Patty Block Reveals the Secret to a Successful Business Exit for Women Entrepreneurs

GGGR with Patty Block – Final

00:10
Karen yankovich, and welcome to another episode of The Good girls get rich podcast. I’m your
host. Karen yankovich, and I always love the weeks where we have guests on the show,
because I learned so much, and it just gives me a chance to introduce some of the brilliant
women that I get to hang out with with all of you so excited today to dive into a podcast with
Patty block. Patty is a business advisor, a transition expert, author and speaker Since 22,006
she’s worked with women business owners who are experts in their fields to transition to their
third act. And I know a lot of your listeners understand that right when they’re ready to do the
work that they’ve always longed to do, these women have built profitable and valuable
businesses, but instead of feeling like there’s something missing, they feel like there’s
something more. And in our best selling book, book, your hidden advantage unlock the power
to attract right fit clients and boost your revenue. Patty reveals a new perspective and proven
practical solutions guiding women to unleash their inner power and to run their businesses with
more confidence, more profit and more joy. Patty considers herself a native Texan, even
though she wasn’t born there. She got to Texas as fast as she could at age four, and is based in
Houston. She raised three wonderful humans who all caught the entrepreneurial bug and have
their own successful businesses. Her passion and experience as a business advisor and owner
and lobbyist and political consultant and nonprofit executive comes full circle as she turns
roadblocks into building blocks for women owned businesses. So let me bring patty on to the
video here with us. Patty, you know how excited I have to have this conversation. We’ve had a
few conversations since we booked this, and I’m like, can’t wait to talk about this on the show. Well, thank you so much for having me. It’s really I’m excited to be here. Yeah, yeah. Patty and
I met through a networking group called the dames, and it’s, you know, I encourage all of my
clients to participate in, in networking groups that that you feel like you know when, when,
when you talk about LinkedIn and building your network and how to make it successful. I really
believe the most profitable category of connections you can make is who, who else has
audiences of people that are similar to your audience. And when I say networking, I’m always
looking for that first, right? I’m not always looking just for clients. I’m looking for Who else, who
can I learn from, and how can we kind of help each other’s audiences? And I feel like the dames
has really helped a lot with that, and Patty is definitely someone, as you heard from the bio,
that we are very much aligned in and how we show up in the world, and what our goal is for the
women that we get to work with. So if you go to I don’t put the link in the show notes. Karen
yankovich, hum, slash tools, there’s a link for the dames if you want to check that out. And we
actually have, we’ve had a few shows recently where you’ve had some dames. You’ve heard
me. We’ve heard some of some of the people I’ve gotten to meet there. But
02:59
Patty, tell me a little bit about your journey, because I know that you’ve got a background in
politics, and it’s obviously, you know, it’s this episode’s going live in october 2024, so it is a
hotbed of politics right now. How has that shaped what you’re doing, and how does that drive
hotbed of politics right now. How has that shaped what you’re doing, and how does that drive
what you’re doing today?
03:18
It’s a great question, because it has really motivated me in a lot of different ways. First of all,
I’m so happy I don’t live in that world anymore, that I don’t have to worry about the election
cycle and working for people who I might not admire,
03:37
right? I mean, politics is filled with people you might not admire. And I always considered
myself a quote, good girl speaking to the name of your podcast. And I talk about that in my
book as well, that I grew up as a good girl. And so when I went into politics, actually very
young, and built a business out of that, I thought, well, I’ll be one of the good ones. I’ll be a
good girl, and I can bring a lot of positive energy and experience to this really kind of soul
sucking world. And I’d like to believe I did some good, but one of the things I learned very
quickly is that it is not a level playing field for women.
04:24
And I’m in Texas, so it’s very much a good old boy network, even today in 2024 which I’m really
sad to say, but that hasn’t changed, and that really hasn’t changed that much across the US.
So because of that, a lot of the deals were made on the golf courses and the strip clubs,
04:45
and I wasn’t going to either place. I was a young mother with three little kids at home, so that
was something that I learned very early on, and realized that I had to get creative to get the
deals done. So it actually.
