709: Joe Valley | How to Become an 'EXITpreneur'

Starting and running a successful business is only half the battle. Do you have an equally successful exit strategy? After building, buying, and selling 6+ of his own companies, Joe Valley helped build Quiet Light Brokerage, one of the leading online-focused M&A Advisory firms in the world. Now, after facilitating nearly half a billion dollars in exits, Joe has written the bestselling book The EXITpreneur’s Playbook - to help online business owners get the maximum value and best deal structure when they seek their own incredible exit. If you want to learn how to become an ‘EXITpreneur’ then dive into this very tactical episode to learn from the master of exiting himself. Things you will learn in this episode: [00:01 - 05:53] Opening Segment  I introduce today’s guest, Joe Valley Joe gives us a bit of his background Always entrepreneurial at heart  Parents and upbringing  Joe’s thoughts on the internal desire to work for himself College experience and education   Learning what you DON’T want to do for a living  Taking the leap into entrepreneurship  [05:54 - 18:10] How to Become an 'EXITpreneur' Joe talks about his first venture into ownership Starting a company called “Wrong Number” in college  Making half a million dollars in his first year  “I’m can not be my business”  Joe’s lessons from his early mistakes selling his business Waiting too long to sell You need to make goals Know your when, what, and where You don’t want to ‘decide’ to sell, but ‘plan’ to sell How to detach your name from the business  Examples of how to make the transition  Seek the buyers who are looking to add value  How to choose your buyer instead of courting them  Joe shares how he’s utilized networking to make a good exit  Making connections with like-minded people Creating mutual benefits A quick word from our sponsors [18:11 - 31:39] Creating a Sellable Business Joe talks about the reason behind his book  Making people comfortable with planning to exit  The value of helping and connecting people  Why the goal should be to help people  50% of the money you make on your business comes from selling  What makes a good, sellable business: an in-depth approach What buyers are looking for: Risk, growth, transferability, and documentation Small businesses carry a bigger risk  If your business is growing, buyers can make predictions Untransferable assets is an unsellable business  The importance of good documentation and bookkeeping How to calculate Seller Discretionary Earnings (SDE) Joe’s advice around Acquisition Entrepreneurship [31:40 - 35:28] Closing Segment  The example of Amazon sellers How to connect with Joe and his work - links below Final words    Tweetable Quotes:  “I am the mistake that I try to help everybody not make.” - Joe Valley “That’s the thing I want people to avoid, is waiting till the point where they wake up and say, ‘I gotta sell this.’ What they really should do is set some goals.” - Joe Valley “I make more money by helping people than when I was focused on making money.” - Joe Valley Resources Mentioned: The EXITPreneur’s Playbook exitpreneur.io   You can connect with Joe on Twitter and LinkedIn. Be sure to check out https://quietlight.com/ if you want to exit with more money and better terms! This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and Build Your Network listeners get 10% off their first month at https://betterhelp.com/buildyournetwork Did you love the value that we are putting out in the show? LEAVE A REVIEW and tell us what you think about the episode so we can continue putting out great content just for you! Share this episode and help someone who wants to connect with world-class people.  Jump on over to travischappell.com/makemypodcast and let my team make you your very own show! If you want to learn how to build YOUR network, check out my website travischappell.com. You can connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Be sure to join The Lounge to become part of the community that’s setting up REAL relationships that add value and create investments. Check out FranBridge Consulting for premier non-food franchise opportunities: travischappell.com/franbridgeOur Sponsors:* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.com