What to Watch Out for When Getting Outside Advice
When you bring in an outside advisor — whether it’s an accountant, attorney, consultant, or broker — you’re doing the right thing. You’re acknowledging there’s something you don’t know and going to find someone who does. That’s smart ownership. But there’s a trap hidden in that process that most business owners never see coming. Every Expert Has a Favorite Tool There’s an old saying: to a hammer, everything is a nail. Think about it this way. You go to your doctor and say, “My shoulder has been killing me — I need help.” The doctor genuinely wants to help you. But whether you walk out with a prescription, a surgery date, a chiropractic adjustment, or a set of acupuncture needles depends less on what’s actually best for your shoulder — and more on which type of doctor you happened to walk in to see. The internist reaches for anti-inflammatories. The orthopedic surgeon schedules an operation. Each one treats your pain. Each one probably helps. But you’ll likely never realize that your treatment was shaped by who you chose to see, not by some universal best practice for shoulder injuries. The same thing happens when business owners seek outside help. The Advisor You Hire Shapes the Advice You Get When it comes to something as significant as planning your exit from a business, the type of advisor you engage will heavily influence the direction you’re pointed — often without you realizing it. Bring in an accountant and the plan will likely center on minimizing your tax burden. Hire an attorney and you’ll probably end up focused on asset protection or employment contracts. Work with a business consultant and the conversation will revolve around improving operations and boosting profitability. None of that advice is wrong. But it may not be complete — and it may not actually align with what you’re trying to accomplish in your life. A few years ago, a business broker added “Exit Planner” to his business card. When asked how he approached exit planning, his answer was straightforward: if an owner would agree to accept 100% seller financing, he’d help them sell. That was his tool, and he applied it to every situation. To a hammer, everything is a nail. What This Means for You Before you take any advisor’s recommendation and run with it, it’s worth asking yourself: Is this the best solution for my situation — or is it the best solution this particular advisor knows how to deliver? That’s not cynicism. Most advisors genuinely want to help. But their training, their experience, and frankly their business model all point them toward certain kinds of answers. The best advisors — the ones worth your time and money — will ask a lot of questions before they start offering solutions. They’ll slow down, make sure they understand your real objectives, and resist the urge to jump straight to their preferred tool. If an advisor walks into your first meeting already knowing what you need, that’s worth paying attention to. The clarity that comes from being genuinely heard saves time, prevents costly missteps, and leads to a plan you’ll actually follow through on. The right advice starts with the right questions — not the other way around. John F. Dini, CExP, CEPA is an exit planning coach and the President of MPN Incorporated in San Antonio, Texas. He is the publisher of the Awake at 2 o’clock blog and has authored three books on business ownership. The single largest transaction and transition of your life deserves special attention. Are you planning to exit and sell your business? Exit planning is quickly becoming a buzzword in the legal and financial communities. Your professional advisors position themselves to provide tax, risk management, wealth management, and contract preparation services. The BEST-PivotPoint Exit Plan Advisor has been trained to manage your team of tax, legal, business, and financial planners to navigate your exit strategy. Click here for more details on how to get started. If you want to see how prepared you are for transition, take the 15-minute Assessment at no charge: There is one indisputable fact – 100% of owners will eventually exit their business. The Assessment is a multiple-choice questionnaire that does not ask for confidential or financial information. Nevertheless, it is a critical first step in starting the discussion and planning process. Click here for more information concerning our free, no-obligation exit planning assessment.
How to Identify Top Candidates through Behavior-Based Questions
Recently, I came across an article in my newsfeed that claimed to share the best job interview questions from executives. When articles like this show up in my news feed, it feels like “clickbait.” I can’t help but read it and see what “experts” are saying. I often think to myself, “What are they doing differently, and what might I learn from them?” or “Is there anything of value that might help me do better in my role as Practice Leader for Strategic Human Resource Solutions at BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group?” However, reading these questions, I was appalled. Why? Most questions cited were future-looking, asking candidates to craft an imaginary response about what they “would” do. A response to such questions would lack behavioral evidence of future success. Any response to a future-phrased question is dependent on the real/actual situation with the employer where a candidate is seeking employment, which is unknown to the candidate at the time of an interview. A comprehensive understanding of the situation and environment cannot be adequately communicated to a candidate during the interview process to provide the proper context for them to frame an appropriate response. The questions asked by executives in the article, which we review below, lacked job relevance. Relevance to the job is critical when asking any question in a job interview. Asking questions lacking job relevance increases employer risk. Candidates have a right, and I would say a responsibility, to push back on these questions to seek understanding around their relevance. What’s Better? While past performance is not a perfect predictor of future occurrences, it is all one has to go on. Knowing what they have done, and the circumstances around the actions taken – behavior-based questions – helps an interviewer understand the potential performance a candidate brings to any role. Let’s examine how the questions from the article can be reframed as behavior-based questions: Don’t ask: “Imagine the scope of work has increased, but resources have not; what would you do?” Reframe and do ask: “Tell me about a time when the scope of work on a project you led or on which you were a key participant increased (encountered scope creep), yet the resources available to complete the project remained the same. What adjustments did you make to ensure the project was completed on time and on budget? How did