The post Episode #5: The Hidden Costs of Waiting Too Long to Sell Your Business appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>- What’s the biggest misconception small business owners have about selling their business?
- You use the term ‘Exit Factor.’ What does that mean in plain English for a business doing $1–5 million in revenue?
- When is the right time for a small business owner to start preparing for an exit?
- How does owner dependence impact valuation, and what’s the fastest way to reduce it?
- What’s the most common financial mistake owners make before selling?
- What determines value more than EBITDA for small businesses?
- What emotional mistake do owners make that ends up costing them the most money?
- How have buyers changed in the last few years, especially private equity versus individual buyers?
- What advice do you have for owners who don’t plan to sell but may be forced to?
- If you could give small business owners just three actions that increase exit value, what would they be?
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]]>The post Episode #4: Is Selling Your Parents’ Business Like Selling Your Family Home? appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>My guest is Michelle Pippin who is the Founder & CEO of Women Who WOW, an online community and coaching platform for ambitious women entrepreneurs.
She talks about navigating the sale of her family’s multi-million dollar construction business after a personal loss. Michelle shares the challenges of maintaining operations, negotiating with buyers, and ensuring a smooth transition for employees and clients. She emphasizes the importance of clean financials, clear communication, and emotional resilience.
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]]>The post Episode #3: Selling Your Business: Is It Like Breaking Up or Winning the Lottery? appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>My guest on the show is Dan J. Berger who is the Founder and former CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Social Tables, which was acquired in October 2018 by Cvent for $100mm.
Founded in 2011, Social Tables is an event planning SaaS platform used by over 50% of all full-service hotels in North America. At the time of sale, the company had $20M in bookings, 120 employees, and over 6,000 customers. Social Tables raised a total of $27mm.
Dan is the author the book, “The Quest: The Definitive Guide to Finding Belonging You”
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]]>The post How to Identify Drop-Off Points and Re-Engage Clients Effectively appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>The current competitive environment of the financial advisory industry requires having close relationships with clients in order to be successful in the long term. Most advisors spend a lot of time in client acquisition, but sadly they do not realize that the engagement is taking a downhill turn. Knowing where the clients lose engagement and applying the measures to make them engaged again will significantly increase retention levels. The use of technology like CRM by financial advisors enables the professionals to monitor the interactions between themselves and clients, determine the drop-off points and develop the timely re-engagement opportunities. This paper discusses real-life strategies to identify these loopholes and act prior to losing precious relationships.
Recognizing Early Signs of Client Disengagement
Dropping-off points can only be identified by observing the behavior of the client closely. Advisors ought to attend to the communication trends, i.e. slow responses to emails, cancellation of meetings, or the decline of the number of questions. These changes when they appear usually indicate a decline in interest or satisfaction. The observation of such behaviors throughout the time period allows one to have a clear image of the trends in the engagement and identify the spheres that require intervention.
Besides communication patterns, disengagement can also be demonstrated in transaction activity and interactions within the portfolios. Customers who cease to get the updates about the investments or do not act upon the suggested measures can be indicating a diminishing relationship with their advisor. Following these trends, advisors are able to focus on the clients that require specific attention and reduce the risk of losing a possible revenue.
Using CRM Tools to Monitor Engagement
CRM for financial advisors are important in client relationship management in a structured manner. A CRM gives a centralized picture of client interactions by logging all interactions including emails and phone calls as well as notes of meetings. This detailed overview enables the advisors to identify any inconsistency or a lack of communication that may otherwise remain unnoticed so that no client would slip between the cracks.
The best CRM software also has advanced features, enabling it to be automated and it sends alerts in case the engagement metrics drop below a specific threshold. Such tools can inform an advisor in case a client misses an appointment or appears suddenly less responsive. This kind of proactive tracking does not only save time but also offers actionable information and hence corrective action can be easily taken before it is too late and disengagement is an irreversible occurrence.
Re-Engagement Client Strategy
After identifying drop-off points, the re-engagement strategies targeted should be developed. In this, individual communication is critical. Tailored emails, use of check-in calls, or provision of relevant material through continued interest of a client will help to jump start their interest once more and prove that they are still valued. Individualized contact demonstrates to the client that his or her advisor cares and is concerned about their financial well-being.
