Business Focus Weekly
A publication focused on helping your business to grow and become more focused.
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ActionCOACH
Hot Tip of the Week
Question: When is the best time to determine when you will sell the business?
Or, when to decide what you need out of the business (cash flow, retirement, tax savings, gifts to children)?
Answer: The day you start your business! Begin with the end in mind and it will help you to plan for the future. If you didn't do this early on, do it now. You'll be glad you did!
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Quinn
Agency Principle: Bonnie Quinn Clausen
727 W Garland Ave, Spokane, WA 99205
Phone: (509) 327-6688
Special offer: Talk to Quinn about hiring them as an outsourced marketing department, on retainer, for your company. Instead of hiring one person - hire an entire team!
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50-year old Legacy Business Going Strong |
By Jennifer Ferrero, APR, DTM
Quinn is a full-service advertising agency founded in 1969 by Gerald Quinn Sr. and operated today by Bonnie Quinn Clausen.
You've seen evidence of their work through advertising, messaging, and digital marketing for businesses like Gus Johnson Ford, Huckleberries Natural Market, Spokane Home Builders Association, and Mainstream Electric, to name a few.
When COVID hit, Quinn Clausen said that they were working hard with all of their clients to communicate about the health and safety of their operations -whether they were shutting down, evolving (their model), staying open, taking precautions, adding extra sanitation - all the protocols to keep people safe.
The agency has 12 employees and several contractors in Spokane. Their niche is with medium-to-large businesses, and the sweet spot is to offer outsourced marketing on a retainer basis.
Quinn Clausen said, "Our best customers are regional organizations in the northwest." She added that they have an interest in not just the sale for the day, but building a brand. They want to be a strategic partner with their clients to support a broad range of services such as strategy, video production, media placement, and more.
Quinn Clausen feels that our government should trust business owners and community members to take reasonable precautions during COVID. She has seen many business owners suffering through silence and she was involved with a campaign called "Re-open Spokane," to help bring us to Phase 2. ext Link
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Murphy Business Sales helps business owners to put together a strategy and plan to exit their business.
The business was founded in 1994 in Florida, and Brian Southworth is a business intermediary in the Spokane office.
He said, "The best time to start planning your exit is the day you start your business."
Or, he said that business owners should start to execute on the plan three years before the actual sale. He does get calls where owners want to sell immediately. However, if they start sooner, Southworth, via Murphy Business Sales can help to maximize the sale of the business.
He said, "Just like you’d work with an accountant on tax savings, you’d work with Murphy Business Sales on maximizing your business processes and systems prior to selling." He added, there’s no charge for the initial conversation.
Southworth said that family-run businesses often have parents, the business owners, who dream that the kids will run the business; which is not always the case.
He encourages business owners to engage sooner than when they are actively ready to exit the business.
He does a broker’s opinion of market value (fair market value) of businesses; he will list and market the business, find buyers, and sell the business.
Murphy Business Sales - Spokane Office
1312 N. Monroe St., Suite #282
Spokane, WA 99201
mobile (509) 464-9157
Written by: Jennifer Ferrero, APR, DTM
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Black Label Brewing Company (BLBC) co-owner Dan Dvorak is inspired by his business neighborhood in the Commons building on Main street in downtown Spokane.
He said, "Everyone has come together and we have each other’s backs. We're a big family on that block, we all know each other and help each other." He added that it's important that we take care of our neighbors and get through this on the other side.
Dvorak and business partners are fairly new to entrepreneurship, opening the brewery and corresponding restaurant, Peace Pie in 2015. They started home brewing and found a following. From there they started catering, and then providing their custom brews in local restaurants, like Sante.
They've developed a regular customer following, although Dvorak said they have been impacted by capacity restrictions and a drop in tourism.
"A lot of hotels were busy with people coming from out of town," he said, which gave them a lot of visibility and business.
He said they take sanitization seriously and said, "We wipe down tables constantly, check temperatures, stay observant with what’s around us, we are keeping everything clean and healthy," Dvorak said.
They have regular new flavor selections of beer, so check it out!
Black Label Brewing Company
W. 19 Main
SPOKANE, Washington 99201
509-822-7436
Written by: Jennifer Ferrero, APR, DTM
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Coming Events
Space is limited, register today!
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ActionCLUB - Business education in a weekly format for business owners. Meets Wednesdays from 11 a.m. - noon., 12 weeks, weekly sessions. Free to clients, only $99/month for non-clients. Learn more. Special Announcement: FREE Preview Session next week, October 14, 2020, 11 a.m. - noon. Zoom link to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8752208531
GrowthCLUB - Quarterly business planning event for business owners to set goals and learn from experts. You just missed out on 4th quarter planning for your business! Save the date for the next one, January 8, 2021.
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Useful Business Thought of the Week |
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Goal setting for the business owner
What will become of your business?
You ought to know!
Goal setting, and determining what you want from the business is critical. Start with the end in mind - what do you want from the business - a buyer who pays a certain dollar amount, a gift for your children, funding for your retirement, a philanthropic legacy?
It's up to you to set the goals to make it happen - once you know the ultimate goal, work backward on your goals to 10-year, 5-year,1-year, quarterly goals, and so on. Next, start working on your goals and measure results.
If the big picture goal is to sell the business for $$$ in the year 2030, then you've got 10 years to establish a plan to make it happen!
Or call us to discuss how to get a handle on goal setting for your business through coaching, 509-455-5053. Consultations are always free.
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