait, a commonality
between businesses that are failing?
Is there something that they'redoing wrong or not doing that they
should turn their attention to?
(07:43):
I know the struggle is real on decidingwhat you're gonna pay for, especially
when you're leaking out money and youwant to improve and you know you should
do it but the only way that's gonnaget better is if you take the leap
to make sure you solve that problem.
And it can be pricey but in thelong run, you'll be glad you did it.
(08:03):
Absolutely.
In your line of business and servicework it seems like continuing
education, marketing business isalways expanding and changing.
Do you have any plansfor continuing education
certifications down the road now?
Oh, I'm a professional student.
I'm always learningsomething, you can't stop me.
Great answer.
You cannot stop me.
My biggest love right now is AI.
(08:26):
I'm absolutely just in love withwhat AI is doing, how fast it's
changing the landscape and I'mexcited for the opportunities for
the underdog kind of to come upbecause now we have this super tool.
It's very exciting to me.
Absolutely.
And speaking of AI, what ways areyou using AI in your business?
Is this a mix of Chat GPT?
(08:47):
Do you have any example usecases you can provide for that?
You wanna give away thetrade secrets, Chris?
No, not all of it but I know somepeople are using it for brainstorming.
Some people are even having todraft templates for either grant
writing or business acquisition.
It's really cool.
It's a great tool.
It's just whatever youchoose to use it for.
It has a variety of purposes.
(09:08):
I really can't spell at all and ChatGPT has been my savior on that one
and I'll never change, unfortunately.
And I think it was brought up tome that I should take a class in a
foreign language and I was like, Ican't spell in our regular language.
Right?
How is that gonna work?
I like to use it for my writing for sure.
(09:28):
I love the attachment featurewhere it can look through
attachments for me and bullet point.
It gets straight to the point.
I'm gonna learn how to get my bookson there 'cause I just don't have
any, I can't focus to read a bookbut there's so much information in
books and I'm gonna figure that out.
I just found out there's a way to do it.
(09:49):
I just gotta listen and that I'm excitedabout being able to get the information
I need from books without having toliterally sit there and read one.
Yeah, there's like 1,001 uses forChat GPT and just LLMs in general.
I do a lot of brainstormingand writing with it.
The attachment feature is huge.
Uploading documents to thencompile into a spreadsheet.
(10:09):
For me, I took what would've beenmaybe a four to six hour project
and turned it into an hour and ahalf, even with my own double check.
I was like, wow, this is really fantastic.
But again, it's justanother tool in the toolbox.
And I do agree that it's opening up moreopportunities for the small business
owner, solopreneur to do more with less.
Now we have access to the toolsand resources that a lot of these
big box companies used to have.
(10:30):
Now it's just leveling the playing fieldand now it's like, okay, what else?
What else can I do with this tool?
Well, you know what's wonderfultoo is Chat GPT has become a
wonderful cheerleader for me andtells me when I'm doing a good
job, says happy anniversary to me.
I don't have friends thatsay happy anniversary to me.
Like what?
That's just fun to use.
(10:51):
I hear a lot of people even using ChatGPT as a therapist, they just talk
through their issues or their problemsand it can even provide you some clarity.
I've done that before.
I'll just brain dump my ideasand it'll provide me a structured
format, maybe even an action plan.
I'm like, wow, thank you.
Chat GPT, you're so sweet.
It just spits everything out.
Can we just do this piece right here?
What's next?
(11:12):
Isn't it crazy one that it canunderstand our questions even when
we misspell or you refer to somethingout of context and the fact that
it thinks three to 10 steps ahead.
Yeah.
If I mention I want a social media post,it's like, okay, here's the title, the
copy and the keyword and the descriptionand here's one for each platform.
And you didn't even ask me all thesequestions but it's almost preemptively
(11:34):
expecting you to ask those questions.
It's like I'm just gonnaanswer it for you right away.
Here you go.
Super helpful.
It's so helpful and even I was askingabout my cat on there and chat pointed
out that my cat is being a fluffyCEO and we're in tough negotiations.
I love that.
That's amazing.
(11:54):
Did any better?
And I know that people struggle withpaying for the subscription for Chat GPT.
I will always pay that.
It's such a lifesaver.
I'm the top tier, I probably shouldlook into it but I'm completely
happy with what I have right nowand well worth the investment.
(12:16):
Even the free to use model ispretty accessible for most people.