05:00
Me was a positive, if you look at it in that way, that I had to be very innovative creative make
sure that I could talk to the right people that I needed to talk to, and not be shut out because I
was a woman, you know what? It’s such an important part of your story, and would that I can
relate to as well, because, you know, I didn’t, I didn’t grow up in Texas, but I my business, you
know, journey was through the world of technology, you know, guys and tool belts. And
05:32
I had, you know, was similar, right? It was similar you have to, you had to really,
05:39
05:39
you had to really lean into what you were good at and and shine a light on that, if you were
going to have anybody take you seriously. And what I didn’t realize all those years that I was
doing that was what it was training me for, you know. And I didn’t realize, like, it was probably
only, like, maybe 10 years ago or 15 years ago that I was like, Oh, everybody doesn’t do this,
you know. Like, we kind of went through this little battlefield that we didn’t realize was training
us to to shine a light on what we’re good at as we moved into our third acts, right? Or second
acts even, yes, I think that’s really a great way to put it. And also, not only did I have to get
creative with that and I didn’t recognize that I was learning all these things that were going to
set me up for success in the future. But also, as you’re going through something, you have so
much emotion tied into that, and it’s hard to separate yourself to think, oh, there really is a
silver lining to all this. What feels so terrible at the time. Also, one of the things I recognized
was that one of my strengths was the power of perception and intuition, perceptions, tuning
into others, intuition tuning into myself, and we were actively Taught to Suppress that in a work
environment as women, right? Don’t be emotional. Don’t cry, don’t don’t do all these things to
show that you’re a human being, certainly not to show that you’re a woman. And so we’ve been
taught to suppress all of that. And I recognize really early in my journey that those were
strengths, my strengths as well as others, and I wasn’t going to suppress that, and I could use
those to figure out exactly how to innovate. And it’s awesome. It’s really served me extremely
well in my long career of being able to be resilient and adaptable, trust my intuition, which is,
you have to learn how to do that. It’s hard. Yeah, it is hard, yeah. And so you’re right. It really
did set me up for success, but I couldn’t necessarily see that at the time. Yeah, I get that, you
know, I personally have a and I gotta stop. Maybe I need to stop saying this. Maybe I need to
trust my intuition enough, but I have a mistrust personally of is it intuition, or is it impulse? Do
you know what I mean? And that is something that I’m still challenged with, you know? And
sometimes I have to go with intuition, but wait a day and see if I still feel the same way about
it, you know, but tell us a little bit about what came next then, because, because some of the
things you’re doing now, I want to make sure we leave time for because I think they’re things
that women don’t necessarily consider as much as they move through their business. So then
what happened next? You You moved from the political world to where
08:39
the only reason I moved from the political world is because I was 35 years old. Had these three
little kids at home and a surprise divorce. I had built my company over eight years. It was very
successful, but it also required a lot of travel, and I was doing lobbying in my state capital, so I
would commute to the capital, but then I was also doing some federal and local work, so I
thought, I’ll just need to close my business and get a job. First of all, because I need health
insurance for my kids, and you couldn’t at that time go out and buy health insurance. So that
was my thinking. And I think again, I’m a good girl. I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do.
Now I will focus on stabilizing things for my kids. Yep, okay. However, it never once crossed my
mind I could sell my business. Never once which is a big motivator for the work I do now, yes,
because yes, oh, my so much value built in my business, but it never occurred to me. I think as
women, often, we are not raised to think that we can grow up build something that somebody
else is going to value and pay us for. Right?
10:00
Right, and even extends to how we price our services, yes, so, right. Okay, so I go there. This is
Right, and even extends to how we price our services, yes, so, right. Okay, so I go there. This is
what I wanted. This is the juice I wanted to get to. So let’s just go there. Okay, so this is where I
developed a concept that really resonates for a lot of women. When I was growing up, my mom
made these fabulous cookies. The whole house smelled good, was warm. The cookies were
gooey. And all my life, I watched my mom eat the broken cookies, but it wasn’t until I was a
teenager that I even thought to ask her, Why do you only eat the broken cookies? Do they taste
better? And she laughed and said, No, I eat the broken cookies so you can have the whole
ones.
10:47
And that memory came rushing back to me several years ago, when I was struggling to put
words around this pattern that I have seen in the decades that I’ve worked with women
business owners
11:00
and
11:02
I the image of my mom eating the broken cookies popped in my head, and I realized that’s
what we’re doing as women in our businesses. We are following that spirit of self sacrifice that
we saw in our role models, our moms and our grandmothers, and we’re bringing that right into
our business, and it manifests in a lot of different ways. It’s what I call the broken cookie effect.
It’s so I mean, I can’t think there’s that there’s a woman listening to this that cannot relate to
that. I mean, I still do that. I made pancakes the other day and ate the burned ones, you know,
saying, Oh no, I like the really dark ones, you know, like, exactly right? It’s what we do. Now,
I’m not saying that you have to be selfish, right? I’m not saying go to the other extreme, but I’m
saying you shouldn’t be last on the list all the time, right? And you shouldn’t be eating the
broken cookies all the time. So here’s what happens. We’re eating the broken cookies.
