A guy I caught up with last week told me about a lawyer he works with.
Reasonable book of clients / goodwill.
5 Staff.
Good profit and income.
Ask the lawyer what the business is worth and he says nothing. Every client relationship runs through him. He walks, they walk.
Say it turns over $1.5m at a 20% net margin. That's $300k a year in profit. At 3 times profit you'd expect a $900k sale. But a buyer pays for what's still there after you leave and in this case… that's close to zero, nada… zilcho.
Try this week. Write down your three best clients. Next to each one, write who else in your business could take their call.
If it’s a blank space next to any of those clients… You just got some homework.
Who's your number two of those three clients?
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