And then I think the nextpaid plan is $20 per month and
that took it to another level.
I was like, this is absolutelyworth the investment.
I got my money's worth.
I'm testing, trying differenttools within the platform.
Their video generator.
It's a bit touchy, it's different butwe've seen the progress that AI has made.
(12:37):
You remember the Will Smith EatingSpaghetti Video Benchmark, right?
That was the original AI from years ago.
Have you seen the newestWill Smith eating spaghetti?
It's pretty impressive.
I'm gonna have to look this up.
You're gonna have to.
if you're curious how far AI hascome, check out Will Smith eating
spaghetti and that will be a goodbenchmark for how videos come.
And I'm so glad that you broughtthat up because I was thinking too,
(13:00):
it still has a little work to do andsomebody pointed out, it's the prompts.
You have to improve your prompts.
I'm just like, thank God.
Yes.
Right.
Yeah, it was user error thatit's significantly improved and
I just can't wait to see where itall goes, to be honest with you.
Absolutely.
And I've heard from other podcast gueststo treat Chat GPT, like a child prodigy.
(13:20):
They know everything in the world.
Possibly there is snow but you needto be specific and direct in your
instructions to get an end result.
And if you're not happy with the endresult, play with your prompt test
things out or provide an example output.
This is how I expect this blog orthis social media or this template to
look, create in this format and you'llbe much happier with your results
(13:41):
but the prompting has been huge.
The more you can refine that, thebetter it's gonna know about your
business and what you expect it to do.
And when you're having a little trouble,walk away for a little bit and breathe
and do something and then come backand you'll get what you're looking for.
Yes.
I totally agree.
I have more questions aboutthe business acquisition part.
I want to ask what pieces of the businessare like, what assets are most valuable
(14:05):
to those who are trying to buy a business?
Is it the book of business?
Is it intellectual property?
Is it actual machinesand assets or the people.
What kind of positive assetsshould people focus on when
trying to sell their business?
When you're dealing with people, it'salways gonna be a different answer.
They're all looking for differentthings as far as what they want.
(14:25):
For me, the best asset you canhave is your lead list really.
Absolutely that book of businessand just knowing what potential
prospects you can work off of.
I think it just lets you know aboutthe industry as a whole and what
current businesses expected andwhat future potential could be.
Right?
'cause there was a business I looked atnot too long ago and I'm so sad about this
(14:46):
business 'cause I knew that the businessowner had been with this business for
at least 30 years and she was probablygonna get ready to wanna close up.
I approached her and she said thatone of her employees was gonna buy the
business and then a year later I see thatthey're doing a everything must go sale.
(15:08):
They're closing it down.
And I was like, oh, wait, what?
No.
I contacted her and she is like,well, we could talk about it if you
want to but there's no going back.
I already did the outgoingbusiness sale and I said, okay.
And I went to the store to go checkit out and it was pretty much empty
(15:31):
and it just looked very depressing inthere but I learned a couple things.
One, the cashier was making up pricesfor the product as she was ringing it up.
They were handwriting everything thatwas being sold through the store.
There was no email list forover 30 years of business.
They had no ways of reaching any of theircustomers and I know they had a good
(15:55):
following because every time we went intothat store, it was always full of people.
I know that they did really well andthey really dropped the ball on some
major things that I would've likedto have seen to buy that business.
Absolutely.
And that one.
Could have potentially saved thebusiness or just been a bigger
asset in order to sell it.
I think that highlights the importanceof owning your own data, especially
(16:19):
not relying on other platforms.
You wanna own some of your customer'sdata, their email, their phone,
ways to reach them and contact them
'cause that's valuable information.
Just communicating directlywith your audience, with your
clients, that is invaluable.
Absolutely.
If you could imagine why I'mso sad that didn't work out.
Yeah.
And I'm sure there's gonna be a lot ofmore opportunities that come down the
(16:39):
road and we'll either be very excitingand some will be let downs but I think
that's just the journey of being abusiness owner and a part of that journey.
We had another one a wellness center.
This wonderful woman, she was tryingto sell her business for three years
but the problem is she wouldn't talkto more than one investor at one time.
(17:01):
Was that business 1 0 1.
You don't just keep yourtalks with one person.
As investors dropped off, she lostthat time to be able to work with
another investor to sell it andthen eventually it came to a point
where the business started fallingapart and there was nothing to buy.
