How does value growth work?

When we work with a business to raise its value, what do we do? It’s not magic, it’s a strategic process. We focus on key drivers, namely the eight business fundamentals, to improve performance, reduce risk, and increase long-term sustainability. These are many of the same things potential buyers and investors look at when a business is on the market.

The following steps will lead to an increase in a business’s value:

Assessment and Benchmarking – Identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement by evaluating financials, operations, customer satisfaction, and marketing positioning can yield a clear picture of present-day value. Listing strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to those of the competition, can be a clarifying moment for many business owners, and an honest look at the data will determine whether your business actually does something well — or it just feels like you do.  

Planning – Planning is simply developing a roadmap to focus on desired objectives with a coordinated effort and application of resources (essentially, where to put time and money). Regular workshops help ensure key players are making progress and objectives are being met. 

Operational Improvements – Streamlining processes, optimizing cash flow, and improving resource management all increase efficiency and scalability. Getting leadership from all departments together to discuss how they interact, how work gets shepherded through the process, is vital to improving operations. 

Risk Reduction – Vulnerabilities like outdated technology, legal or compliance risks, or dependency on key personnel can be easy to ignore. It’s hard to acknowledge the dangerous “what ifs” that every business has: What if your sales team leader quits? What if you have a data breach? What if you get sued? Identifying these risk factors and reducing them leads to higher confidence, fewer problems, and more value.

Enhance Intangible Assets – Brand reputation, customer relationships, intellectual property, and company culture are all difficult metrics to pin down, yet a business should always be working on strengthening them. These intangibles are the secret sauce to any successful business. 

Execution and Continuous Optimization – Once you implement these growth strategies, are you done? Not exactly! You must continually Perform Higher and make data-driven adjustments to sustain improvements. 

How each of these steps is implemented will look different for each business. The goal is always to create a scalable, transferable, and highly valuable enterprise for future growth, investment, or exit opportunities. 

Many business owners understand what value is and want to grow the value of their business, yet without a clear plan they end up simply working harder and harder. Ironically, approaching value growth as a product of hard work alone will actually lower the value of a business! 

Working smarter instead of harder involves a series of strategic steps. Eagle Corporate Advisors can provide the playbook and, through workshops and gathering data on your business, we determine your most likely route to success. Call us today to schedule a meeting and assess where you are right now — and where you could be.