Rough Drafts By Cory Miller

Exit Exercise partners Cory Miller and Jeff Meziere share the 10 keys to preparing your business for the inevitable exit and why they are important.  Take the free assessment here:  https://exitexercise.com/checklist

Exit Exercise Co-Founders Jeff Meziere and Cory Miller talk about their own exit stories and why they want to help entrepreneurs prepare and position for their own inevitable exits. 

Stepping out and away is so vital

The Brain Audit https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Audit-Customers-They-Dont-ebook/dp/B00COQFUNU/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?keywords=brain+audit&pd_rd_i=B00COQFUNU&pd_rd_r=4a827429-91c4-409e-8247-5ac55b0aa03d&pd_rd_w=snOB1&pd_rd_wg=TffRW&pf_rd_p=a5491838-6a74-484e-8787-eb44c8f3b7ff&pf_rd_r=2DBE8HEVS00BTVCCV291&psc=1&qid=1572028080

Talking to Mike Demo of Web Ventures, that has a $5 million dollar fund for acquisition/investments in WordPress businesses.  We talk about some keys and tips for prepping your business for a potential sale, along with the types of companies Web Ventures is looking for.  Learn more at:  https://webventures.io/

Psychologist Dr. Nick Wignall and I talk about self care, how to find a therapist and more.  https://nickwignall.com/about/

Does your leadership team set aside time and space each month or regularly to share the good, the wins from the last 30 days ... and then look ahead to the next 30 days of challenges and share experiences to learn and grow together?  https://leader.team

Particularly with your work and career. 

I recently (finally) met Kim Doyal and felt instantly like I had missed out on meeting and being her friend sooner.  She's filled with incredible wisdom and has such an amazing perspective on this thing called entrepreneurship (as well as life!). Most of this conversation centers on her attitude and approach, particularly starting with having fun ... being more of the authentic you .... and showing up, consistently.  Listen in and be better for doing so.  Learn more about Kim here: https://kimdoyal.com/ https://contentcreatorsplanner.com/ https://twitter.com/kimdoyal

One of the great questions we ask ourselves but can often haunt us as entrepreneur is: What's Next? Asking "What's Next?" is a great exercise to keep us focused on protecting and growing our businesses. For me, it was about staying relevant in the market and to our customers well into the future. And taking the right steps to ensure our future.  I did this "What's Next?" exercise often .... here's how it'd go: FIRST, I started with assessing our current situation.  Where are we now? Our customers, our products, our competition? SECOND, I started pushing Fast Forward on it all .... and asked, "Where is it all going next?" To help look into the future ... I'd take those buckets ... customers, products, competition, technology, industry, etc ... and would go ... what would 10X better be for all of it?  What's the natural progression of all of this? And I'd play it all out.  Hockey great Wayne Gretzky is often quoted that his key to success was that he "skated to where the puck would

My friend Andrea Middleton has an incredibly complex job leading a diverse organization of volunteer event organizers located around the globe in her role as Dot Organizer for the WordPress community.  A job she does with grace, thoughtfulness and caring since 2011.  The events are called WordCamps and there is typically 1-2 going on every weekend throughout the year around the world.  In fact there have been over 1,000 WordCamps, in 75 cities, 65 countries and 6 continents since they started in 2006.  We talk about a number of topics like: * Leading volunteers  * Managing conflict * Keys of effective conference organizers ("hosts") * and more You can learn more about WordCamps here: https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/ You can learn more about Andrea here: https://twitter.com/andmiddleton https://profiles.wordpress.org/andreamiddleton/

In this season of my life, I've been reflecting on the early days of starting my business(es) and how you can get started moonlighting by learning a new skill or bolstering an existing one. 

As a starting again entrepreneur, I've been asking myself this question: How could I charge (or get paid) $1,500 an hour for what I do? Two questions for exploration follow that: * Who do I need to become to charge that? Particularly my skillsets, approach, even messaging * What are the results and outcomes I could offer that would be truly transformational at the end of that hour?  These questions have been helping me lay out a plan to level up what I'm doing, how I'm talking about it ... but more importantly the transformations I'm offering my clients. 

Ultimately I believe as entrepreneurs at the highest level, your business should serve your hopes, dreams, goals, passion and interests.  If not, it's out of alignment.  I talk to entrepreneurs frequently about this and I've experienced it personally numerous times.

Never, ever, ever go it alone.  It's a message I have to remind myself of every day. To seek, ask for, and receive help and support.  And then the three essentials I rely on for supporting my mental health are: 1. Counselor on speed dial -- just like I have a primary care who I can call to get help when I'm physically sick and for checkups, I also have a counselor to work on my below the iceberg issues.  And the science is so strong and indisputable on these two practices that I've woven into my life and am seeking to embed them even deeper: 2. Exercise -- I do run-walks aka rualks and also pushups. Exercise is the "mood booster and stress buster." I'm seeking to amp up my intensity minutes daily now. But I run in 100 degree heat, not because I'm grinding ... but because I want to feel better. And I always do when I exercise.  3. Mindfulness -- I don't do this daily but I want to because I know scientifically and practically the benefits in my life of it, in so many areas. 

I recently met Dr. Sherry Young of RightFitNow.com. She helps those struggling with addiction or those with loved ones struggling with addiction to find the appropriate treatment and help for them.  We talk about a lot of things like the stigma of mental health that keeps too many people isolated and suffering in solitude, how she helps clients find the right fit for their mental health struggles (including but not limited to addiction - at no cost to them!) and elements of AA that resonate like support groups and sponsors and finally why call it recovery. Along the way, Sherry shares her own story of addiction and recovery. It's well worth your time.  You can contact Sherry here: https://rightfitnow.com/ 575-779-6062

I learned this from a pastor .... whenever I think about someone, particularly someone going through a hard time ... I either pick up the phone and call them ... or send them a text to say I'm thinking about them.  As the recipient of some of these messages, I gotta tell you it makes a huge difference in my day. 

...... Send Email, Make Money Over and over for 10+ years it was the simple formula we used to build a multi-million dollar business. 

I hate and despise (tough words) internal competition. I don't see much use for it. However I like external competition and enemies to rally teams together. 

The pill is a shortcut to answer your customer's problems.  They don't look at your products and services with your fancy names and cute logos you've given them because they care about that .... they care if your "pill" is the answer to their needs and problems.