Everyone around us is getting the whole cookie, our clients, our staff, our families, everybody
gets the whole cookie, and we live on crumbs, right? So it manifests in a lot of different ways.
One is the first one that the first place that I saw was in pricing, how you price your services,
because we undervalue ourselves, which is why we’re eating the broken cookies, and then we
underprice our services. And then to make it even worse, we over deliver, right? So our profit
goes poof.
12:33
And
12:35
to your point, when I’m speaking with a group of women business owners, and I can see them,
right? And every woman in the room is nodding, because this is very pervasive, yes, so, and
you know what? Here’s the deal. I’m okay with eating the burnt pancakes. You know what I
mean, but I, but I it’s so important that we recognize that we are eating the burnt pancakes and
why we’re eating the burnt pancakes, and that if we want to, we can eat the really yummy,
good ones too, and and that there’s, you know, well anyway, you say it better. So I’m going to
let you keep talking. Okay, so the first place I thought was in pricing, and I built a program
called value driven pricing to help women. Because what I realized in my political consulting
business, I took so many courses, just dozens and dozens of courses trying to learn how to
price my services, how to sell my services. Was a really good consultant, but I had not run a
business before, right? So I I started to recognize that all these programs were developed by
men for men,
13:45
and they weren’t working for me, but I thought it was just me, until I started talking to other
women who said, Oh, that didn’t work for me either. And I thought it was just me, right? So I
started developing programs on how to price your services, how to sell your services for
women, designed by a woman who understands the way we think and process information. So
that’s how I initially built my business. Then I started seeing the broken cookie effect manifest
in other ways,
14:18
and the work that I focus on today is about helping women position their company for their exit.
Because, again, never occurred to me, right, that I could sell my company right the first time
around, and I lost all that value. And your business can be a wealth building tool, right? So I
think of my business life in it’s almost like a play in three acts, and you mentioned the third act,
so let me explain what that is. So in the first act, we finish school, we go out, and we get a job,
and we over deliver, and we live with the stress and anxiety because we think that’s normal.
15:01
All, and we eat the broken cookies every step of the way. We don’t even know we’re eating the
broken cookies right.
15:09
Then we get really frustrated, or we think the time is right, and we go out and start our own
thing. We start our business, and we learn everything the hard way, which, of course, is exactly
what I did, right? Learned everything the hard way. And we are, I dealt with so much anxiety
and stress, but I thought, but now I’m a business owner, so I guess that’s normal,
15:34
and I don’t really know how to price or how to sell my services, but I’m going to figure that out,
and I’m going to learn everything the hard way. So I recognized I was eating the broken
cookies, and I kept hoping that I would feel differently later, right? Someday I’ll feel as though I
cookies, and I kept hoping that I would feel differently later, right? Someday I’ll feel as though I
deserve the whole cookie.
15:57
The third act is very different,
16:01
because when you go into your third act, and actually this is my third act, I jumped in it in 2006
Okay, so after I had this surprise divorce, I went and got a job at an international school. I was
director of development, and then director of operations. Was there for almost nine years, and
it was a really great experience for me. I learned a tremendous amount it was it allowed me to
be home and stabilize things for my kids.
16:33
And I always knew I was going to start my company again, but I was waiting for my kids to get
older and more independent, and I I
16:43
I knew it was a leap of faith to start my company again, especially as a single mom with no
financial support, so I was pretty sure I didn’t. And a lot of brave took a lot of guts and and a lot
of bravery to do that, you know. So I want, I’m glad you recognize that. And I hope everybody
out there listening recognizes, if you’ve done that, that kudos to I did the same thing, and it
was one of the hardest to sit, hardest and easiest, you know, so I would say the same thing. It
was the hardest and the easiest. Yeah, it was almost like a no brainer, because it was, it felt so
right for me, and yet it was very risky. Yes, yes, so and, and in my case, and I don’t know, maybe you can speak to this, I had many people in my life that totally didn’t understand what I
was doing, right? Like, you know, similar to you, wouldn’t have occurred to me that I could sell
a business. In fact, well, similar to you, I didn’t, it didn’t occur to me. My family are all teachers.
