Your Guide to Buying a Business: Top Things to Know
Buying a business is not about chasing shiny objects or gut feelings. It's about disciplined financial analysis, strategic clarity, and ruthless due diligence. After reading this, you'll know exactly how to avoid some of the most costly mistakes, identify profitable opportunities, and execute a deal that actually makes you money.
Your Guide to Buying a Business: Top Things to Know5 Key Business Problems to Avoid
Most business problems aren't caused by a lack of ideas; they're caused by a lack of discipline, clarity, and execution. If you want to avoid losing millions, stop chasing shiny objects and start focusing on fundamentals. After reading this, you'll know exactly which business problems to avoid and how to sidestep them before they cost you time, money, and sanity.
5 Key Business Problems to AvoidHow to Come Up With Ideas for Business: Stop Guessing, Start Winning
Most entrepreneurs waste time chasing shiny ideas instead of solving real problems. Great business ideas come from identifying painful problems, validating demand, and executing with financial discipline. After reading this, you'll know exactly how to generate profitable ideas for business and avoid costly mistakes.
How to Come Up With Ideas for Business: Stop Guessing, Start WinningGot Financial Problems? Start with Whacking Costs
When confronted with the challenge of making more money, amateur business owners lurch for the growth lever, especially when the business is in trouble. Yet if you look at the pros, you find just the opposite… When they have problems, the first thing they do is shrink. The pros shutter divisions, reduce the number of SKUs, shrink head count, get medieval about expenses and cost reductions, and find all the excess weight they have been lugging around to accommodate growth that hasn’t happened. Why? Because trimming expenses and optimizing for maximum efficiency is not only smart, it is the fastest and most efficient path to stopping the bleeding and solving the financial problem. Don’t believe me, try to find a major company that has deviated from this formula… Can’t be done. (GM, Peloton, Bed Bath and Beyond, Blue Bell Ice Cream… It’s a very long list!)
Got Financial Problems? Start with Whacking CostsBusiness Ethics: What Are They & Why Are They Important?
Everyone has a personal moral code that shapes their behavior, and everyone must make ethical decisions every day of their lives. Businesses also consider ethics when making decisions. A company’s ethical or unethical behavior can significantly impact its reputation, operations, and revenue. Keep reading to find out more about business ethics and why they are important.
Business Ethics: What Are They & Why Are They Important?What Is Crisis Leadership?
A business can encounter a variety of crises, ranging from natural disasters to employee misconduct to political unrest. It’s important to properly navigate crises because they can have a significant impact on your company’s profits and reputation. Crisis leadership is key to properly managing incidents and maintaining public trust. Keep reading to learn more about crisis leadership and why it’s vital to your business strategy.
What Is Crisis Leadership?5 Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have
Are you thinking about building your own business? As an entrepreneur, you can see a great profit if things go well. However, you’re also taking on a lot of risk. This risk can be in the form of career risk, financial risk, emotional risk, and overall business risk. Because there is so much at stake when it comes to starting a business, entrepreneurs need to have a specific set of skills in order to be successful. Here are 5 skills every entrepreneur should have to successfully start and grow a business:
5 Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have8 Business Myths You Should Stop Believing
There are a lot of myths surrounding business, especially when it comes to starting a small business. These myths can negatively impact your mindset and interfere with your ability to succeed as an entrepreneur. Unrealistic expectations are a primary saboteur of small business success. Here are some of the most common business myths and why you should recalibrate your beliefs to conform with reality:
8 Business Myths You Should Stop Believing10 Financial Metrics Every Business Should Track
Financial metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you improve your decision-making processes and your chances of success by providing valuable insight into your business’s health. Some financial metrics may be more critical for your business than others. However, there are certain metrics that every business leader should know. Here’s a list of 10 financial metrics that every business should track:
10 Financial Metrics Every Business Should TrackWhy Is It Important to Keep Up with Cash Flow?
You may have heard the phrase, “Cash is king.” Cash is the lifeblood of your business, and cash flow indicates the money coming in and going out to keep your business running. Keeping up with cash flow is about more than just bookkeeping–it’s a way to ensure the financial stability and success of your business. Even if your business is profitable on paper, it can still fail due to cash flow issues. Keep reading to learn more about why it’s important to keep up with cash flow.
Why Is It Important to Keep Up with Cash Flow?Why CFO Scoreboard is the Best Business Software
Most business owners are just one wrong decision away from financial disaster. Don’t let that be you! It’s time to get serious about getting the best business and financial optics available so that you can be serious about improving your business. It’s time to get CFO Scoreboard. What is CFO Scoreboard? We’re sharing everything you need to know, including why it’s the best business software out there.
