Selling a Business is a Time Machine

Selling a successful business is a time machine.😮

During my group coaching call this week, I spoke about the relatively unknown game that is being played in business; Exits and acquisitions.

It's heartbreaking to have hundreds of conversations with owners who were seeking guidance on selling their companies... only for them to discover their companies weren't worth buying.

Data suggests that only about 20% of businesses are acquired, because the majority of them aren't building enterprise value that attracts a potential buyer. And for those that do sell, the average sale is only in the ~200K range.

I want to raise your awareness of this bigger game. For a moment, step outside of your focus on daily operations and think beyond your current phase of business. If you don't, you'll miss out on potentially life-changing opportunities.

Building and selling a company for millions is a time machine for those of us that didn't grow up rich, or have a trust fund.

I didn't realize this until after I sold my first company in 2007. It wasn't even a thought I considered, because I didn't know anyone with the experience, and nobody was sharing this perspective with others.

With a 5X multiple on exit valuation, some inexperienced owners only see that as 5 years profit placed in their hands, in advance. While 5 years is good, they've not understood the complete time travel aspect, yet.

Prior to the sale, I enjoyed a healthy multi-6-figure annual income for several years. But even at that income level, it would have taken me 20+ years to maintain the lifestyle I had, and also save up an additional 7-figures in my bank account.

Don't believe me? How many decades do most people have to work with a 6-figure income, in order to save up a million in 401K? It's a long, long time.

💥Boom! 20 Years of time travel in terms of financial liquidity standings. I actually estimate that every million is worth about 20 years for a 6-figure salary earner.

Then you have the time freedom aspect to consider. If you own a profitable business, you can keep working another 5 years doing the same routine, or you could sell it and earn your 5+ years in profit in one day. What could you do with another 5+ years in your life?

💥Boom! Instantly 5+ years of your time that you would have spent working, returned back to your life. When our average age of death is 80, every year counts.

Time and location freedom are more valuable than most will understand. You can't fully understand the value of these, until you experience them for yourself.

Consider this; Your goal isn't just building a business. You need to start thinking of it as building a time machine. The more profitable the business, the bigger the time machine it is.

I've been enjoying this time travel for nearly 20 years now. I love helping others build their own time machines.

-Tony


The Real Value of Time

This has been a week of losses, but I want to inspire you. 🧡

Earlier this week, an old friend passed away. Rest in peace Amber.

Yesterday I attended a meetup with a few business owners, and we started the meeting with a visual gratitude exercise.

The image you see consists of 80 squares, which is our average lifespan. We marked through the squares equal to our age, to get a visual of what's remaining. Powerful.

Here's the thing; Had I done this visual exercise 10 years ago, I would have felt more anxiety and fear. Even though I had more squares remaining than today, I knew at 40 that I was just comfortable in life and I was settling for less than my potential.

Back then, I was only impacting those within my proximity. My family, friends, my employer, co-workers, team members. While this is good, I knew the potential to positively impact thousands existed... and I wasn't making an effort to do it.

It wasn't because I was lazy. It was because I feared the pursuit of something that may not ever happen. If I failed, what would others say or think about me? Why should I step out of comfort to do more impactful things?

Yesterday I marked through those squares, understanding I have fewer remaining. I felt no anxiety or fear. Absolutely zero. It's because I'm pursuing my purpose and potential, and have positively impacted thousands of strangers. I'm doing the work to expand my proximity beyond what I can see or touch.

After I got home from the meeting, my dad called me. I knew something was wrong, because he never calls me at that time. He told me his brother died. Rest in peace, Uncle Jim.

I mourn these losses, but at the same time I'm inspired by them. Each loss is a reminder that time becomes more and more valuable, and it continuously counts down to zero.

I want you to consider your remaining squares. If you feel anxiety or fear about them... you still have time to make some changes. It's time to stop settling for less. It's time to step out of complacency and challenge yourself, again.

This is what people you've lost would have wanted for you.