They have pensions. They don’t leave their secure paychecks. They have the best benefits
anybody in this country have. And they didn’t totally, did not understand for one second my
choice to leave my secure paycheck and the benefits and all that good stuff. And so it took, it
wasn’t even, it wasn’t even the guts to make the decision in my own life. I had to do it against
the, not even the wishes, but knowing how much, how many people out there were like, All
right, we love you and support you, but I don’t know what the heck you’re doing or why you’re
doing that, right? So
18:16
it was, you know, it’s a lot. You have entrepreneurial kids. I guess I do too, right? But I don’t
have entrepreneurial family, that’s for sure. They’re all employed with pensions, yes, and I did
come from an entrepreneurial family, so that is an advantage for sure. And all three of my kids
have become business owners, yeah, and I also feel part of that is because they saw me as a
role model, yes, and so I did take that leap of faith. And when I started this company, I knew I
didn’t want to go back into politics, although I had a lot of people approach me about that, and
it seemed like almost a natural thing to do, because I had so much experience in that however
you’re in a position to compromise your ethics every single day, and that was extremely
stressful for me, because I wasn’t going to cross that line and made that decision that that’s not
the world I wanted to live in so but again, I was so motivated to be that resource for other
women business owners. Yeah, could develop programs for women and and at the time that I
did that, it was a differentiator. Now, of course, lots and lots of people work only with women
business owners, right? But when I did it, I had a lot of pushback, a lot of people who said, how
can you cut out half the population, and why are you doing? Are you anti man? Are you? And I
said, I have two sons and a daughter. I am not anti male at all. But I think women are not on a
level playing field, right? And I think women are don’t feel as included. I’m not excluding men, I
just don’t feel women feel as included.
20:00
In this conversation, and I want more women to feel included in this. And you know, Patty, one
of the things you talked about with pricing, you know, and taking it back even to the broken
cookie theory,
20:11
you know, lots of women that I talked to about pricing, they’re like, Well, you know, I get that,
Karen, but I just know there’s so many women that are not going to be able to afford me, then
are not going to be able to do this. And my position on that is, let’s fill your cup up first, so that
you’ve got a nice full cup and can build the kind of life that you want for you and your family.
But then let’s, let’s, let’s build that overflow, because you can serve those women from that
overflow. You know, it doesn’t mean that you can’t, you know that you can’t have a heart for
people that you know are maybe not going to be in a position to do what, what they would that
you would want to be able to do with them. So maybe you know if you’ve built but if you’ve got
your pricing right, and you’ve got your your your positioning right in your market right, it will
leave you that overflow that allows you to do scholarships and and other things like that, that
still allows you to to lean, like I said, I don’t mind eating the broken cookies sometimes, right?
Like sometimes, I want to be able to to serve from that place that, that, that place, that but
what if they can’t afford me? Right? You can do that better if you filled your cup up first, and it’s
and it’s overflowing, and you can serve with that overflow,
21:22
I agree wholeheartedly, and I also apply that to charitable contributions. Yes, yes, because a lot
of women want to donate from their companies or take up a cause, and I think that’s super
important, and it’s part of the strength that we bring as women. Is because we do care about
our communities and the people that we serve, but if you are making large charitable
contributions, when your cash flow is not very good,
21:52
then you’re not taking care of yourself, right, right? And that’s often what I say is, let’s build
your pricing model. Let’s build your revenue engine, consistent, predictable, revenue is one of
the most valuable things for a potential buyer of your company. So let’s build that, and then
you have lots of choices, right? You can make charitable contributions. You can take on pro
bono clients. You can hire the people you want to hire and pay them what you know they’re
worth. There’s so much you can do when you’ve built your revenue engine. So I put a lot of
emphasis on that, because we’re not in business as a hobby, right? Right? Business to make
money? Yes, yes, absolutely. And, and, you know, when you when I hear so many coaches out
there talking about, well, I’m gonna help you build a six figure business. I don’t know about you,
but I want a six figure income, right? So a six figure income doesn’t come from a just $100,000
22:54
business. Do you know what I mean? It’s, there’s just so many variables with that and and as an
entrepreneur, it’s, you know, maybe there’ll be a little hill, maybe there’ll be hills and valleys,
you know, in your years and in your personal income and the business income, but it comes
and and, and if you are somebody that says, You know what, I’m a consultant, I want to work
10 hours a week. I make $100 an hour. It gives me the income I want. That’s okay too. You
know what I mean, that’s okay too. But if you are building something more, and I only learned
this a few years ago, and I am not 20 anymore, you know, I should have known this a long time
ago. You know, the the pensions my family have that I don’t have, I have this business that is
that, that I kind of call it my this is my pension. Is my business, you know. So it’s only a few
years ago that I really looked at it from the perspective of, okay, what should I be doing today?