Why CFO Scoreboard is the Best Business Software4 Benefits of Keith’s Virtual Business Courses
When you start a business, there are so many unknowns and questions you don’t have answers to. Those unknowns can lead to problems later down the line. Don’t you wish you could have someone to ask those questions to and learn from? Now you can! With Keith J. Cunningham’s virtual business courses, you’ll be able to learn from experts who’ve been where you are before. To help you learn more, we’ve put together a list of the top 4 benefits of Keith’s virtual business courses:
4 Benefits of Keith’s Virtual Business Courses3 Keith Cunningham Books That Are Must-Reads for Entrepreneurs
Starting your own business can be challenging, but what’s even more challenging is keeping your business alive once it’s up and running. Luckily for you, you have an expert who is willing to show you the ropes and share important lessons that will help you avoid making dumb mistakes as a business owner. Keith Cunningham is an acclaimed author who is an expert at turning small businesses into extremely profitable companies. To learn the tools and strategies used by the pros to make and keep money, these <a href="/books/">Keith Cunningham books</a> are must-reads for entrepreneurs:
3 Keith Cunningham Books That Are Must-Reads for Entrepreneurs4 Tips for Creating a Crisis Management Plan for Your Business
When you run a business, the one thing that’s inevitable is a crisis. At some point in time, your business, and you, are going to face a crisis. However, it’s not what the crisis is that matters most, it’s how you handle it. The best time to learn how to manage a crisis is before the crisis actually happens, and we’re here to help you plan! Here are the top tips for creating a crisis management plan for your business:
4 Tips for Creating a Crisis Management Plan for Your BusinessWho is Keith J. Cunningham?
Seasoned entrepreneur, acclaimed author, internationally known speaker, business coach — all of these can be used to identify Keith J. Cunningham. A master of his craft, if you haven’t learned from Keith yet, you’ll want to after hearing more about him. We’re sharing more about this self-made millionaire, how he got to where he is today, and how you can benefit from Keys to the Vault.
Who is Keith J. Cunningham?5 of the Biggest Mistakes to Avoid as a Business Owner
It takes a lot to make a good business owner great. One of the things that sets great business owners apart from the rest is being able to avoid doing stupid things and to recognize dumb mistakes prior to making them. You don’t need to do more smart things in order to be successful — you just have to make fewer dumb mistakes. To help you be successful, we’re sharing some of the top mistakes to avoid as a business owner.
5 of the Biggest Mistakes to Avoid as a Business Owner3 Reasons to Take Business Advice from Keith J. Cunningham
You shouldn’t take business advice from just anyone. When you’re seeking advice on how to run a successful business, you want to learn from someone who’s done it before or is currently doing it. Keith J. Cunningham is an expert in business and has raised and structured hundreds of millions of dollars for his business ventures. He teaches detailed strategies you can implement, even in today’s economy. He has the best resources to turn to when you’re serious about growing your business and becoming a successful owner. If you need more convincing, take a look at these reasons to take business advice from Keith J. Cunningham:
3 Reasons to Take Business Advice from Keith J. Cunningham3 Keith Cunningham Books to Add to Your Reading List
Keith is an acclaimed author who is regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on business mastery. He is an expert at helping business owners turn businesses into highly profitable companies with explosive growth. If you want to learn how to have a successful business, Keith Cunningham can help. He has an impressive collection of business tools and resources that will not only guide you in the right direction when it comes to running your business, but they will set you up for success years down the road as well. Some of his most popular resources include his books. To learn more, take a look at these 3 <a href="/books/">Keith Cunningham books</a> to add to your reading list:
3 Keith Cunningham Books to Add to Your Reading ListCrisis Leadership: Do Your Job!
Over the last two weeks, I have held dozens of Board of Directors meetings and one-on-one deep dives with scores of business owners around the world. Every one of these business owners is dealing with uncertainty and a crisis of some sort. Some are more serious than others, but none are immune.
Crisis Leadership: Do Your Job!Cash is Still the King… Crisis Survival Guide
Five birds are sitting side by side on a telephone wire. You shoot one of them, it falls off the wire and hits the ground. Now how many birds are left on the wire? The obvious answer is “4”. The correct answer is “none”. When you shot the first bird, the other 4 birds flew off.
Cash is Still the King… Crisis Survival GuideBusiness Oxygen
Oxygen is something we rarely think about until it is cut off and then it becomes our highest priority. The reason is obvious: Without oxygen, life rapidly becomes increasingly uncomfortable and then you die….quickly.