Re-engagement is another area that would use the knowledge that has been acquired through CRM data. Through the analysis of the previous interactions and preferences of clients, advisors are able to provide solutions that would fit the goals of individual clients. This evidence-based practice will make communications valuable, which will enhance the chances of successful re-engagement. Consistently performed, these strategies enhance the client trust and loyalty, retention, and the overall performance of the business.
Evaluating the Re-Engagement Initiate Effects
The effectiveness of the re-engagement initiatives should be evaluated to improve more effective strategies in future. Measuring response rates, new interactions, and the activity of the client after the meeting is the concrete evidence of what works and what should be modified. CRM system metrics facilitate assessment of the outreach effectiveness and guarantee that efforts are yielding realistic outcomes.
Reviewing such metrics regularly enables advisors to see trends in effective re-engagement and modify their approach to it. This cycle of continuous improvement can be used to keep the client satisfaction on the high level and minimize the risk of additional disengagement. Moreover, recording outcomes in the CRM, advisors will be able to have a record of successful practices to apply with other clients and make sure that engagement maintenance is systematic.
Designing drop-off points and developing measures to re-attend to the clients is an essential part of maintaining long-term financial advisory relationships. Advisors are able to keep the interest high through constant observation, tracking of interactions through CRM tools and tailored outreach as clients can be kept close and will not be lost. Finally, emphasis on re-engagement is not only a great way to build on client loyalty, but also helps a financial advisory practice grow and be stable.
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]]>The post What I Am Thankful for in 2025 appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>I am thankful for:
- My new grandson, Arthur. When I hold him its like having the past and future in your arms at the same time. Being a grandparent is not underrated! Alice and Ethan are having so much fun as parents.
- Modern medicine. After shattering my knee last thanksgiving and now having stents put into a clogged artery as result of diabetes, I am amazed of what modern medicine can do. I am thankful these doctors were able to get me back cycling and hiking. With all the federal cuts to research, I am fearful of the loss of these types of advancements in the future.
- My daughters-in-law. I am so thankful that my children have found the right partners in Alice and Maggie (wedding coming up in May 2026). They make both my boys better people.
- Giving back. As I look to retiring in a few years, I am starting to volunteer for organizations like the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and the Arizona Legislative District 3.
- Peaceful passing. I am thankful that my mother-in-law Debbie Cooper finally passed peacefully after 5 years of dementia.
Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you get to celebrate with the people you care most about.
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]]>The post Episode #2 How Peter Shankman Knows When to Exit appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>After 3 exits, this is exactly what my guest Peter Shankman knows how to do.
He is a top keynote speaker in marketing, social media, customer service, and neurodiversity in the workplace. The New York Times has called Peter Shankman “a rock star who knows everything about social media and then some.” With three startup launches and exits under his belt, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about the customer experience.
He three exits include The Geek Factory and Help A Reporter Out (HARO).
Watch the video of the interview here.
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]]>The post Episode #1 Behind the Scenes of a $140 Million Sale: Keith Schacht’s Journey with Mystery Science appeared first on Barry Moltz.
]]>Keith Schacht is one part inventor, one part explainer, and one part entrepreneur. He has started many companies and sold a few. his first was in college; He sold it his junior year and dropped out. His “first love” was a company called Inventables. It opened many doors like speaking at TED, meeting amazing people, and it had a modest outcome. His biggest success was Mystery Science, he co-founded this with Doug Peltz, better known as Mystery Doug, and it became the most widely used science curriculum in American schools. I was privileged to be involved in the sale of this company to Discovery Education in 2020 for a reportedly $140M.
Here is a behind the scenes look at this sale.
We discussed:
- Why did you decide to sell your business? When did you know it was the right time?
- Who bought your business and why?
- How did you prepare for the due diligence process? And how was it?
- How was the legal part of the transaction? Did you attorney focus on the right things?
- Did the buyer ever try to re-trade the deal? Did they call your baby ugly?
- Any horror stories or pleasant surprises in the process? What was the worst part of the process?
- What were the biggest stumbling blocks to getting the transaction closed? Employees, shareholders, vendors, landlords
- Were there any other factors besides money that you found important in the transaction?
- If you had to do it over again, would you have done anything differently?
- Are you happy that you sold your business and what has been the outcome? What you are doing since?
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]]>The post #850 The Final Radio Show: What has Changed In 17 Years of Small Business appeared first on Barry Moltz.