Even if I have no intention, like at this moment in time, I have no intention of selling this no
plans to sell this business per you know, anytime soon. But everything I do now is with the eye
on what if I want to sell this business in five years? You know, what should I be doing today if I
want to sell the business in five years? Because, you know, and I don’t know what your
situation was when you had the surprise divorce, but maybe your business was in shape to be
sold. And maybe it wasn’t because you weren’t thinking about it, right? Had you all you know,
at from age 25 to 35, or 40, whenever that was, been thinking like that, and even though you
weren’t planning on selling it, right, when that life, unexpected life event happened, you were,
you would have been ready for it, right? So I love that now you are having that conversation
with women, and I am having that conversation with the women that I work with, the women
that I work with, and this is not, you’re not the first person we’ve had on the show talking about
this. Because I don’t know why it was such a surprise to me when I learned this a few years
ago, right? Like, why are we not building this business up to like? And to me, it happened when
I started doing my like wills and things like that. I was redoing them, you know, my kids.
25:00
Roll out of the house. So it was time to redo them. I didn’t need guardians for them anymore,
that kind of thing. So it was time to redo all of that. And I remember saying to my friend who’s
in my attorneys, one of my close friends, I was like, Well, what about my business? And she’s
like, Well, what about your business? Like, well, what happens if I you know, and I had said to
my kids, what happens if I die tomorrow? What are you gonna do about the business? I go, Well, you’re dead. What do you care? What’s going on? Nothing happens to your business. I
said, Well, yeah, but I have clients that have year long contracts, and they’ve already paid for
them and and it was such an eye opener to be like, Wow, I have to think about this. Like, not
only do I have to, but why am I not like? Why am I not thinking about this, not just from the
perspective of serving people after I’ve died, right, but from the perspective of, how do I like?
What does happen? And is there a way to do it in a way that maybe I don’t wait until the minute
after I needed it, you know? And if I decided in five years or 10 years that I want to sell it and
maybe show up in a different way, what would I be doing today? So, so how did what was that
moment for you, though, that made you, that made you realize, huh? Why didn’t I think about
selling that first business? I think the moment for me was in working with one of my clients,
okay? And she was approached by a buyer, okay? And I will tell you, it’s very common that a
buyer will come to you, they’ll say, Oh, I’d love and usually it’s in your same industry, and
they’re a bigger company, and they’re growing by acquisition, so they’re buying up the smaller
practices. And so a lot of my clients, especially because I work with experts in professional
services and financial services. So a lot of accountants, attorneys, engineers, specialty
consultants, so the bigger firms are coming and gobbling those up, and it’s a very effective
strategy for the bigger firms. So one of my clients had a buyer who came to her, and through
that experience, I started to realize I started to see it more frequently, and it seems like a good
deal, but is it really a good deal?
27:06
When you start breaking it down, I started to realize this is not a great deal for my client. And
the challenge is, a lot of the advisors around my client, all of whom were men, all said, Oh, man, this is great, because they’re going to get a piece of it right. And I started to think, Wait a
minute, the business owners getting messed around with advice that’s not serving her, it’s
serving everyone around her. That’s the definition of the broken cookie effect, right, right, right,
and that’s where I started seeing it in the exit process. It’s very male dominated, it’s very
numbers focused. And yet, when you transition out of your company, it is like transitioning a
piece of your identity. It is very emotional, and the ability to detach from your emotions and
from the situation is extremely difficult, and I started to realize there’s a gap in the market
here, and that’s where I now focus. My attention is on helping my clients transition from their
second act to their third act, and the third act is about doing the work you’ve longed to do. It’s
you’re not doing the accounting, because you know you can make a living at it. You did that.
You built your revenue engine. You made a lot of money in your second act, and now you’d like
to use the funds from your second act to go into your third act, and then it becomes less about
a paycheck and more about your purpose. And it’s not to say that your second act isn’t about
your purpose. It’s what you said earlier, Karen, about how you get set up as you go through
your career, you may not realize it in the moment, but every step you take, every choice you
make, every decision, is leading you to the next thing. And in my definition, the next thing is
the third act, which really is about your purpose. And I jumped into my third act in 2006
29:25
and realized this is exactly my purpose. This is exactly why I’m here to do this work, because so
many women are getting messed around in the exit process, but also very, very few women
successfully sell their companies. Across the board,
29:46
the statistic is that only 30% of companies of small businesses complete the sale process so
they have a successful sale. That statistic, right? There is a little mind blowing to me, because
on one.