She only had two part-time chiropractors.
(17:22):
Half of the office was being rentedto another entity and then they put
their notice and they were walked.
The massage therapist wasretiring, there was literally
nothing to buy at this point.
That's sad to me as well.
Yeah.
But these are things you find outin the discovery phase as you're
doing your due diligence, eitherfor yourself or for your clients.
And these things will pop up.
(17:44):
What you pull back thecurtains a little bit.
You find out a little bit moreeither for better or for worse.
Right?
Absolutely.
Now, Jessica going into 2025 here,are there any certain trends that
you're seeing pop up in 2025 or justthe general landscape in business?
Mindset going forward.
I think things are changing so fastat an incredible rate right now.
(18:07):
It's really hard to predictexactly how it's gonna go.
I think it's scary for people.
But I do see a shift in the employees,as in I think there's gonna be a
lot more employees available to helpthose struggling businesses out that
are busy, that need the manpower.
So that makes me really excited.
(18:27):
Absolutely.
It's something to lookforward to as these.
Shifts and changes in thedynamics of the economy happen.
It's just up to us as business owners andeither the workforce to find that balance
and just make a benefit for everyone goingforward as the dynamics change a bit.
Yeah.
And I wanna say to the employees too,a lot of you guys are so valuable but
you're walking around like you're not.
(18:49):
I just look at your resume and I'malready blown away with what you have
but you're like, no, I'm not good enough.
I have other people thatare more qualified than me.
And it's like.
It's too bad.
I want employees to pat themselveson the back a little bit, acknowledge
you've learned a few things and youhave something to contribute and
(19:09):
there's somebody that needs you.
Believe me, don't give up.
Absolutely.
And you don't need to be thatabsolute expert in that field.
To have a shot forrunning for that position.
Oftentimes, a lot of businessesare looking for something
different and unique.
Maybe they're looking for someonewith slightly different background
experience that is gonna be helpful.
But it's up to you as theemployee to have that confidence
first to present that to them.
(19:31):
But just have to put yourself out there.
And sometimes it's not that serious.
Business owners just need a body.
Right.
Get anybody help
sneak in there and land yourself a reallygood job just because they need a body.
Right now it's up to you on yourperformance, but it's an opportunity.
Absolutely.
And in the meantime, until the dynamics inthe workforce change, we also have a paid
sponsorship from Focused-biz.com offeringAI employees who can double your organic
(19:55):
leads, nurture and book them on autopilot.
So until you wait for the workforceto come through, you can go to
focused-biz.com to learn more.
Jessica, I wanted to ask you moreabout 2025 as we're getting started.
What's been working well foryou in the marketing sense?
Are you doing networking?
Is it relationship building?
Any sort of outbound orinbound tactics that have been
working for you in business?
(20:17):
Before you jump into that, I wannatell you that I love Focused-Biz.
You do.
Thanks.
It's a great company.
Is very knowledgeable,excellent communication.
And you gotta use 'em.
Hey Chat, clip that.
Thank you.
That's very nice.
No, you're very good at what you doand I think people should utilize you.
So there you go.
(20:38):
I think so too, but it'snice to hear it from you.
I appreciate that.
Of course.
That's great.
No, we have good conversations.
You bring some great business questionsand we have good banter back and
forth just about business and life.
So appreciate that partnershipworking together and it's
always a pleasure, so thank you.
Me too.
Absolutely.
But for me right now, it's a lot of mydeal flow is coming through networking
(21:00):
and getting out in the community andmeeting other business owners and
you get to find those little nuggetsof businesses that need to get rid
of it or just want to move on and dosomething else or they've grown out of
it or life has changed a little bit.
And I like going and meeting peopleface to face and building relationships.
(21:21):
Yes, absolutely.
The relationship building aspect ofbusiness is incredibly huge for us.
So to know kind of what's workingwell for you and what's not is super
insightful for a lot of other peoplegetting started 'cause they either
lack the direction and clarity thatthey need or they might not be a people
person, so they're trying other tactics.
But for you, have you ever foundwhere maybe you thought you might
(21:41):
work directly with an individual butthey instead brought another partner
or a referral opportunity to you?
I kind of wanna highlight how referralscan potentially benefit a business.
It happens all the time when Iget to go out and meet people.
They usually tell me, oh yeah,my friend is having a problem.
