Informative insights and conversations with owners, CEOs, M&A dealmakers, and other professionals on lessons learned, tips, current business conditions, and more.
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August 18, 20268 min
10 Tips for All Business Buyers
There's a lot of misinformation out there on business buying. Some say it's easy - it's not. Others give valuation advice that seems like; it came from outer space. Most overestimate their ability to grow a business. Take a listen and get some down-to-earth, pragmatic advice. Doesn't matter if you're an individual buyer or part of a professional buying group. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
August 10, 202631 min
From Being a Jerk to Being an Ally with Scott Armstrong CEO of Brainrider
John and Scott discuss Scott's background and his work at Brainrider, a marketing services company he co-founded and is CEO of. Scott explains how he developed his expertise in building client trust after receiving feedback from M&A advisors that his firm needed stronger rainmaking skills in mid-level management. He also mentions his new venture called Win the Question and shared details about his book titled "A to A: How Ambitious Professionals Lose Trust and What They Can Do to Earn It Back." The book focuses on an insight about not making conversations about oneself and four skills developed by Scott, including slowing down to better understand client problems. Scott covers four key skills for working with clients: asking questions for discovery, listening to learn, collaboratively framing problems, and managing difficult situations. He emphasizes avoiding the "curse of knowledge" where professionals develop fixed solutions like "seven steps" and apply them universally. John shares examples of business owners resistant to change, particularly older founders, and discussed how they sometimes turn down clients who exhibit "know-it-all-itis." Both participants agreed that professionals often struggle with self-orientation and know-it-all behavior, which can impact their effectiveness with clients. Scott discusses the importance of effective listening and asking questions in client conversations, noting that high performers talk less than low performers and emphasizing the value of getting quick decisions rather than prolonged discussions. He advised coaching teams to listen to top performers' calls to understand effective questioning techniques before moving into sales mode. The conversation then shifted to the topic of adventure and its impact on business performance, with Scott sharing his personal experiences with backcountry skiing and motorcycle riding as examples of how adventure develops essential business skills like team communication and problem-solving. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
August 3, 202632 min
Pay the Least Tax and Defer It with Justin Rupple from Elevated Tax Strategies
Justin explains his journey from working in group benefits to founding Elevated Tax Strategies, which collaborates with business owners and their CPAs to identify specialized tax savings opportunities often overlooked by generalists. He describes how they help clients save tens or hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars through legal tax strategies and incentives that require specialized expertise. The discussion touches on the types of businesses that would benefit most from these services. Justin explains the challenges of capital gains taxes for business owners and real estate investors, highlighting how states are becoming more aggressive in taxation. He detailed 1031 exchanges for real estate and described a similar strategy using Section 453 for businesses and other assets, which allows for tax-deferred reinvestment without the same restrictions as 1031 exchanges. Justin notes that these strategies can help preserve capital and allow for diversification beyond real estate, with business owners often not needing the full sale proceeds immediately and wanting to preserve wealth for future use or legacy purposes. He covers tax-deferment strategies for business sellers, particularly using Section 453 structures to defer capital gains taxes. He describs how business owners can capture sale proceeds into an entity (trust or LLC) to pay taxes gradually over time rather than upfront, allowing the full sale amount to work for the owner's long-term financial goals. Justin clarifies that while the minimum gain needed is around $500,000 for the strategy to be worthwhile, the structure can accommodate multiple transactions and provides flexibility in managing both investments and income distributions. Justin can be reached at justin@elevated.tax. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
July 30, 202630 min
Marketing and Its Fallacies in the AI Age with Lisa Cole of 2X Marketing
Lisa Cole, a four-time Chief Marketing Officer and current CMO at 2X, discusses the challenges marketers face in doing more with fewer resources and the misconceptions around AI in marketing. She explains that while AI can automate tactical tasks, human judgment remains essential for creating unique, high-quality content that differentiates companies from competitors. Lisa emphasizes that marketers should be intentional about what tasks to keep in-house, outsource, or automate, rather than relying solely on AI to handle all marketing functions. Lisa and John discuss the challenges marketers face due to AI, including the pressure to create content that is both understandable to humans and AI models across multiple channels. Lisa explains that marketers now ns to consider both human and AI audiences, leading to increased workload and expectations. She notes this situation is creating tension in organizations of all sizes, with some facing pressure to reduce headcount while others are expected to do more with less. Lisa advises companies to focus on understanding and mapping their current marketing workflows before implementing AI, rather than immediately acquiring more AI licenses. She recommends conducting a "hackathon" to reimagine and optimize existing processes, aiming to reduce time from idea to execution and eliminate manual review cycles. For John's small business helping people buy and sell businesses, Lisa suggests asking their preferred AI model for specific advice on how to apply AI to grow their LinkedIn following and engage with executives. You can reach Lisa at www.2X.marketing or Lisa.cole@2X.marketing. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
July 22, 202625 min
Protecting Your Assets With Mark Pierce