Business OxygenThe Discipline of Thinking Time
The idea of writing a book about Thinking Time (which I am hoping was not my third-best idea) has been in the making for decades. It started over twenty-five years ago (shortly after I paid a gigantic dumb tax), when I began tracking and recording the critical skills, ©2018 Keys to the Vault tools, and insights I learned the hard way and which I have found are necessary to be sustainably successful. In the process, I have developed several core beliefs that have molded my thinking, actions, and results. Here are the critical few that are relevant for this book:
The Discipline of Thinking TimeKeith’s Log of Lessons Learned
In the late 1980’s, as the real estate market in the Southwestern part of the United States collapsed, I was wiped out, as were many of my friends and business associates. We were experiencing the inevitable catastrophic aftermath of one of the greatest real estate booms in the history of mankind.
Keith’s Log of Lessons LearnedMann Gulch
On August 5, 1949, thirteen men died battling a relatively small blaze that turned deadly at Mann Gulch. Upon investigating the circumstances of why most of the smoke jumpers (firefighters who parachute into the back country to fight fires) died while three lived, the U.S. Forest Service came to some startling conclusions.
Mann GulchA Solution Based Life
Everyone I know has problems. We all have things that don’t go as planned or have challenges which catch us off guard. When you stop to think about it, a problem is nothing more than a situation in need of improvement. My experience is that people can have three responses to their “situations”:
A Solution Based LifeMyth #1 — Financial Freedom
Every time I speak these days, someone in the audience wants to talk about their frustration with obtaining “Financial Freedom, Passive Income and More Time.” This newsletter is the first of a three part series on these issues.
Myth #1 — Financial FreedomMyth #2 – Passive Income
This is the second installment in a three part series on wealth and money. Part one of the series was on Financial Freedom. Part two is on Passive Income.
Myth #2 – Passive IncomeMyth #3 – More Time
This is the third installment in a three part series on wealth and money. Part one was on the myth of Financial Freedom. Part two was on the myth of Passive Income. Part three is on More Time.
Myth #3 – More TimeFalling for the Cause
If you are like most people I know, every year around February you begin to notice that all those New Year´s resolutions you made about 4 weeks ago are starting to fade and wither. Most of these resolutions were the same ones you made last year and the year before. Every year, after a few weeks, you start finding reasons and excuses to make exceptions and to fall off the wagon.
Falling for the CauseAchieving POWER in all your Negotiations
Anytime you are in a negotiation, you are there for one reason and one reason only: To do better than your alternatives. You are negotiating to see if you can improve upon your existing situation. If you can, then you are better off than you would have been otherwise; and if you can´t, then you have your fall back position, which are your alternatives.
Achieving POWER in all your NegotiationsCreating a Successful Business Plan
As I discussed in the article The Power of Using OPM…Other People’s Money, most entrepreneurs get lost in the maze of figuring out what makes an investor bite and thus fund one business plan versus another. The people with the money have a set of rules and invest in things that the poor and middle class are not even aware of. To successfully raise money, you must understand the rules that the rich use to make their investment decisions.
Creating a Successful Business PlanNegotiations are in Paradox
Have you ever been in a negotiation and gotten everything you wanted?
Negotiations are in ParadoxMoney Follows Management
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, points out on the opening page, his rich dad’s advice on investing, “Don’t be average.” The same advice can be given to every entrepreneur who dreams of striking it rich by starting a company. They think that because they have dreamed up a snappy new product, it will be easy to raise some money and then even easier to parlay the great idea and financial backing into the “next big thing.” It takes more than an average person to successfully turn an idea into millions of sales and thus millions of profits.
Money Follows ManagementExpand the Pie Before You Divide It
In almost all negotiations, there comes a time when the parties get stuck. I have said repeatedly what I want, you have said repeatedly what you want and we are still apart. We are both dug into our positions and the more often we repeat our position, the more solidified it becomes in our own minds. This is the time that is the most challenging and the most fun because it requires you to be creative. Usually when it gets to this point, it sounds like an either/or kind of conversation and usually the conversation is about to get heated or emotional.
Expand the Pie Before You Divide ItThe Power of Using OPM
Most people are in the “rat race” financially, going round and round, living paycheck to pay check. One of the keys to getting out of the rat race and creating financial independence is knowing the secret of leveraging other people´s time and money. The ability to raise and use OPM and OPT is crucial to obtaining the financial freedom you deserve and desire.
The Power of Using OPM
