C8 B US INESS W E D N E S D A Y, O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 2 EDMONTON JOU R NA L edmontonjournal.com C9 BUSINESS OWNERS HELPING BUSINESS OWNERS WHERE EDMONTON’S ENTREPRENEURS SHARE WHAT THEY KNOW LAST WEEK’S EVENT: SELLING THE BUSINESS YOU BUILT “We never really built [our business] with the intention of selling it, but we built it to be a fully functioning company that could stand on its own… I think inherently those kinds of things create a business that’s sellable.” — Dr. Greg Zeschuk, BioWare co-founder SELLING THE BUSINESS YOU BUILT “Getting a lawyer involved before you realize you need one: good advice when in business or selling your business.” — Legal service provider Joe Walsh (@Legalhlper) “Devil is in the detail. Old contracts will be scrutinized. Good business practice always so no skeletons in the closet later.” —Zag Creative Group partner Alyson Hodson (@_aj___) “Running a pre-diligence process and doing some exit planning can not only help ease the sale, but can help ease your business in advance... It’s one of those things where it helps your business at that time, but then facilitates [a sale] when the time comes.” — Cory Janssen, Investopedia co-founder “If you hope to sell to a US co, get US legal & investment help.” — E-marketer Tema Frank (@temafrank) “When selling your business, Value = Transferring WHY you do business the way you do and HOW via systematization and docs.” — System integrator Jas Panesar (@JasPanesar) “Your accountant, broker, and lawyer have competing interests in your deal. You need to make sure they’re a team.” — Financial adviser Cary Williams (@CaryWilliams) “Ignore the people who tell you [that turning your passion into a business] can’t be done… There are always going to be naysayers that think an idea is stupid; just sit down and come up with a way to make your idea happen.” — Gord Lacey, TVShowsonDVD.com founder 0:04 / 2:44 WATCH THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AT CAPITALIDEASEDMONTON.COM “‘Be up front & honest. Explain rationale to your employees.’ -@doktorzee when selling your business.” — Business analyst Drew Forward (@DrewForward) CAPITAL IDEAS MEMBERS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AFTER THE PANEL: “It’s good to be aware of the steps you need to take before selling a business, because there are many components that can go wrong.” — Elisa Quan, FHTM Canada “Don’t look at your exit [from your business]; just look to succeed.” — Teresa Kiyawasew, Kiy HR Services “[The panel] reaffirmed in my mind the importance of documentation, and how all that comes into play in the end if you are going to sell your business.” — Sylvia Schneider, Pondside Digital Media “The focus should not be on building your business to sell it, but on building your business to be a stand alone entity.” — Eden Montgomery, Cejay Ventures Ltd. “Use a lawyer before you need one and don’t think you can do it all on your own; be humble enough to ask for help or advice from someone else who’s [sold their business].” — Jerry Aulenbach, Royal LePage Realty Share your thoughts on this topic at capitalideasedmonton.com/events MORE CAPITAL IDEAS MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE Kimberly Kluthe Linda Rasmussen planspecialist.com Joe Wasylyk seniorpreneur.ca Louis Fradette albertabusinessloans.com Ryan McGregor getgrowingforbusiness.com Barb Reppert theheadhunters.ca Sandra Woitas foundation.epsb.ca Chantal Beaulieu Lynch omegabt.com Stephen Kiers wedimg.com Chris Mebs boxclever.ca Jay Runham j-run.ca Pamela Young youngandcolleagues.com Trevor Boller trevorboller.com Ted Kouri incitemarketing.ca Steve Mebs boxclever.ca Sarah Sinfield kickpoint.ca Luc Bouchard solve-act.com Jamie Lantz twitter.com/JamesLantz Gregg Oldring inkdit.com Lorn Stanners Eric Brown Jeff LeHoux wmcdigital.com Ruth Pabst tpet.ca Cliff Turner mobile-minds.ca Terry Browning best-keptsecrets.com Yuxi Li twitter.com/yuxili99 Adam Patterson adampatterson.ca Catherine Vu proactiveit.ca Brent Bushell canadabusiness.ab.ca Mark Lynch icsenggroup.com Kirsten Proulx henrysfinethings.ca Lynda Walsh legallyspeaking.ca Kathy Anders firstfoundation.ca/ kathy-anders Ace Cetinski Terry Bayrock A L S O I N AT T E N D A N C E charteredaccountantbusinessbroker.ca Orest Andre Bobbi Beeson Grant Belau Ryan Bonnell John Carvalho Alberta Devi Kelley Doerksen Jamie Gellert John Harms Gezim Hoxha Wade Izzard Marcella Kolody Stacey Lafrance Jonathan Lantz Jenna Marynowski Ellie McFarlance Carmen Morgan Raymond Racquette JOIN US! capitalideasedmonton.com SIGN UP TO: Get expert advice on your biggest challenges Share insights with entrepreneurs like you Appear in the Edmonton Journal DON’T MISS OUR NEXT EVENT THE NECESSITY OF FAILURE You? Meagan Peters Jacqueline Poon Jerry Poon Norm Proulx Dennis Ruddy Iva Seto Sign up to join us Rachel Simand Sam Singh Louis Trempe Derik Walsh Gary Wolch WHEN: NOV 7 WHERE: EDMONTON JOURNAL DOWNTOWN RSVP NOW AT: CAPITALIDEAS10.EVENTBRITE.COM DETAILS AT CAPITALIDEASEDMONTON.COM Questions? Contact Karen Unland and Brittney Le Blanc at [email protected] or @capitalideasyeg