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On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
This is the final show.
It is the last show after 17 years of The Small Business Radio Show. Over this period of time, I’ve done over 2500 interviews across so many different radio stations and podcast platforms.
Who was the best interview?
I have to be honest, there really wasn’t one. I listed every single year what some of my favorite interviews were, but my favorite ones always were the small business owners. The ones that shared a real, true piece of themselves that talked to the legitimately about their experience and just wasn’t here to sell a concept. The ones that lived it.
Who was the worst interview?
That’s easy. That’s Rudy Ruettiger of the movie, Rudy. Rudy canceled the first time, and the second time he came on angry. He was upset for whatever reason for his PR people booking him on my show. The interview only lasted 11 minutes. I said, Rudy, you know, you got to have a better relationship with your PR people because if you didn’t want to be on the show, you shouldn’t have really been on the show.
The people that were also the worst were many times academics or folks trying to sell some kind of infomercial kind of thing where I would ask them one question, and then they would go on to some kind of monologue for 5 or 7 minutes, going on and on and on, not realizing that this really was a dialogue.
After all these years, I want to thank all of our sponsors. We had so many of them from the largest of Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft.
Finally, I want to thank all the listeners for really tuning in every single week. There’s millions of you.
Why did I do this for all this time?
It’s really quite simple because I wanted to keep learning. I learned the most in my life, my career, from interviewing people and asking them simply, what did you think? What was your experience in whatever you went through? What can other people learn from it? It was really a privilege to interview all those people, and it was also a special to hear what you thought about what these folks were saying.
Everything in life has a beginning and an end.
This is the end of The Small Business Radio Show, it also is the beginning of a new podcast I will be doing called “The Exit Strategy”, where I’ll be talking to people who have sold their business. Look for the first episode featuring Keith Schacht that sold Mystery Science for a reportedly $140M. On this show its the good, the bad and the buyout. You can get notified of new episodes by signing up for my Substack.
We end this radio show series like we began it 17 years ago with Scott Jordan of Scottevest.
For over 20 years, Scottevest has designed great looking clothing with tons of innovative pockets and unique features. We have followed his incredible journey and now he reflects on his life as an entrepreneur and small business owner.
We talked about:
- You’ve built a company on the back of pockets—what does that say about how you see human behavior and consumer needs?
- Do you believe your brand resonates more with travelers or with control freaks—and is there a difference?
- How has your business changed in the last 17 years?
- What was the best of times?
- What was the worst of times? Have you ever regretted being so publicly outspoken—or has it always paid off in attention and sales?
- How have you managed to do it as a husband and wife team and stayed married?
- What’s the boldest move you haven’t made yet—but want to? What is one thing you wish you did differently?
- What is your exit strategy look like?
- What’s your favorite advice you give when approached by other entrepreneurs?
Listen to more episodes of The Small Business Radio Show
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On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
With the economy uncertainty, now is the time diagnose profit leaks before they spread
Avi Pinsky Known as the Business Finance Doctor, provides small business owners with a practical framework they can utilize month after month, without needing to become accountants. After more than a decade in public accounting, Avi realized that most owners don’t need another CFO-style lecture. What they need is a simple diagnostic, a visual scoreboard that highlights only the three numbers that matter, and a short monthly action plan that turns numbers into behavior.
We discussed:
Many business owners wear “busy” like a badge of honor—but you say it can actually hide deeper cash flow problems. Can you explain why being busy isn’t always a sign of success?
You often highlight that there are three key numbers every owner should track monthly. What are those numbers, and why do so many entrepreneurs overlook them?
Financial leaks can quietly drain a business without the owner even realizing it. What are some of the early warning signs, and how can owners spot and stop them before they spread?
Money management can feel overwhelming for entrepreneurs who aren’t “numbers people.” How does simplifying things into a one-page Action Plan help turn financial confusion into clarity?
For a business owner listening right now who feels stuck or overwhelmed by their finances, what’s the very first step they can take today to move toward clarity and growth?
Fear is a part of every small business success story- how we deal with fear defines us- I have always been against the idea of that we should have no fear or no be afraid- my mantra has always been – its okay to be afraid but move forward anyways.
Guryan Tighe is an experienced leadership coach, workshop facilitator, and communications strategist whose clients describe her as a “Fear Technician.” She is the founder of Fourage, built on the belief that understanding and working with our fears, rather than trying to conquer them, yields more professional success and personal fulfillment.