-Tony


Scammers & Frauds Won't Like This Article

Let's expose the tactics that frauds and scammers still use 😮

With all the recent Federal fraud busts in the entrepreneur and marketing space (see my post from yesterday) I'm going to share some tips to help you protect yourself. Feel free to add to the tips.

I spend a lot of time and energy on this subject, because I've been a victim of theft. I also put a pause on my mission to coach business owners for 18 months, because I knew I'd be stepping into the pool of sharks, and I knew I'd be compared with them until proven otherwise.

It's been nearly 20 years since I sold my first company. When you have money, you can count on opportunists and grifters to try to get into your circle. Now I have 20 years experience of observing these frauds, and see their patterns and repeated habits.

Here are my red flags. 🚩

1) Money Bundlers. These people are always talking a big game, always asking for money from other people. They always talk about "capital raises" and their investment opportunities. If you have an audience, they want to get in front of it. Good leaders protect their audience, they don't sell them out. The REAL successful people in this arena rarely ask for money in public. Investors KNOW they are successful, and approach and ask them to get into their deals.

2) Religious Marketers. There isn't anything wrong with being religious, but you should be on high alert if someone is using religion as part of their personal branding, to sell you a course or investment "opportunity". Many of these unethical frauds will purposely use religion as a smokescreen, to hide their lies. Red flag.

3) Get Rich Quick GooRoos. This group is by far the largest of them. Any time I see someone promising you 6-figures this or 7-figures that, while telling you it's passive and that you don't have to work... all bullshit. Bonus bullshit points if they have some "10-Step" program or cookie-cutter one-size fits all "framework" to success. Their keynote speeches talk about "prosperity" and "millionaire mindset". Red flag.

So how do you protect yourself? 🛡

Do your research. You have zero excuses now that the internet exists. Look past their hype marketing and focus on reality.

Most of these frauds have no long-term history of success. I'm talking 10+ years of proven success. Scroll back far enough on their social media, and you can usually see where the Lambo first arrived for their guru pics. Check the dates. Look for actual evidence of their lifestyle going back over a decade.

Don't be fooled by their follower counts. On every platform you can purchase fake followers, fake post comments, fake likes, fake subscribers, fake podcast downloads. Use tools like SocialBlade(.com) to see spikes where they bought thousands of followers in a week. People that want to argue about this are usually guilty, themselves. "I didn't know better." Bullshit. You knew it was fake when you swiped your credit card.

Use paid background check apps. There are several options. This shit is pure comedy! You'd be amazed at some of the BIG names that you admire, and how fraudulent they are. These background checks reveal criminal history, bankruptcies, divorces, restraining orders, name/alias changes, and even show their residential address and what vehicles are registered to them. With that info, you can use Google Maps to view their "mansions". Some of these gooroos don't even show up on searches... because they aren't using their real names. Red flag!

Ask around. Speak with former clients they've worked with. Speak with former employees of their companies. Speak with former leaders of their groups. So many of you skip this, and defend these frauds until they turn against you. "Well, he/she treats me fairly, so they are okay" Bullshit. Recognize patterns, they keep repeating. You'll be next.

That should get you started. Hell, try these searches on me! 😘

-Tony


Why Most Remain Stuck Where They're At

Here's why most people remain stuck where they're at 😮

Last night on my coaching call, I explained the most common reason that people climb to some level and then get stuck there.

It's because they've stopped making sacrifices and stopped taking risks. They've achieved some level of comfort, and have become content or complacent.

If comfort was always your goal, there's nothing wrong with this. If that's you, then you may stop reading this message.

If you're still reading this, you know you want more from life. You can sense your higher potential and greater purpose. But, you are wondering why things aren't progressing like they used to.

"What got you here, won't get you there."

I have no doubt that you've made some hard sacrifices in life to get where you currently are. You've made life decisions that weren't clear to others at the time. You've taken risks and bet on yourself. You've failed, you've won, you kept going.

