by John F Kettley | Oct 20, 2026 | Exit Strategy, SMEs
Thinking of Selling Your Business? Start Preparing Before You Need To… One of the things I find interesting about business ownership is how much time people spend building their companies and how little time they spend thinking about what happens when they...
by John F Kettley | Sep 7, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
How Experienced Buyers Assess a Business Before Opening the Accounts If you ask most business owners what a buyer looks at first, the answer is usually the same. “The accounts.” It’s an understandable assumption. Financial performance is important. Revenue, profit,...
by John F Kettley | Aug 17, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
One of the questions I’ve been asked more than any other over the years is, “What do you think my business is worth?” It’s usually followed by a conversation about turnover and how great their sales opportunity pipeline is (Next year will be our best year ever). They...
by John F Kettley | Aug 12, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Business owners often ask me what they should be doing if they want to sell their business in the next couple of years. It’s a sensible question, but I don’t think it’s the right place to start.The businesses that achieve the strongest outcomes are very rarely...
by John F Kettley | Jul 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
When I look at a business, I usually start with the owner. Not because the numbers don’t matter. They do. But the numbers are often the result of decisions that started much earlier. They show the effect. The owner usually shows the cause. How someone talks about...
by John F Kettley | May 6, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Most business failures do not begin with a lack of work. They begin with a lack of cash control. That distinction matters because it changes where owners need to look. A business can have a decent pipeline, good people and live sites, and still get into serious...
