FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2021

Kerrville, TX -- The international Business Brokers Association (IBBA) is pleased to announce that Katie Milton Jordan of Texas Business Buyers has earned the prestigious Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation. The CBI, which represents the gold standard in the business brokerage industry, is ghranted to individuals who complete required course work, pass an extensive competency exam, and agree to uphold the IBBA's Professional Standards and Code of Ethics. 

When was the last time that you took a few minutes to consider who you look up to and why you look up to them? 

Someone asked me this question the other day and just as I was about to throw out a few names and superficial reasons why just so I could move on and get back to the "real work", I took a moment to pause and genuinely consider the question. 

Who do I look up to and why? If I'm honest, the last time I considered this question in earnest, I was a young adult trying to decide what to study in college. And frankly, at that age, a lot of people I admired were the same people everyone else admired.  Could I really identify who I admired when I was still forming my own individuality as well as selecting what values would drive my life's work?

​If you feel like the world has been turned upside down and everything's a little bit wonky, you are not alone. Welcome to the "new normal" post-2020 small business world. 

As if it wasn't hard enough to navigate small business leadership under "normal" circumstances, we now frequently find ourselves wondering if we're living on another planet. Frequently I'm so speechless that I can only mutter an astonished, "we're living in wild times".

One of the problems small business leaders like ourselves are experiencing is not knowing which way to turn and how to stay grounded amidst all the turmoil. Although I don't have a magic pill that will solve these uncertainties for you, I do have a few hot trends you'll benefit from knowing about as you furtively navigate your small business leadership during 'unprecedented' times.

​And there I was, standing on the bridge of a 35 foot sport fishing yacht tentatively pushing back on throttles of the dual engines as I faced backwards and took directions from my husband down in the pit. 

His arms were outstretched and he shook his right hand indicating I should move the boat that direction. Then, he pointed his left hand in the opposite direction indicating a counter thrust to bring us closer to the empty little water bottle that bobbed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Madeira Island; 669 miles off the coast of mainland Portugal. 

The sport fishing yacht rocked back and forth as the waves tossed us around. I widened my stance on the bridge and bent my knees to keep from being knocked off balance in the turbulence.

​I had never run a boat like this before in my life! In fact, I'd never run a boat in my life! Nor did I have a single moment's experience operating large equipment.

When small business owners sell their company to someone else, we call it exiting their business. Exit plan coaching is specifically designed for people who are within 3 - 5 years of wanting to sell and exit their business. 

There are four main factors an exit depends on: the preparation of the business (how ready it is to be transacted), the available buyer pool, the available financing, and the expectations of the owner. 

But did you know there are certain practical things you can do to prepare for that exit, increase the valuation of your business, and increase the likelihood your business will sell? Yep, and today we’re talking about four easy steps to take to sell your small business.