30:00
Hand, we’re saying, Well, I have this asset here, and why can’t I count on this asset in kind of in
lieu of me having a pension, but now you’re saying only 30% of small businesses actually
complete a successful sale. So how do we overcome that? Right? That’s my mission. Okay?
Because of those 30% a tiny fraction, like less than 2%
30:27
are women owned businesses. It is very unusual. Now keep in mind, we already have a deficit
as women, because we’re operating under the broken cookie effect, right? And so we don’t
think we can sell our business, we don’t think anyone’s going to value it. And the other big
challenge is we’re pulled in so many different directions, with our families, with everything
around us, our staff, our businesses, and because of that, it’s very difficult to think about the
future and to plan for the future, especially if you’re not thinking someone’s going to want to
buy your company. And you think you can’t sell it,
31:07
but the truth is, you can sell it. It is valuable, and it takes time, and it takes, in my opinion, an
advocate who is really advocating for you as the business owner and isn’t interested in a piece
of your business. I don’t take commission, I don’t take equity. I don’t work that way because I
don’t think it’s ethical and fair. And there is a place for brokers, there is a place for valuation
experts, there are places for all those people, but it depends on the circumstances and it
depends on the goals of the business owner. And I will tell you, when a buyer comes to a
business owner, that business owner is very unlikely to have thought about what her goals are,
right? And so the first thing women tell me is, oh, my goal is. I want my staff to be taken care
of. I want the new buyer to absorb my staff so they don’t lose their jobs.
32:06
And then I want this, and I want this, and I want this, and it would be really nice if I had some
money that came out of this, right, right? None of them that I’ve talked to, they’re not
motivated by retiring. No woman I talked to wants to retire, but they do want to go into the
third act, right? And they want to do something else, sometimes more creative than what they
were doing in the second act, right? And the other thing that they don’t want is they don’t want
to seem greedy. They don’t want to seem selfish. They don’t want to even think about,
32:43
what do I need? What do I want? Not just about taking care of others. Again, the broken cookie
effect, right, right? So, so that’s where I specialize, is helping women prepare their companies
effect, right, right? So, so that’s where I specialize, is helping women prepare their companies
for their exit. Because it does take time. It is a process. It’s what I call an elegant exit, because I
will tell you, most exits are very messy and sometimes really painful, and a lot of business
owners regret that they sold to that buyer, or they made that deal, or they weren’t
knowledgeable, right? And I’ve been doing this now for 20 years. So that is the the gap that I fill
in the market in terms of advocating for my clients to make sure they don’t get messed around.
So that to your question of, well, how do we combat the fact that women aren’t selling their
company, and they aren’t thinking about that. And that’s my message, is, you may not think
you can so, but it’s very likely you can, and you need the expertise and the guidance and an
advocate to help you do so. So important, Patty and I, you know, there’s just things like that
that
34:06
you might do differently today, if you if the thought was, does this serve the goal of the
valuation of my company? And it doesn’t mean either of the things that a or b choice are right
or wrong, but if a, if it’s a or b, and you don’t care, then let’s choose the which one is going to
serve the valuation of your company, right? Like and, and so that’s why I think somebody like
you is important, because I don’t necessarily, how would I know those things, you know, I don’t
necessarily know if I do A or B, it’s going to serve the valuation of my company and, and these
are choices that we’re making. I mean, for in my business, for example, many of the choices I
make last for years. You know, they’re not like, well, tomorrow I’m going to try this, and then
Wednesday, we’ll do something else. It, you know, these are choices like, when, like, you know,
we’re recording this. It’s, you know, just about the fall of 2024
34:55
and I’m making choices now of what all of 2025 is going to look like in my business. You know?
So.