Then comfort arrived for you. Your bills are paid. You finally had some extra spending money to enjoy interests. You upgraded your home, your car, your clothes. Friends and family are proud of you and say "you've made it."

Society is an interesting trap we navigate. As our income, status, and confidence all begin to elevate; Climbing the corporate and social ladders, we begin doing less of what got us here.

We stop taking risks. We stop making sacrifices, even if temporary. We'll do anything to protect our current income and perceived social status.

We'll even fake our own confidence, knowing that we actually live in fear of losing everything.

Here's how you get unstuck.

1) Play chess, not checkers. In checkers, your basic moves are always forward, you cannot move backwards. If you follow that rule with your life, you'll resist moving backwards in income level or status. Chess is a far more advanced game. To master chess, you'll understand that sometimes it is necessary to move backwards to strategize winning the entire game.

2) Stop worrying what others will think about you. If you downgrade your lifestyle, your home, your vehicle, sure - some people will gossip and talk about you. These are usually other people who reached some level and got stuck, themselves. They're no longer stacking wins, so they need to point out other people's losses to feel better about being stuck. Temporary sacrifice to get ahead is honorable and takes courage, and those people have neither.

3) Continuously invest in new skills and knowledge. Learning is something we do, not something we did. Your entire life should be dedicated to learning new things, especially skills that move you closer to your purpose or dreams. Don't say you can't afford it if you have items you could sell, or a lifestyle you can downgrade. Again, playing chess - move backwards now to move ahead later!

I hope this message reaches you. I hope it reaches your friends that also need to hear it.

P.S. That car in the pic was the Nissan I drove while I was putting myself through college. It was the worst vehicle I've ever owned, and it left me stranded numerous times. As a car enthusiast, I had to put aside my ego and "car guy" identity for several years to focus on what was important. That was just one sacrifice of many that I've made, and I continue to make.

-Tony


Become More Courageous

As a child, I wanted to become three things; Race car driver, fighter pilot, or stuntman 🤩

I've always had the daredevil personality, enjoying activities that most people prefer to avoid.

That being said, I wouldn't ever label myself as an "adrenaline junkie". That's because I don't do these things to increase my heart rate. In fact, I'm relatively calm in high stress, fearful situations.

Why am I calm? It's because I've prepared. I've calculated the risks. I've practiced and done hundreds of reps. I've failed extensively and kept trying again.
I've also learned to control my emotions because I understand mental clarity is required when successfully executing stressful situations. When distracted by emotions, you'll make costly errors.

So, how do you become more courageous and learn more emotional control? Here are some tips:

1) Memento Mori. This is Latin for "Remember you must die." Accept this as fact. You can live your entire life fearing death, but you will never escape the outcome. We all die. If you're always playing safe, I'd say you haven't lived. Take more chances.

2) Self-Awareness. Don't blame your temper on your parents. You control your actions and your words, not them. When things trigger you emotionally, learn to pause before you respond. Emotionally weak people react, wise self-aware people respond. Practice this every day, in common situations... such as road-rage situations.

3) Challenge yourself by doing difficult things. A good example is public speaking, it's ranked 2nd among all fears... right after the fear of dying. Public speaking won't kill you. Everyone can do this, it just takes investing in skills and doing the reps. Hire a coach, join Toastmasters, face your fears. Your confidence will increase each time you overcome a fear.

4) Stop giving up and quitting too soon, or pivoting too often. This is unfortunately a common habit. If you set goals, become relentless and keep pushing to improve. Many of my successes have come as a result of simply outlasting others. Think in terms of 5-10 years, not months. Your confidence takes a dive every time you quit, every time you pivot. Avoid that!

Hope this message helps. 🧡


The Hard Truth About Men

Some hard truth for the men.

Driven men are hardwired to pursue money in their 20s and 30s. It's how society has programmed us to earn status and prove ourselves. We sacrifice our health. We sacrifice our relationships. We sacrifice our time.