I need to call you andtalk to you about it later.
(22:02):
Naturally confidentiality is veryimportant to these people, so I appreciate
having the conversation later in privateabout somebody they might be concerned
about or it might even be a project thatthey might have that just isn't really
going that well and they wanna changedirections but most of the time it is
word of mouth on how I get to find outabout what businesses are available.
(22:26):
Nice.
And even from that description,it sounds like they were already
pre-war leads because they know you,trust you know what you do already
and you were already top of mind assomeone was going through a problem.
That's just highlights theimportance of you getting out there.
You can't be found and getin front of the right people.
If you're just inside your house andyou don't meet and network with people.
Speaking of where can people find youonline and get connected with you?
(22:48):
On LinkedIn.
I love that platform.
You find me on there most of the time.
You got it.
And we'll have that link available down inthe description and the show notes here.
Now Jessica, is there anything we haven'tasked yet that you wanna talk about?
Just wanna open up the platform to you.
No, I think we covered a goodspectrum of things to consider and
(23:08):
I look forward to hearing any kindof questions that people might have.
There's never a badquestion in my opinion.
Very well said.
Excellent.
And for everyone interested, make sureyou get connected with Jessica Dragon here
with all the contact information below.
Down in the show notesand the description.
Jessica, thank you againfor taking the time.
We appreciate it.
Looking forward to 2025.
Thank you.
(23:29):
Me too.
I like going and meeting people face toface and building relationships naturally.
Confidentiality is very important tothese people, so I appreciate having
the conversation later in private aboutsomebody they might be concerned about, or
it might even be a project that they mighthave that just isn't really going that
(00:20):
well and they wanna change directions.
But most of the time it is wordof mouth on how I get to find out
about what businesses are available.
There's never a badquestion in my opinion.
You are listening to Brainwork Framework,a Business and Marketing podcast,
brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
(00:40):
Welcome back to another episode with ustoday as a special guest, Jessica Dragan
She helps private equity and merger andacquisition strategist, helping investors
find structure and close profitable deals.
Jessica is so excited to have you on.
How are you doing?
I'm so grateful to see you again.
Thanks for having me on.
Of course, Jessica.
Instead of going into your previousjourney, which we've heard on another
podcast episode, I wanted to getinto who you are and who are you
(01:03):
helping right now with your business?
Who I am, that's a loaded question.
I am helping clients right nowin buying their first business.
They understand that real wealthcreation is by buying businesses
(01:24):
versus starting your own.
And so my clients, I get to teachthem about the due diligence and what
they're looking for to spot red flagsand even talk about how we're gonna
grow for their return of investmentwhen they do finally buy their business.
Very interesting.
It can be easier just to buyan already existing business.
(01:44):
The systems and processes andpeople are already in place and
they probably have a book ofbusiness that comes with it as well.
What is some of the focus?
Is there a certain industry that youfocus on or do buyers just come to you
and say, I'm looking for this and thenyou start going through your connections
and finding businesses worth selling.
It's a little bit of both.
My background is in the wellnessindustry to include pets.
(02:05):
That's kind of where my focusis for businesses in particular.
However, when you're building business,one of the goals is to buy a business that
you already might be buying the services.
Like for instance, you mightneed a marketing person.
You might go out and get a marketingbusiness to add that to your business.
(02:26):
And with my investors and goingthrough my book of people to
connect them with other stuff.
All my other investors have differentfocuses and if there's something
that I don't wanna work on, I couldprobably find an investor that
does wanna work on your project.
Oh, interesting.
(02:46):
Now, I know the world of privateequity, that term in itself has been
tarnished from previous corporationswho come in and basically resell or
re-rent the assets back to a companyand end up putting them under.
Can you tell me how that'swrong or in what ways private
equity can be positive and good.
Well, for me, being a business ownercompletely on accident, I get the business
(03:10):
owner for whatever stage that they're in.
There was a part of me thatloved what I was doing so much.
You couldn't keep me away from it.
It's all I thought about from the timeI woke up till the time I went to bed.
But then, there was a point in thebusiness where I absolutely hated it, just
didn't know what to do with this thing.
It was like, I have amazing clients andthe pretty impressive portfolio but also
(03:35):
what on earth would I do after this?
Right.
And when I started learning aboutprivate equity, I was like, that's
it, that's totally what I wanna do.