35:00
So. So if I’ve got somebody saying, Okay, I see what you’re looking to do here, if you make this
one little tweak and you focus more on this set thing instead of that thing, you’re adding to
your valuation, I want to hear that, you know, I still get to make the choice, right? I still get to
make the choice as to whether I’m going to choose a or b, but I’m it’s more of an informed
choice, and I think that’s what, what you bring to the table that’s so valuable. Thank you. And
yes, that is because I’m helping the business owner build real business value, right? And there’s
a lot of misunderstanding about what that means. Well. And I think when you build, when you
build, in my experience, when I focus on building real business value for valuation and for the
long run, it also serves the short term correct? So, so it’s not like I’m, I’m, I’m not sacrificing
short term value for long term value at all. If anything, the opposite is true Exactly. And in fact,
that’s what my clients experience, that they’re making more money if their business doesn’t
feel so much like a burden. There, we’re streamlining a lot of things, especially with technology,
and making sure the right people are doing the right jobs. So there’s so much because I, you
know, I’m looking at productivity, and productivity is about, how are you making money, and
what are you offering, and how are you selling it, and how are you pricing it, right? And the
pricing goes back to structure. So just like the elegant exit, I have a roadmap. I guide the
business owner through that so that their exit is not painful. It is not they don’t regret how
they’ve done it or when they’ve done it, because they’ve gotten really clear on that same thing
with pricing, that when you build a pricing model and you have a rationale behind that, it
makes it easier to communicate. It makes it easier for your buyer to understand it. You’re the
person who’s buying your services, for them to understand what you offer and how you price it,
and you will feel more confident as you’re talking about it, because there’s a structure around
it. So all of those things, my goal is to make life better for women business owners, and there
are many different ways you can do that. The way I’ve chosen is helping with the nuts and
bolts, first, the operations, the price, and that’s where your book comes in, right? That’s where
your book comes in. Your book has all of that in it, the book, which is called your hidden
advantage, right? Your hidden advantage. So that’s where the book comes in, because the
book helps you with that, like, what’s going on right now? How are you managing everything
right? A power to attract right fit clients and boost your revenue, which is at the heart of any
business, right? Is Where are the clients?
37:56
And then you’ve also got another resource that says, Okay. And then, if you want to think about
it, tell us about your exit Readiness Index assessment. Yes, so one of the things I mentioned,
there’s a lot of misinformation, misunderstanding about what real business value is and how to
become exit ready and exit does not necessarily mean sale. It can and it may mean you want
to pass your business to your family members or sell to your staff. There’s so many different
ways to do that. But how could you possibly know that as a business owner, you’ve never been
through that before. You’re not living in that world, and there is a ton of misinformation. So
38:47
there you have a lot of choices, which gives you agency. And again, that’s a big focus of what I
feel is so important for women is to have that agency and to know that you have some choices.
So the exit Readiness Index helps you determine where you are on your journey for an exit.
How have you done in terms of building real business value? Where are the gaps, and where do
those gaps need to be addressed in order to have a valuable asset that somebody else is going
to recognize has real dollar value. And
39:28
you know, everything’s contingent on the buyer of your business, because things that you think
are valuable, they may not right, right? And that is something that we work on very actively,
because you want to build in several different areas of your business so that you’re as prepared
as you can be, and you’ve built as much value as you can. So that’s what the readiness the exit
Readiness Index allows you to do, is to start seeing where the gaps are and.
40:00
And working to bridge those gaps, that’s amazing. So we’ll put a link in, and that’s free, right,
correct. Obviously, people have to buy but the and we’ll put a link to that as well, but the exit
correct. Obviously, people have to buy but the and we’ll put a link to that as well, but the exit
Readiness Index assessment, we’ll put a link in the show notes here, because that is something
that we should all be doing. You know, even if you’re like, I hope that we’ve inspired a little bit
in something today that thinks, well, huh, what if, like, what if I have a surprise event in my life
that requires me to step away from my business, right? So even if you have no intention of
selling, maybe this is something I should think about anyway, right?