The wiser successful men around age 40 begin to see the bigger picture. With our experience and skills, we realize we didn't have to do it like we did. We were stuck in the loop of trading our units of hours for their units of dollars. Need more money? Work more hours. Need more money? Work overtime. Need more money? Pick up a 2nd job. We don't value our time when we think we have unlimited time.

You can be filthy rich, have all the fancy cars, the big home and all the material things you desire. But, if I look at you and your physical fitness is severely lacking, your relationships with friends and family have a history of being weak, your integrity and character are questionable, you aren't contributing to the betterment of society... then you've failed up to this point.

A few of you will read this and feel defensive about something. I challenge you to look into an actual mirror and be honest with what you see.

"But Tony, it isn't right to judge others!"

I believe we are all judged. Every single day, by every single person. It's playing make-believe to think otherwise. It's a false, idealistic belief to think we are not judged. YOU even judge others. That's normal. It's human behavior. This is the hard truth that most are uncomfortable with. It's easier to pretend we aren't judged, so we can continue with our destructive behaviors, actions, and words.

The good news is that you can fix this. Most won't. Few will. Become the right man that embraces being judged, because you are being judged as a winner in all areas of life.

-Tony


Most Don't Know This About Speaking Events

You probably don't know this about speaking events😮

Before I became a speaker, I wasn't aware of the different types of business models that events use, to create profit.

I also wasn't aware of how many different ways a speaker can earn income from events. I also didn't understand the different ways that speakers end up on a stage.

Most people assume the traditional business model. Sell a bunch of tickets, exceeding the cost of the venue rental and support, and pay the speaker fees. Mix in a few corporate sponsors, and profit is made. Usually no pitching or selling from stage. This is the "paid speaker" path, which I prefer.

Next up, there is the pitch-fest type events. This is when an event host invites speakers who have a high-dollar offer to sell on stage, and they agree to share a percentage of the sales with the host. Sometimes the speakers are there for free because of the potential sales, sometimes they even pay to get on that stage to pitch. This is the "pay to play speaker" path.

Now for the one you may not know about; The false influence events. These are events where the host pays a few recognizable names to speak, and then inserts relatively unknown speakers in between the main names. These unknown speakers pay $2K-30K each to get on that stage. That money pays for the celebrity speakers, and covers the cost of the event. The lure is hopeful recognition, having the ability to say you "shared a stage with (star)". It's clever marketing.

Then you have the recruitment events. These are often disguised as large events with hundreds of attendees, with dozens of speakers that you've never heard of. In most cases, those speakers are members of a group, and the event is hosted by the group leader. They created the event to give members stage time, but they also pitch membership and usually do the "buy a ticket and bring a friend free" offer. That free guest is hopefully the next recruited.

There are a several variations of these events. I hope this post raises your awareness, and saves you some time and money. As a hopeful speaker, you'll also understand the game better.

-Tony


How to Win in 2025 - EP 391

How to Win in 2025. Topics covered in this episode by Tony Whatley:
  • Life Advice
    • Forgive yourself
    • Forgive others
    • Distance yourself negative energy people
    • Assess your inputs. What emotions do you feel?
    • Dealing with burnout or creative blocks - finding purpose
    • Stop supporting those who wouldn't acknowledge or interact with you.
    • The fallacy of appreciation
    • Decide on who to become. Make decisions and take actions like they would.
    • Crafting your identity.
  • Fitness and Nutrition
    • Set realistic goals, not perfection
    • Sacrifice something that you know doesn't help you
    • Hire a trainer or find an accountability partner
    • Post the damn selfie
  • Business and Money
    • Learn a new skill that creates time or income (Apps, Ai, selling, marketing, public speaking, copywriting)
    • Invest time and money into quality relationships, masterminds and peer groups. Stop being cheap.
    • Video content creation - authenticity
    • Quality above Quantity
    • Master organic content first, then spend on ads
    • Take bigger risks, especially if your bills are paid
  • Goal Setting.
    • New Year's Resolutions
    • At the end of each year, there is only one question to answer. "Am I happy and fulfilled?"
    • Set goals to achieve this, as a bare minimum
    • Use a calendar. Schedule everything
    • Align daily tasks with energy levels

Connect with Tony Whatley:


Style vs. Execution

 

An observation of similarity between entrepreneurship and skating.