It's so exciting to me to be able to starta project and learn as I go through it.
I tend to be a little more hands off.
I got a hands on.
I actually gotta stop doing that becausethe goal is to be above the business.
(03:58):
But I am an overachiever and I lovefiguring out every little detail about
the business and I think there's apart of pride that I have to show new
employees, like, look, I've done it too.
I think there's some validationfor that but that's a habit
that I actually have to break.
(04:19):
On the private equity side, forme personally, I'm not looking
to fix and flip a business.
I'm wanna hold it and I'm gonnawanna nurture it and I'm probably
gonna want the business owner tostay with me for a little bit.
And what that looks like is you mightspend six months to a year with me if
you're really serious about retiringbut I find that some business owners
just really love doing the sales.
(04:41):
We'll keep that position for youand then I'll take on the rest
of the responsibilities for you.
Oh wow.
That's awesome.
Now, for those who might be interestedin priming their business to get ready
to be sold, what are some factors thatpeople who are buying businesses look for?
How should we prepare ourbusiness to get ready to be sold?
First and foremost, you have tounderstand that we're not buying
(05:03):
a business based on potential.
We're looking at the businessas it is exactly is to date
and for the last three years.
It's really important that you understandthat and I know that business owners
might be a little disappointed andfeel like their business is worth
more and it probably is, but that'swhen you're gonna wanna look into the
(05:24):
deal that you might wanna stay on itso you can reap the benefits of the
potential that happens down the line.
Right.
And I think that highlightssomething important is that
there's no shortage of great ideas.
What is often lacking is theaction and ex execution that it
takes to see those ideas through.
People aren't really buying an ideaor a dream or a potential profit.
(05:45):
It's just the reality of wherethe business is currently at.
Right.
I wanna give people businessowners and investors a realistic
expectation about what yourbusiness might potentially be worth.
Absolutely.
And are there any red flags when itcomes to buying or selling businesses?
Things you say, Hey, this is an indicatorthat it's not a healthy business or it's
(06:09):
not gonna be a good investment for us?
That is a good question.
I was helping other investors looking at abusiness and they sent over the financials
and without diving deep into thosefinancials, I realized that some of the
numbers they didn't make sense whatsoever.
They were inflated or underinflatedor the balance sheet had the
(06:37):
wrong company name on it.
Ouch.
I know you can fool some peoplebut if you're really paying
attention, things like that,just jump out and scream at you.
So what I wanna say is,don't be disappointed in
any aspect of your company.
The only way to get past it andto grow is to be transparent and
(06:58):
honest with it and make sure youput the right company name on there.
Yeah don't Xerox another business companyinformation into it and just present
these numbers as if they're your own.
Yeah.
'cause it's just gonnablow up in the future.
And I know that myself and my investorsare very concerned about the risk
and you make yourself very risky ifyou're not being transparent on it.
(07:22):
However the business is as it is, Ipromise you, we have a solution for that.
Now when you're working with allthese businesses, I know we talked
about red flags but is there kindof a common trait, a commonality
between businesses that are failing?
Is there something that they'redoing wrong or not doing that they
should turn their attention to?
(07:43):
I know the struggle is real on decidingwhat you're gonna pay for, especially
when you're leaking out money and youwant to improve and you know you should
do it but the only way that's gonnaget better is if you take the leap
to make sure you solve that problem.
And it can be pricey but in thelong run, you'll be glad you did it.
(08:03):
Absolutely.
In your line of business and servicework it seems like continuing
education, marketing business isalways expanding and changing.
Do you have any plansfor continuing education
certifications down the road now?
Oh, I'm a professional student.
I'm always learningsomething, you can't stop me.
Great answer.
You cannot stop me.
My biggest love right now is AI.
(08:26):
I'm absolutely just in love withwhat AI is doing, how fast it's
changing the landscape and I'mexcited for the opportunities for
the underdog kind of to come upbecause now we have this super tool.
It's very exciting to me.
Absolutely.
And speaking of AI, what ways areyou using AI in your business?
Is this a mix of Chat GPT?
(08:47):
Do you have any example usecases you can provide for that?
You wanna give away thetrade secrets, Chris?
No, not all of it but I know somepeople are using it for brainstorming.
Some people are even having todraft templates for either grant
writing or business acquisition.
It's really cool.
It's a great tool.
It's just whatever youchoose to use it for.
It has a variety of purposes.