40:36
Not that we’re looking for, not that we’re looking for you to focus on the disasters in your life,
but you know, these, we’re doing this to avoid the disasters right to make for me, shifting that
mindset, because as a as a child of teachers, and I mean, I have half of New Jersey is employed
by teachers are employed by my family. And so there’s always a little part of me that thinks,
you know, oh, they’re retiring now, and they, you know, they have this great pension. I’m still
working, and blah, blah, you know. So there was always a piece of it that made me feel I’m not
even going to say, I’m going to use the words less than I don’t. That’s not really the right word,
because I don’t feel less than but it makes me feel like
41:16
irresponsible, maybe in some ways, that I haven’t built that, you know, and you could build it in
savings accounts and IRAs and all that other stuff, right? But still, I didn’t have that same level
of security. I don’t have that same level of security, and it, it wasn’t until I associated my
business with that, until, but wait, I have this asset here that you know could, could be the
difference. It’s not like I’m, it’s not like I’m, I mean, you don’t, you know, not like I’m looking to
retire today. But I also know that as time, as years go on, you know, you mentioned, you
mentioned that most of them you talk to, none of them really want to retire. And I fall into that
category. But at the same time as my friends start to retire, and I get phone calls that say, Hey,
Karen, we’re going to the Broadway, you know, we’re going to the to the Wednesday matinee
of this Broadway show on Wednesday, next Wednesday. Why don’t you come with us? And I
can’t go because I’ve got clients on Wednesdays, you know, like it’s had me shift my business a
little bit to be able to accommodate that. And how lucky am I that I can right? So it isn’t about
being able to retire, but it’s about being able to live my third act, to choose the way I spend my
third act, right? So that I can go to Broadway, you know, luncheon, you know, Wednesday
matinees, if I want to, and still do whatever it is I want to do in my business. And that’s why it’s
important to make these choices now, so that we’re building something that serves the life we
want to have for the rest of our years. Absolutely. And again, this is about, I want things to be
better for women, to have that flexibility, right? To have the, you know, some of us now have
grandchildren, right? And we want to spend more time with them, right? We want, we want to
travel more. So there’s just so much that we have we’re living longer, which also means we
need to build our wealth as individuals so that we can support ourselves and remain
independent. So all of those things factor in. Whether or not you want to retire is a very
personal decision, but having the funds to support yourself and to be independent allows you to
have those choices, right? Beautiful
43:28
Patty, I am so grateful that there are women like you out there that support women like me
that don’t really have a clue about that stuff. So I think that this is such an important
that don’t really have a clue about that stuff. So I think that this is such an important
conversation, and I all should be able put Patty’s LinkedIn profile in here too. You really want to
be connected and following the work that Patty’s doing, because little tips that you hear might
be you might be able to implement. And you know when you’re ready. We we hire coaches for
so many things, right? This is an important thing to get support with. And I know I looked for
this, like, I spent some time looking for this a couple years ago. And, you know, when you talk
to, when I was talking to, like, people in the in the finance world, right about exits, they didn’t
really understand the people I talked to anyway, didn’t really understand online businesses. Well, they’re like, Well, how many w2 employees do you have, and what, where’s your you
know, how much do you pay for rent, for your bill? Like, they didn’t really understand the
business model, because they think, okay, you’re a you’re a CPA in a CPA office, and you’re
looking to sell it like, so it’s so finding somebody that can really get into the understanding of of
your business and help you create something that really has a nice, juicy valuation. So when
that day comes that you want to take advantage of it, you can. There’s nothing more
important, I think that we can do it in our businesses, right? Because, again, it’s serving today
as well. It’s not just serving that someday, it’s also serving today. So I feel like I am not on the,
you know, I’m in the I’m the president.
45:00
Of the patty block fan club, and I think you all should be members. So thank you so much for
being here with us. Patty I appreciate you. And I think that you know my mission is for there to
be more wealthy women in the world. And I think that you know we align there, and this
conversation is such an important conversation for those women. So thank you. Thank you
again. It’s so important to me to get the message out to help women shift the way they’re
thinking. And you’re helping me do that, and so I really appreciate that. So thank you for having
me today. Oh, well, then listen, it’s a mutual admiration society. So if you’re listening to this
and you want to, you know we’re giving you all kinds of links below into how you can connect
with Patty and learn more about the work she does. Work she does. If you want to learn more
about the work that we’re doing over at she’s linked up, just grab a spot on our calendar. Karen
yankovich.com/call,
45:49
get you to our calendar. We’ve got some we’ve reshifted how we’re doing things as we’re
moving into 2025 and we’re starting now. We’re starting now with, you know, testing some of
these new ways that we’re showing up in our programs and with the work that we’re doing.
Because as I not just bring evaluation to my business, I want to bring more money into your
business, right? So as we see things that shift in the market and in the world, we’re shifting
along with them. So we’ve got big changes. And she’s linked up and our she’s linked up
program this year. So if you want to hear about them. No obligation. Grab a spot on our
calendar, and we’re happy to tell you about it at the end of the day. If you, if you got any value
in this, please share this. Take a quick screenshot.
46:33
Share this with your audience and tag me. Tag patty. We’ll share it with our audiences, and
that’s how we all get more visibility, right? Because you’re getting we are so grateful that
you’re sharing this with your audience. I want to be able to pay you back by sharing it with my
you’re sharing this with your audience. I want to be able to pay you back by sharing it with my
audience. So if you tag me, I’ll know it, and I can share it with my audience, and I, I’m sure
Patty will do the same. So let’s start building that ripple and get more visibility to all of us, so
that we’re bringing more opportunities in more wealth and having helping to be more wealthy
women in the world, right? So that’s where, this is where it all starts, right by just supporting
each other. So I will be back here next week with another episode and Patty. Thank you so
much for being here with me today. Thank you.