My wife had some friends over for dessert after they went out for dinner and a couple of the ladies were amazed (surprised) our younger dog was so gentle and friendly because she’s so big, 90 pounds. They assumed because she was big she’d be wild, aggressive, crazy, etc. In fact, she’s one of the calmest dogs around (and loves her belly rubs).
We all have misconceptions on things. In sports the fans always think that one new player will bring a championship. In business it’s often the thought that the best product wins when it’s usually about marketing and sales.
In our daily world we see the following misconceptions:
Business buyers:
- Believing they have the guts to “pull the trigger.” Industry statistics say 90% of (supposed) business buyers never do a deal.
- It’s all about the numbers. Important but there’s also those little things like the employees, customers, supply chain, etc. And of course, relationship.
- A seller with no family in the business has no options. Actually, they have all the options when not tied down to a family sale.
Business owners/sellers:
- Don’t say, “If only the buyer is good at marketing…” (the business will exponentially grow). No competent buyer will believe that.
- I just read a $400 million company in my industry sold for 15X EBITDA so my $14 million company should sell for the same multiple.
- It doesn’t matter I do all the important things in the business. Yes it does and this is called owner dependency and it’s all too common in small companies. Learn to delegate and your value will increase.
There are a lot more and I’m sure you have common ones in your business.
“You can do a lot of inner soul work, but I’m a big fan of Zoloft.” Katherine Heigl
