Columns

Where To Start When Your Growth Stops

By:  John Warrillow Why would two companies in the same industry, with the same financial performance, command vastly different valuations? The answer often comes down to how much each business is likely to grow in the future. The problem is that a lot of successful businesses reach a point where their growth starts to slow as the company matures. In fact, the price of doing a great job carving out a unique niche is that the specialty that made you successful can start to hold you back. If you make the world’s greatest $5,000 wine fridge, you may have a … Read more

Caution: Do Not Poke the Giant

  By:  John Warrillow On June 1, 2011, both Floyd’s Coffee Shops in Portland, Oregon were busier than usual. The regulars were elbowed out of the way by new customers visiting the store for the first time to redeem their coupon and get $10 worth of coffee for $3.  This tempting offer was made because Floyd’s had been picked as the first-ever Google Offers “deal.” Google Offers is the company’s first baby step into the world of “social buying” style promotions where a special, limited time offer is made by a business hoping that the deal will spread virally and … Read more

SEVEN POWERFUL RATIOS TO START TRACKING NOW

By:John Warrillow Doctors in the developing world measure their progress not by the aggregate number of children who die in childbirth but by the infant mortality rate, a ratio of the number of births to deaths. Similarly, baseball’s leadoff batters measure their “on-base percentage” – the number of times they get on base as a percentage of the number of times they get the chance to try. Acquirers also like tracking ratios and the more ratios you can provide a potential buyer, the more comfortable they will get with the idea of buying your business. Better than the blunt measuring … Read more

Introducing The Sellability Score

Have you ever wondered if you could actually sell your business if you wanted to or needed to?   Find out how your business would stack up if you really tried to sell it by taking the free quiz and getting your Sellability Score. The Sellability Score is a system designed by John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You, which offers a confidential way for business owners to evaluate the sellability of their businesses and get feedback on concrete steps they can take to improve their business’s sellability.  Principium has partnered with Built … Read more

Synergy: 1+1=3 or More (Maybe)

Synergy (sin-er-jee) –n, pl -gies 1. The interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc. 2. The potential ability of individual organizations or groups to be more successful or productive as a result of a merger. Have you ever wondered why some acquisitions are successful and some are miserable failures? In a typical strategic acquisition situation, the case for a business acquisition is built on an assessment of potential synergies that can be realized by completing an acquisition.  Let’s take a closer look at the synergies that an … Read more