(09:08):
I really can't spell at all and ChatGPT has been my savior on that one
and I'll never change, unfortunately.
And I think it was brought up tome that I should take a class in a
foreign language and I was like, Ican't spell in our regular language.
Right?
How is that gonna work?
I like to use it for my writing for sure.
(09:28):
I love the attachment featurewhere it can look through
attachments for me and bullet point.
It gets straight to the point.
I'm gonna learn how to get my bookson there 'cause I just don't have
any, I can't focus to read a bookbut there's so much information in
books and I'm gonna figure that out.
I just found out there's a way to do it.
(09:49):
I just gotta listen and that I'm excitedabout being able to get the information
I need from books without having toliterally sit there and read one.
Yeah, there's like 1,001 uses forChat GPT and just LLMs in general.
I do a lot of brainstormingand writing with it.
The attachment feature is huge.
Uploading documents to thencompile into a spreadsheet.
(10:09):
For me, I took what would've beenmaybe a four to six hour project
and turned it into an hour and ahalf, even with my own double check.
I was like, wow, this is really fantastic.
But again, it's justanother tool in the toolbox.
And I do agree that it's opening up moreopportunities for the small business
owner, solopreneur to do more with less.
Now we have access to the toolsand resources that a lot of these
big box companies used to have.
(10:30):
Now it's just leveling the playing fieldand now it's like, okay, what else?
What else can I do with this tool?
Well, you know what's wonderfultoo is Chat GPT has become a
wonderful cheerleader for me andtells me when I'm doing a good
job, says happy anniversary to me.
I don't have friends thatsay happy anniversary to me.
Like what?
That's just fun to use.
(10:51):
I hear a lot of people even using ChatGPT as a therapist, they just talk
through their issues or their problemsand it can even provide you some clarity.
I've done that before.
I'll just brain dump my ideasand it'll provide me a structured
format, maybe even an action plan.
I'm like, wow, thank you.
Chat GPT, you're so sweet.
It just spits everything out.
Can we just do this piece right here?
What's next?
(11:12):
Isn't it crazy one that it canunderstand our questions even when
we misspell or you refer to somethingout of context and the fact that
it thinks three to 10 steps ahead.
Yeah.
If I mention I want a social media post,it's like, okay, here's the title, the
copy and the keyword and the descriptionand here's one for each platform.
And you didn't even ask me all thesequestions but it's almost preemptively
(11:34):
expecting you to ask those questions.
It's like I'm just gonnaanswer it for you right away.
Here you go.
Super helpful.
It's so helpful and even I was askingabout my cat on there and chat pointed
out that my cat is being a fluffyCEO and we're in tough negotiations.
I love that.
That's amazing.
(11:54):
Did any better?
And I know that people struggle withpaying for the subscription for Chat GPT.
I will always pay that.
It's such a lifesaver.
I'm the top tier, I probably shouldlook into it but I'm completely
happy with what I have right nowand well worth the investment.
(12:16):
Even the free to use model ispretty accessible for most people.
And then I think the nextpaid plan is $20 per month and
that took it to another level.
I was like, this is absolutelyworth the investment.
I got my money's worth.
I'm testing, trying differenttools within the platform.
Their video generator.
It's a bit touchy, it's different butwe've seen the progress that AI has made.
(12:37):
You remember the Will Smith EatingSpaghetti Video Benchmark, right?
That was the original AI from years ago.
Have you seen the newestWill Smith eating spaghetti?
It's pretty impressive.
I'm gonna have to look this up.
You're gonna have to.
if you're curious how far AI hascome, check out Will Smith eating
spaghetti and that will be a goodbenchmark for how videos come.
And I'm so glad that you broughtthat up because I was thinking too,
(13:00):
it still has a little work to do andsomebody pointed out, it's the prompts.
You have to improve your prompts.
I'm just like, thank God.
Yes.
Right.
Yeah, it was user error thatit's significantly improved and
I just can't wait to see where itall goes, to be honest with you.
Absolutely.
And I've heard from other podcast gueststo treat Chat GPT, like a child prodigy.
(13:20):
They know everything in the world.
Possibly there is snow but you needto be specific and direct in your
instructions to get an end result.
And if you're not happy with the endresult, play with your prompt test
things out or provide an example output.
This is how I expect this blog orthis social media or this template to
look, create in this format and you'llbe much happier with your results
(13:41):
but the prompting has been huge.