Whether we're talking business or carving bowls, there are two important things to consider; Style vs Execution.

I've been skateboarding almost two years now, and I continue to improve. Along the way, I started noticing the shift in levels.

At first, I was solely focused on execution. I didn't have the capacity or awareness to even think about style, because I was so focused on not falling down and eating concrete.

I'd study the lines and paths of better skaters, seeing where I could improve. I'd look for where I was losing speed and momentum. I'd worry too much about where my feet were placed on the deck.

All of it was focused on being able to make a few laps around the bowl, without falling down. I fell down a lot! Hundreds of times by now. It always hurts.

As I improved, I began feeling more of a flow state. Even though I was traveling much much faster, time seemed to slow down and I could anticipate and plan my lines, while reacting in real time with the surface of the bowl.

With enough practice and reps, I don't even think about minor distractions any longer. The execution is there, so now I can work on style. Making the run look smoother, higher, and more stylish.

In business, far too many get this backwards. They focus too much on style and looking good, rather than focusing on execution and achieving actual, earned results.

You can't fake it till you make it on a skateboard. Style won't fool anyone once you drop-in and they see how you execute.

You also won't fool anyone in business, except maybe actual fools. Those who've earned actual results can always see the fakes and those who pretend.

In business, focus on execution first. Focus on the core fundamentals, while also learning new things. Fail a LOT. Earn the scars that provide priceless lessons. Become proven at operations and delivering for your customers.

Then worry about style.


Entrepreneurship Burnout?

Entrepreneurship burnout is a real thing and I blame it mostly on one thing.

Goal addiction.

You'll set business goals, pursue them relentlessly, achieve them, and then think "What's next?"

You're always pushing yourself to "think bigger" and "work harder" all while being your own worst critic. You carry the weight of shame of "not being where you should be, by now."

You'll create an identity around being "consistent" or being the "hardest worker in the room."

This cycle repeats itself, forever. The only two options to break this cycle are 1) Literally dying or 2) Becoming aware of patterns and making conscious changes.

The personal development space has created a vacuum where logic cannot breathe, due to an overabundance of inputs telling you to pursue things based on the emotion of feeling lack.

The intentions behind these motivational messages are good, but they never consider the sacrifice and damage that occurs, as a result.

Entrepreneurs have a long history of pursuing success...

But sacrificing their relationships, or getting divorced.
But losing their physical health and fitness.
But struggle with mental health, and cope with drugs or booze

So what are the required changes?

  • Learn to feel gratitude for this present moment. Don't get caught up in the future. Be present.
  • Work with a therapist or coach that will challenge you, to ensure you're doing things for valid reasons, rather than because of ego or fear.
  • Create a list of non-negotiable rules, your personal core values. These rules will navigate every decision in your life. Do not ever violate your own rules, this is where confidence disappears.
  • Do not allow labels like "Consistency" to define you, when there isn't a net positive or happiness that comes as a result of being consistent. It's okay to skip once in a while, especially on vacations. We each deserve a pause, so stop fearing judgment from others just because you take a break from something.
  • Use technology to make your business more efficient, gaining back more valuable time. Do not backfill this newly found time with more work. Use that time for yourself, doing things that make you happy and fulfilled.
  • Continue to set goals, but also make time to celebrate and savor them. Reward yourself, instead of always thinking "What's next?"

Remember this;

You won't care about what critics said while in your grave.
Nobody cares who worked the hardest in a graveyard.
Living a rich life has nothing to do with money or status.
The world would be a better place if the best you existed.

-Tony