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American Business Brokers & Advisors Founder & President MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS BUSINESS VALUATIONS
JULY 2024
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The Rule of Thumb Life Expectancy & Getting the Best of Life
Everyone knows there are “rules of thumb” in every industry. For example, when determining the value of a business, there are rules of thumb about what different businesses are worth. But did you know there is also a rule of thumb for your foreseeable life expectancy? Yes, as wild as it may sound, there is a rule of thumb to predict how long you will live. Remember, this is just a rule of thumb, but it’s very interesting. The rule of thumb for life expectancy is as follows: Subtract your present age from 100, then multiply that number by 2/3, and then add that amount back to your present age to get your life expectancy. For example, if you are 55 years old today, then
Since I just gave you the formula for figuring out how much longer you may live, you can put two and two together and see how serious the situation can be. Most people, and men in particular, fail to realize as they age how much knowledge and wisdom they have accumulated and have to offer to others. This was presented to me last month when I visited with a gentleman for whom I had sold all his convenience stores nine years ago. He is presently 82 years old. I was amazed to see how fit he was and how mentally sharp he was. We talked for several hours, and he shared with me that since selling his stores, he was active every day. When he wasn’t meeting with his coffee shop friends, he was talking business with his son or traveling with his wife in their Corvette going places. The most interesting thing about this man was that he was aware that his business performance had peaked, as had his physical situation because we talked about
100 – 55 = 45 x 2/3 = 30 + 55 = 85
So, if you are 55 years old today, then there is a good chance you could live to be 85.
I know I don’t have any scientific data to confirm this formula but remember, it is a rule of thumb. But what if it is pretty close to being right? Our bodies don’t continue at the same rate and
it. He wasn’t looking for another hot deal or investment. He was aware of the number of Thanksgivings he had ahead of him, but he was enjoying the journey of being himself. In other words, he had his act together. It isn’t very often that I recommend books, but “Strength to Strength” is one I recommend to anyone who wants to see the future of life as a wonderful journey using our God-given talents and how we can share this vision with everyone around us. Even if I am wrong about the life expectancy formula, you will enjoy the book and be enlightened in your vision of the future. –Terry Monroe
energy level we are at today and then suddenly quit working, like batteries in an electronic toy or flashlight. No, we gradually begin to slow down, and the light gets dimmer. To emphasize life expectancy, I recently read a book titled “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life” by Arthur C. Brooks, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. The book came referred to me as a must-read book for men who feel like they are not as useful or as sharp as they used to be in their earlier lives. The book does not sugarcoat the situation but instead addresses the issue of life expectancy head-on, asking where you are in your life today, what age you are, and how many Thanksgivings you think you may have left.
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What Do My Clients Secretly and Privately Desire Most?
After being involved in the selling of businesses for over 25 years and meeting, talking, and spending time with over 1,000 people, you start to learn what makes people tick and why people do some of the things they do. This, combined with a deep study of psychology and human nature, I am still surprised and sometimes shocked by people’s thoughts and actions. Of course, it is easy to apply human nature when talking with business owners regarding employees and some of the things employees do, such as not showing up for work, not doing their job properly, or offering some dumb excuse instead of telling the truth, and not being accountable for their actions. These are easy to understand, and we always like to say when dealing with the operations of a business and employees that “the situations never change, just the names”. Last week, it was Jim and Jill, and this week, it’s Sam and Sara. What I am mostly referring to is the psychology of the mindset of the business owners I work with. For example, when I first meet a business owner with whom I think I may be working in helping them prepare their business to be sold, I always like to know how they got to where they are in the life of their business. Did they start the business from scratch, was it a family business, and they grew up in it, or did they buy the business and build it up to what it is today? I will ask lots of questions to understand the person or people I will be working with going forward. Generally, the last question I will ask is, what are you planning on doing after you exit the business? Sometimes, I get a direct answer such as, “We are going to semi-retire and take it easy and travel and spend more time with our grandchildren and family.” These are all excellent plans which I commend them for making.
had to dig deeper into my clients’ minds and find the real reason for what they secretly and privately desire the most in their lives regarding the sale of their business. What I discovered is that business owners are really searching for peace of mind. They want the peace of mind that they are doing the right thing for themselves and their families. They want to be happy, and they want their families to be happy. They have lived their lives working on and in the business for many years to support themselves and their families, and they are concerned about whether they are doing the right thing. Sometimes, it is easy because they know they don’t have any family members who want to continue in the business because their children told them they didn’t want to be involved going forward. But most of the time, it isn’t that easy. Some of the kids don’t want anything to do with the business, and some of the kids are somewhat involved with the business, but they don’t have the ability to run the business going forward. These are tough decisions that keep them up at night trying to decide what to do.