The more you can refine that, thebetter it's gonna know about your
business and what you expect it to do.
And when you're having a little trouble,walk away for a little bit and breathe
and do something and then come backand you'll get what you're looking for.
Yes.
I totally agree.
I have more questions aboutthe business acquisition part.
I want to ask what pieces of the businessare like, what assets are most valuable
(14:05):
to those who are trying to buy a business?
Is it the book of business?
Is it intellectual property?
Is it actual machinesand assets or the people.
What kind of positive assetsshould people focus on when
trying to sell their business?
When you're dealing with people, it'salways gonna be a different answer.
They're all looking for differentthings as far as what they want.
(14:25):
For me, the best asset you canhave is your lead list really.
Absolutely that book of businessand just knowing what potential
prospects you can work off of.
I think it just lets you know aboutthe industry as a whole and what
current businesses expected andwhat future potential could be.
Right?
'cause there was a business I looked atnot too long ago and I'm so sad about this
(14:46):
business 'cause I knew that the businessowner had been with this business for
at least 30 years and she was probablygonna get ready to wanna close up.
I approached her and she said thatone of her employees was gonna buy the
business and then a year later I see thatthey're doing a everything must go sale.
(15:08):
They're closing it down.
And I was like, oh, wait, what?
No.
I contacted her and she is like,well, we could talk about it if you
want to but there's no going back.
I already did the outgoingbusiness sale and I said, okay.
And I went to the store to go checkit out and it was pretty much empty
(15:31):
and it just looked very depressing inthere but I learned a couple things.
One, the cashier was making up pricesfor the product as she was ringing it up.
They were handwriting everything thatwas being sold through the store.
There was no email list forover 30 years of business.
They had no ways of reaching any of theircustomers and I know they had a good
(15:55):
following because every time we went intothat store, it was always full of people.
I know that they did really well andthey really dropped the ball on some
major things that I would've likedto have seen to buy that business.
Absolutely.
And that one.
Could have potentially saved thebusiness or just been a bigger
asset in order to sell it.
I think that highlights the importanceof owning your own data, especially
(16:19):
not relying on other platforms.
You wanna own some of your customer'sdata, their email, their phone,
ways to reach them and contact them
'cause that's valuable information.
Just communicating directlywith your audience, with your
clients, that is invaluable.
Absolutely.
If you could imagine why I'mso sad that didn't work out.
Yeah.
And I'm sure there's gonna be a lot ofmore opportunities that come down the
(16:39):
road and we'll either be very excitingand some will be let downs but I think
that's just the journey of being abusiness owner and a part of that journey.
We had another one a wellness center.
This wonderful woman, she was tryingto sell her business for three years
but the problem is she wouldn't talkto more than one investor at one time.
(17:01):
Was that business 1 0 1.
You don't just keep yourtalks with one person.
As investors dropped off, she lostthat time to be able to work with
another investor to sell it andthen eventually it came to a point
where the business started fallingapart and there was nothing to buy.
She only had two part-time chiropractors.
(17:22):
Half of the office was being rentedto another entity and then they put
their notice and they were walked.
The massage therapist wasretiring, there was literally
nothing to buy at this point.
That's sad to me as well.
Yeah.
But these are things you find outin the discovery phase as you're
doing your due diligence, eitherfor yourself or for your clients.
And these things will pop up.
(17:44):
What you pull back thecurtains a little bit.
You find out a little bit moreeither for better or for worse.
Right?
Absolutely.
Now, Jessica going into 2025 here,are there any certain trends that
you're seeing pop up in 2025 or justthe general landscape in business?
Mindset going forward.
I think things are changing so fastat an incredible rate right now.
(18:07):
It's really hard to predictexactly how it's gonna go.
I think it's scary for people.
But I do see a shift in the employees,as in I think there's gonna be a
lot more employees available to helpthose struggling businesses out that
are busy, that need the manpower.
So that makes me really excited.
(18:27):
Absolutely.
It's something to lookforward to as these.
Shifts and changes in thedynamics of the economy happen.
It's just up to us as business owners andeither the workforce to find that balance
and just make a benefit for everyone goingforward as the dynamics change a bit.
Yeah.
And I wanna say to the employees too,a lot of you guys are so valuable but
you're walking around like you're not.
