Joe Maas

Selling Your Business? Use a Business Broker to Get Top Dollar

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Any business owner who has sold a business on his or her own will tell you it's a long, tedious and stressful process. It is also time-consuming, and it distracts you from the day-to-day operation of the business. When your ... Read >

Is Your Investment Advisor A Good Fit?

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Figuring out when to switch investment advisors is one of the most difficult decisions an investor can face. But sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes an advisor is just not a good fit for a particular investor. If you are th... Read >

GAP Analysis for Business Owners: Step 1 - Assessment

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas A GAP analysis is a technique to help you, the business owner, assess where you are, where you want to be, and the distance in between. In general, there are three basic steps to a GAP analysis. 1. Assessment 2. ... Read >

Three Tips To Control Restaurant Labor Costs

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Managing the cost of staff labor is a constant struggle for anyone in the hospitality business. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the headaches and maximize your profits when it comes to restaurant staffing. The res... Read >

Making the Most of the Stock Market: Understanding Equity Markets

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Every investor wants to try to "beat the market." By "beating the market" investors usually mean that they want to do better than some index or average. After all, who wants just "average" or "below average" performance in... Read >

A Simple Way to Increase Your Restaurant's Profitability

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Imagine you are operating a small restaurant, doughnut shop, coffee shop, or a café and you want to, or in some cases need to, increase your net profit by 50%. Many owners and operators might find this a bit of a challenge ... Read >

Restaurant Management 101: Controlling Costs is Key

Copyright (c) 2011 Joe Maas Every restaurateur understands the importance of keeping food costs in line. Food and labor are the controllable costs compared to rent, utilities, insurance and the other expenses associated with operating a restaurant. The... Read >

Exit Planning: Where Do You Want to be in Five Years?

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas Business owners, where do you want to be in five years? You've heard that question asked any number of times. The answer to that question is intentionally a bit vague, but gives some indication of a plan, a goal or a dream. ... Read >

Business Survival - Planning for a Rainy Day

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas There may be nothing worse for a business than to have its owner suddenly die. . .especially if it's your business. Let's look at what can happen to a business when an owner dies. Todd Carpenter was the 55-year-old sol... Read >

Top 10 Reasons Why Restaurants Fail

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas Owning a restaurant in a good economy is a challenge. Owning one in a down economy is even more difficult. Here are the top 10 reasons why restaurants fail. Avoid these mistakes. 1. Constrained by Your Vision. A savvy ... Read >

Transferring Your Business to Children and Employees

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas How do you successfully transfer your business to a child, key employee or co-owner? The most successful method is to follow a recipe that mixes, in equal measure, these three key ingredients: • The ability, experience... Read >

Business Owners - What is a Good Exit Plan?

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas We understand that business owners are so busy addressing today's economic challenges that they can overlook the critical task of exit planning. We also understand that, at some point: 1. All owners exit their business... Read >

Putting Business Fundamentals in Order

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas In creating a value-building plan, we've organized our recommendations (or tasks) into categories including: • Business fundamentals • Strategic planning • Internal operations • Leveraging human... Read >

Value Drivers: Benchmarking and Measuring Success

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas Today we look at Value Driver Six: Benchmarking and Measuring Success. In this Value Driver, we include the following issues: • Tracking revenue to new or returning customers or markets; • Measuring and evaluating... Read >

Exit Planning: Setting Three Principle Exit Objectives

Copyright (c) 2010 Joe Maas The starting point for any type of plan is defining its goals. In the case of planning a business exit, that means knowing what it means to leave, or exit, your business. Your exit could be due to retirement, sale to a famil... Read >