There was much more competition in the fuel wholesale business, with more jobbers fighting for fewer available gallons, and it seemed like every year, a new competitor came into the convenience store business, too. By the time Joe and Lucy called me, they had already determined even though they still had a very good and profitable business, there was very little upside left to be had, and they also knew their two sons were not interested nor capable of taking over the operations of the business. Yes, they were interested in cashing out, knowing there was a consolidation of fuel wholesalers and convenience store owners happening in the industry, but more importantly, what they really wanted was peace of mind — the peace of mind that they would have enough money to continue to live the lifestyle they had become accustomed to and enough money to fund the new businesses their two sons wanted to become involved in going forward. Yes, the end result is a financial pot of gold at the end of the business selling process, but it also comes with peace of mind, which is ultimately what we are all looking for: the peace of mind of having run a successful business, having the money to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, and being able to help family members if needed to pursue a different vocation. To learn more about what it takes for you to obtain peace of mind and what your business may be worth in today’s marketplace, email me at Terry@TerryMonroe.com , like Joe and Lucy, who are now enjoying their peace of mind. Closing the sale of the business is the celebration of many years of hard work and knowing the next chapter of life comes with the peace of mind we all crave.
Joe and Lucy had purchased the fuel wholesale business and a couple of
convenience stores from Joe’s father who started the business 20 years ago. Joe had been brought up in the business and had worked for his father before buying the business, so the transition from employee to owner was not difficult. Together, Joe and Lucy continued to operate the business and grew it from two convenience stores to seven convenience stores and doubled the fuel wholesale business. They eventually brought their two sons into the business, and together, all four of them worked in it, each of them having different roles within the business. But then Joe discovered the business was not as enjoyable as it had been in the beginning when he and Lucy were growing the business.
–Terry Monroe
But this kind of answer to my question isn’t always the real answer. Therefore, I have
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TERRY’S QUOTES OF THE DAY “In America, we have the greatest chance for opportunity than anyone else in the past six and a half thousand years. Never in recorded history have so many gifts been brought from all over the world and deposited in one country.” –Jim Rohn “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well-fought lessons of how they, in their lifetime, must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.” –Ronald Reagan
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What Do My Clients Secretly Desire Most?
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Successful Businesses Tune in to Social Media Trends
Social Listening Supercharges Marketing Success TAKING THE PULSE
Monitoring what people say about your products and services on social media, known as “social listening,” can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. Deciding how to use it, however, is a high-risk, high- reward proposition. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, a training and certification company, social listening has huge potential rewards if done well. These include burnishing your brand’s reputation, understanding your customers more deeply, and gathering valuable intelligence on your competitors. However, if you decide not to bother with social listening or do it poorly, you miss out on the world’s largest source of customer insights at your peril. For example, if a new marketing campaign touches on negative commentary on social media, a tuned-in business can quickly retool the campaign. A company that doesn’t use social listening is likely to be blindsided. Companies can also analyze conversations to determine what customers like and don’t like about, for example, a new hamburger menu item or a meal-delivery service, and understand the underlying emotions.
Various social listening tools, including Hootsuite, Google Alerts, Brandwatch, SparkToro, and Mention, can assist you. The first step in working out a social listening strategy is to research your buyer personae, or the fictional profiles of your prototypical customers, to help you decide what to listen for online and on what platforms. Then, figure out what you want to accomplish. Most businesses use social listening to learn how people feel about their brand, monitor industry trends, and identify high-impact keywords and hashtags. Casting a wide social-listening net will undoubtedly capture some negative reviews. Rather than avoiding unpleasant feedback, use it as an opportunity to shine. If a customer complains, reach out as quickly as possible and describe what you’re doing to solve the problem. Log, organize, analyze, and study your data for trends and insights. Over time, understanding where, how, and why your business is mentioned online will empower you to stay ahead of customer tastes and industry trends.
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