She is also the author of “Unmasking Fear: How Fears Are Our Gateways to Freedom”.
We discussed:
- Interrupting the fear cycle: How to pause the automatic fight-or-flight response and turn fear into a trusted guide rather than an enemy.
- Imposter syndrome as a growth compass: Using it to uncover your next skill to master or challenge to embrace
- Making fear work for you: Shifting from fear as something to conquer, to fear as something to learn from through curiosity, gratitude, and purpose.
- Breaking free from binary thinking: Moving past the “success or failure” trap to see setbacks as stepping stones.
- Redefining success: Asking whether the ladder you’re climbing is even one you want to be on.
Listen to more episodes of The Small Business Radio Show
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]]>The post #848 From Graffiti to Jewelry: The Inspiring Journey of Rebel Nell appeared first on Barry Moltz.
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On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
Segment 1 with Amy Peterson
To help close the gap in funding and support for women-owned small businesses, Block Advisors by H&R Block created the Fund Her Future small business grant program. The program will award five women-owned small businesses a combined total of $100,000 in funding and access to a year of small business services from Block Advisors.
Today we talk with the grand prize winner Amy Peterson, founder of Rebel Nell, launched the company in 2013 to fuse her passion for empowering women with a deep love for Detroit’s vibrant street art. Rebel Nell transforms fallen graffiti into bold, one-of-a-kind jewelry, handcrafted by women overcoming barriers such as homelessness, seeking asylum, or living with disabilities. Latasha Randle is a Strategy & Small Business Program Manager at Block Advisors by H&R Block. In this role, she develops, implements, and executes small business strategy and initiatives that promote small business growth across tax, bookkeeping, and payroll. She is also a small business owner herself.
Here is what we discussed:
Women are one of the fastest-growing segments of new small business owners in the US. However, women founders face unique barriers to accessing the funding and resources required to truly succeed in their ventures. The 2024 State of Women’s Small Business Report by Block Advisors found that 42% of women business owners who applied for a bank loan were never approved, and nearly 90% of women reported relying on personal finances and credit cards to fund their ventures due to the lack of accessible funding.
The Block Advisors by H&R Block Fund her Future grant program, now in its second year, recognizes and seeks to address the funding and support gap for the women-owned small businesses – businesses overwhelmingly created with the hopes of uplifting their communities.
This year’s grant program received more than 8,000 applicants, a 30% increase for the first year. The 2025 recipients are united by a powerful mission: to serve and uplift their communities, whether across the street or around the globe.
Rebel Nell, the recipient of the $50,000 grant and a year of Block Advisors’ small business services, creates artisan jewelry from repurposed materials – but the story behind it is much richer. Amy employs, educates and empowers women who are transitioning out of shelters, the repurposed jewelry serving as a powerful story of resilience and transformation.
What really goes on behind the scenes of some of the biggest sporting events in the world and what can you learn about organizing the best experiences for your customers.
Don Costante is a distinguished sports and event presentation expert with more than thirty years of experience transforming live events into immersive, fan-centered experiences. Throughout his career, he has directed, produced, and managed more than 2,500 live events, including three NBA Finals, two World Series, and thirteen NBA All-Star Jam Session Center Courts. His work spans major organizations across the NBA, MLB, WNBA, and NASCAR, where he has consistently elevated the quality and impact of event presentations.
He has a new book called “Beyond the Scoreboard: The Ultimate Guide to Sports Event Presentation”.
Beyond the Scoreboard – Why It Matters
Your book is the first ever devoted to sports event presentation. Why was it important to write it now, and how can its lessons inspire leaders beyond sports?
From the Field to the Business World
You’ve produced events like the NBA Finals and World Series. What lessons from sports event presentation can small business owners apply to create memorable customer experiences?
Building Atmosphere & Brand Loyalty
Why is atmosphere so important, and how can businesses create an environment that keeps people coming back?
The Power of Preparation & Execution
What role does preparation play in delivering unforgettable experiences, and what can entrepreneurs learn from how major sports events are planned and executed?
The Role of Storytelling
You’ve talked about the importance of storytelling in event presentation. How can small business owners use storytelling to connect with their audience and stand out?
Listen to more episodes of The Small Business Radio Show
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