(18:49):
I just look at your resume and I'malready blown away with what you have
but you're like, no, I'm not good enough.
I have other people thatare more qualified than me.
And it's like.
It's too bad.
I want employees to pat themselveson the back a little bit, acknowledge
you've learned a few things and youhave something to contribute and
(19:09):
there's somebody that needs you.
Believe me, don't give up.
Absolutely.
And you don't need to be thatabsolute expert in that field.
To have a shot forrunning for that position.
Oftentimes, a lot of businessesare looking for something
different and unique.
Maybe they're looking for someonewith slightly different background
experience that is gonna be helpful.
But it's up to you as theemployee to have that confidence
first to present that to them.
(19:31):
But just have to put yourself out there.
And sometimes it's not that serious.
Business owners just need a body.
Right.
Get anybody help
sneak in there and land yourself a reallygood job just because they need a body.
Right now it's up to you on yourperformance, but it's an opportunity.
Absolutely.
And in the meantime, until the dynamics inthe workforce change, we also have a paid
sponsorship from Focused-biz.com offeringAI employees who can double your organic
(19:55):
leads, nurture and book them on autopilot.
So until you wait for the workforceto come through, you can go to
focused-biz.com to learn more.
Jessica, I wanted to ask you moreabout 2025 as we're getting started.
What's been working well foryou in the marketing sense?
Are you doing networking?
Is it relationship building?
Any sort of outbound orinbound tactics that have been
working for you in business?
(20:17):
Before you jump into that, I wannatell you that I love Focused-Biz.
You do.
Thanks.
It's a great company.
Is very knowledgeable,excellent communication.
And you gotta use 'em.
Hey Chat, clip that.
Thank you.
That's very nice.
No, you're very good at what you doand I think people should utilize you.
So there you go.
(20:38):
I think so too, but it'snice to hear it from you.
I appreciate that.
Of course.
That's great.
No, we have good conversations.
You bring some great business questionsand we have good banter back and
forth just about business and life.
So appreciate that partnershipworking together and it's
always a pleasure, so thank you.
Me too.
Absolutely.
But for me right now, it's a lot of mydeal flow is coming through networking
(21:00):
and getting out in the community andmeeting other business owners and
you get to find those little nuggetsof businesses that need to get rid
of it or just want to move on and dosomething else or they've grown out of
it or life has changed a little bit.
And I like going and meeting peopleface to face and building relationships.
(21:21):
Yes, absolutely.
The relationship building aspect ofbusiness is incredibly huge for us.
So to know kind of what's workingwell for you and what's not is super
insightful for a lot of other peoplegetting started 'cause they either
lack the direction and clarity thatthey need or they might not be a people
person, so they're trying other tactics.
But for you, have you ever foundwhere maybe you thought you might
(21:41):
work directly with an individual butthey instead brought another partner
or a referral opportunity to you?
I kind of wanna highlight how referralscan potentially benefit a business.
It happens all the time when Iget to go out and meet people.
They usually tell me, oh yeah,my friend is having a problem.
I need to call you andtalk to you about it later.
(22:02):
Naturally confidentiality is veryimportant to these people, so I appreciate
having the conversation later in privateabout somebody they might be concerned
about or it might even be a project thatthey might have that just isn't really
going that well and they wanna changedirections but most of the time it is
word of mouth on how I get to find outabout what businesses are available.
(22:26):
Nice.
And even from that description,it sounds like they were already
pre-war leads because they know you,trust you know what you do already
and you were already top of mind assomeone was going through a problem.
That's just highlights theimportance of you getting out there.
You can't be found and getin front of the right people.
If you're just inside your house andyou don't meet and network with people.
Speaking of where can people find youonline and get connected with you?
(22:48):
On LinkedIn.
I love that platform.
You find me on there most of the time.
You got it.
And we'll have that link available down inthe description and the show notes here.
Now Jessica, is there anything we haven'tasked yet that you wanna talk about?
Just wanna open up the platform to you.
No, I think we covered a goodspectrum of things to consider and
(23:08):
I look forward to hearing any kindof questions that people might have.
There's never a badquestion in my opinion.
Very well said.
Excellent.
And for everyone interested, make sureyou get connected with Jessica Dragon here
with all the contact information below.
Down in the show notesand the description.
Jessica, thank you againfor taking the time.
We appreciate it.
Looking forward to 2025.
Thank you.
(23:29):
Me too.
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