Collier Business Advisors, LLC

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Do your customers perceive your product or service as a commodity? Do you and your people sell as if you were offering a commodity? If so, revisit what makes your company and your products & services unique. Ask the question, "Why should a customer buy from us rather than from our competitors?" If you don't have a good answer, keep working at it.

Selling your company starts long before you sign the final documents. Ideally, you've selected the proper structure to avoid double taxation at sale and have built the business in a way that maximizes its value. Once you find a ready, willing and able buyer and enter due diligence, everything about your company is open for review. Hear about Bill's sale of his former company and learn how a potentially antagonistic process can be a win-win for both buyer and seller.

If nobody knows who you are, what you sell, or how to buy, the results will be predictable. Advertising is fine but there are lots of ways to market: networking, speaking, article writing, customer referrals, telemarketing, direct mail ... the list goes on and on. Do some homework and determine who your primary customer targets are, and the best ways to reach them. Then, tell them about your unique selling proposition. All this needs to be part of your annual plan.

Whether you're a start-up or have been in business for years, if you haven't done the hard work of developing a mission statement, a set of guiding principles and a long-range vision for your company ... you may be headed in the wrong direction.

The St. Louis County Economic Council's Enterprise Centers (business incubator program) invited Bill Collier to join its board this month. St. Louis Enterprise Centers is a not-for-profit corporation comprised of 20 board members and organized to provide the St. Louis region with a program of resources and services that contribute to the success rate of business start-ups. The resources and services include financial assistance, space rental, shared client services and on-site management consulting.

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