October 7, 2020 4:00 am Published by

Episode 76:

Ryan Tansom helped turn around their family business and then sell it for 8 figures to a local competitor in 2014. The growth and exit process was an unexpectedly difficult undertaking, but the lessons he learned have proven to be invaluable.

That experience led to co-founding Arkona, a Minnesota-based company that teaches business owners how to grow the value of their business through educational courses and Strategic CFO Services. He created the Intentional Growth™ 5 Principles and Framework and now hosts the popular Intentional Growth™ podcast (200+ episodes and 300k+ downloads).

Ryan helps entrepreneurs get clarity on how to grow the value of their business with an end in mind by shifting their mindset away from annual income to focusing on long term value creation. This new mindset will help entrepreneurs create a strategic plan that gives them the freedom of choices to do what they want with the business long term.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • The lessons Ryan learned from growing and selling the family business for eight figures
  • Why you need to plan your exit strategy early and start your business with the end in mind
  • The importance of understanding your business’s story from start to finish
  • Why most business owners fail to understand valuations, and what makes them so important
  • What drives our fear of data and numbers, and how Ryan helps business owners become more receptive to them
  • The value of discipline as entrepreneurs wait for delayed gratification
  • Ryan’s experience with imposter syndrome and how he overcame it
  • How Ryan has remained resilient throughout 2020

Resources:

What is Your Exit Strategy?

Ryan Tansom is the President and Co-founder of Arkona, LLC., a Minnesota-based company that teaches business owners how to grow the value of their business through educational courses and Strategic CFO Services. Ryan’s mission is to help entrepreneurs find a sense of clarity by shifting their mindset away from annual income to focusing on long-term value creation. Ryan’s philosophy is deeply aligned with the intentionally great principles we believe in, and in this episode, he joins us to share his entrepreneurial journey and explain what it truly means to start your business with the end in mind.

Your Story From Start to Finish

Business owners—what is your exit strategy? The reality is if you don’t begin with the end in mind, you’re going to make some bad decisions. This doesn’t just apply to what’s happening within the business. Right now, we are facing a bad economy, COVID, an upcoming election, racial unrest, and we have to run our businesses amidst all of the chaos. It isn’t just about how much money you can get today, it is about the exodus. You need to understand your whole story from start to finish and the intrinsic value of the cash flow of your company.

Intentional Growth

The problem with that is our common fear of data and numbers. There are so many different types of exit strategies from earn-outs to strategic partnerships, but you can’t determine the best option for your business if you don’t understand what your value is, who wants it, and what they can do with it in the marketplace. Ryan developed five key principles and an intentional growth assessment to help business owners overcome these challenges. To learn how you can use them in your own business. Get in touch with him on LinkedIn or visit arkona.io.

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