Mark explains their firm's approach to providing tax-advantaged asset protection structures, typically using trusts and LLCs to help families preserve business and financial assets while protecting against risks like divorce and creditors. He describes working with both individuals and business owners, creating structures that can handle business succession and protect assets from various threats. He states clients typically need around $2-5 million in assets for these services, with $2 million being sufficient for retirees and $2-5 million for growing businesses. Trust Asset Collection Legal Case Mark also discusses a complex legal case involving a California beneficiary who moved a trust to South Dakota after divorce, with California seeking to enforce alimony and child support judgments against the trust assets. The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that while it must recognize the judgment under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, collection mechanisms are governed by state law, preventing attachment of real estate assets but allowing collection of movable assets like cash and stocks through Wyoming LLCs. He explained that structuring assets as a non-grantor revocable trust in Wyoming avoids state income tax, capital gains tax, and estate taxes for Washington residents. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
July 13, 202633 min
Tips on Selling Good Businesses with Mark Hartmann
Mark shares his journey from helping family members buy a business to becoming a full-time business intermediary. He explained how he sold his company Ethicare Advisors in 2017 and has been helping other entrepreneurs with business transactions for the past 8 years. Mark and his wife Shelby Rhodes run their business together. Mark discusses his four key rules for business sales, including focusing on profitable businesses and working with sellers he likes, with a preference for deals ranging from $1 to $25 million in enterprise value. He noted that there is significant opportunity in the $1-5 million range on the East Coast and discussed how a generational shift is creating opportunities as boomers sell to his generation and millennials. John agreed with Mark's market positioning, noting that while a predicted tsunami of business sales didn't materialize, there has been a steady wave of opportunities. Mark stressea the importance of business owners being prepared for exit strategies and emphasizes the value of coaching and accountability in improving business value. He outlines key actions owners should take, including cleaning up financial books and de-risking vendor, customer, and employee relationships. Mark and John discussed the importance of de-risking a business for potential buyers, particularly focusing on owner dependency. Mark explained his "kidnap test" concept to assess how critical an owner is to the business's operations. They noted that buyers typically look for situations where owners can be replaced, and Mark's typical clients are older business owners looking to retire rather than those planning to work for the buying company. Mark can be reached at at mark@hartmannrhodes.com and hartmannrhodes.com. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
July 6, 202626 min
Transitioning from Founder to Family with Paul and Brian Riemer
Paul and Brian Riemer are second-generation owners of Riemer Insurance, a family-owned all-lines insurance agency in Miami founded in 1978 by their father Steven. The brothers discuss their transition into leadership roles, with both completing MBA programs while working in the business, and their gradual ownership transition that was gifted to them rather than purchased. They explain how they grew the company to near 80 employees across five offices licensed in 50 states, operating in commercial lines, personal lines, employee benefits, and life insurance while maintaining a "family first, business second" culture. The discussion covers their competitive advantages including senior-level client attention, quick decision-making, and strong carrier relationships, as well as challenges in people management and maintaining personal service while scaling operations. They share insights on family business transitions, emphasizing the importance of patience, open communication, and letting team members learn from mistakes, while noting that technology advancement and leadership development were key areas where they exceeded their father's approach. They can be reached at www.riemerinsurance.com. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
June 30, 202643 min
Chapter Six from Exit With Style, Grace and More Money - Due Diligence, aka Prove It
Chapter six is all about what buyers will ask you, which means everything about every subject. (If they don't, I wouldn't have faith in the buyer.) Take a listen. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
June 29, 202629 min
Learn How to Grow by Substraction with Yarin Gaon
Yarin was an entrepreneur in residence in a venture capital firm, and what that means in simple terms is, he was the in-house entrepreneur for the fund, and his job was to take distressed assets and basically startups that ran out of money and turn them around. For about 3 years, he volunteered as a business mentor in the University of Chicago, and in SCORE, mentoring about 400 different founders, and saw interesting themes. That led him to kind of quit his venture capital job and start Fraction Partners, to help growth companies grow profitably. So, there's a difference between revenue and profits, we know that, but a lot of companies can grow top line, but have a very difficult time growing bottom line. And Yarin is hyper-focused on bottom line, so what he does is help them find their path of least resistance to growing profitably. Listen for more on the why and how of what he does. You can reach Yarin at www.fractional.partners John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
June 15, 202625 min
How Big Wins Come From Small Losses with Haren Bhakta
Learn how business owners can apply lessons from successful companies to improve their own businesses. Haren shares his experience acquiring a company in Las Vegas, highlighting issues with leadership and suggesting ways to increase business value by reducing bureaucracy and incentivizing employees. He initially found the publicly traded micro-cap company in 2016 when it was down 99% from its high, and after launching a proxy contest in 2019, he successfully joined the board in 2019. The company faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic when the entire show business shut down, leading to bankruptcy by 2022, which he and his team then purchased out of bankruptcy. He identified several operational issues, including lack of website presence, poor management structure, and inadequate incentives for staff. Haren worked directly in one of their retail locations to understand the business better and implemented changes including cutting the CEO's salary and rewarding frontline staff. The pany was successfully sold to a show producer in 2023 after Haren's revival efforts. John Martinka Jessica Martinka Contact us via either website or give us a call and be sure to check out our blog pages with new posts weekly. https://nokomisadvisory.com/ https://www.martinkaconsulting.com/ https://www.gddpodcast.buzzsprout.com https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnAMartinka/videos 425-515-4903
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