you adapt existing resources, team member participation, or your own performance to ensure the project was completed at the quality level expected?” The ”Tell me…” statement sets up the scenario you want the candidate to discuss. The questions that follow provide the appropriate context. They dig for more details from the candidate to encourage a response that can demonstrate relevance to the job. It is general enough to encompass a wide variety of projects that a candidate can draw on as a response, yet specific enough to help the interviewer understand the candidate’s thought processes, knowledge, skills, abilities, and decision-making style. All projects are challenged by scope creep, time, resource, and budget constraints. An adequate response would address these concerns and shed far more light on what is important for the role – because it draws on what the candidate has done. Don’t ask: “What impact will you have on your team?” Reframe and do ask: “Describe a situation when you stepped into a leadership role for an existing team. Why were you tapped to lead the team? What were the top 2 – 3 challenges the team was facing at the time you stepped into this leadership role? Share the key actions you took to address each of these top challenges and the impact your actions had on the team’s success.” The “Describe a situation…” statement sets up the scenario for the candidate to respond. The supporting questions provide critical context that a candidate needs in order to formulate a proper response. This behavior-based question is rooted in what the candidate has done. Any interviewer can hear the response, evaluate it in the context of what this person would be doing in the role for which they are being interviewed. It gets to the heart of the job – stepping into an existing team, confronting challenges they may not fully understand or even be aware of until they take on the role, and having to develop a plan of action to address these challenges. The interviewer will be able to see how the candidate has accomplished this in the past, which informs them on how they will do it in the future without providing a fictitious answer. Don’t ask: “What brings you here today?” Eliminate this question entirely: The reason for a person to be in the interview today should have been uncovered well in advance of any “executive” interview. During an introductory conversation, usually with an internal or external recruiter, candidates should be asked about the reasons for their career transitions. For example, “I see you worked for Acme from 1/2020 through 5/2024. What prompted you to leave Acme and join Beta Corp?” What you are listening for is if there is a legitimate, positive reason for the transition – were they recruited? Was it for a career growth opportunity? Were there family concerns necessitating the change? – or reasons that are just beyond their control – Acme suffered financial distress, and their role was eliminated as part of a downsizing. This should be uncovered well before any “Executive” interview. Don’t ask: “How do you receive negative feedback?” Reframe and ask: “Share a time when you were unsuccessful. What feedback did you receive, and how did you personally and professionally deal with this situation?” This reframing gets to the heart of dealing with failure, receiving feedback, and whether or not the individual handles feedback about a failure positively. It is never the mistake or failure that is important, it is how we deal with it and recover that truly tells you something about the perseverance, ethical persuasion, temperament, and mental flexibility of a
Planning for Life After Business: Achieving Your Freedom Point
Spring marks the peak selling season— and a time to dream about the future. For many horticulture business owners, 80–90% of their net worth is tied up in their business. Yet, according to the 2024 State of Succession and Exit Planning in the Horticulture Industry survey, 54% of owners lack a formal business valuation. To turn your retirement dreams into reality, you need to determine your Freedom Point— the moment when selling your business provides enough resources to sustain your ideal lifestyle. Understanding Your Freedom Point Your Freedom Point is unique to you. It represents the financial threshold at which selling your business generates enough cash to maintain your desired lifestyle. To determine your Freedom Point, consider these three key factors: Current Business Value – What is your business worth today? Financial Needs – How much do you need for a comfortable retirement? Value Gap – The difference between your business’s worth and what’s needed to fund your future. Start by adding up your savings, including investments and retirement funds, and estimate your expected proceeds from selling your business. The net proceeds from the sale will depend on EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). The EBITDA multiple determines the price a prospective buyer may offer. Next, calculate your anticipated post-retirement expenses, including everyday costs and bucket-list goals, up to age 95 (gulp). Unlike your grandparents, if you live to 75, there’s a good chance you’ll reach 95. Lastly, you will need to pay 5–15% in transaction costs and advisor fees, and expect to pay Uncle Sam his share using your current tax rate. What remains after subtracting your expenses, retiring any remaining debt, transaction costs, and taxes is your Freedom Point! Sounds simple? It’s not. To quickly estimate your Freedom Point, use the complimentary online Freedom Point Calculator: CLICK HERE! It takes less than 10 minutes and provides a full, confidential report. The Importance of Early Planning Many business owners delay exit planning, but starting early provides flexibility and control. Preparing years in advance allows you to increase profitability, strengthen management, and improve operational efficiency. A rushed sale often leads to lower valuations, fewer buyer options, and missed financial opportunities. Think of your exit strategy as an evolving process rather than a last-minute decision. Strategies to Maximize Business Value The pool of potential buyers in the horticulture industry is limited. How can you make your business stand out? Achieving your Freedom Point requires preparing your business for a profitable sale. Focus on these 10 essential steps: Get a Business Valuation – Obtain an independent valuation to understand your business’s current worth. Be prepared to share at least three years of financials and tax returns. Increase Profitability – Optimize sales and cost efficiencies to enhance earnings. A clear sales growth strategy sets your business apart from others on the market. Organize Financial Records – Ensure key financial statements and tax returns are accurate, up to date, and easy to explain. Separate non-recurring expenses, such as bonuses or personal costs, to present true profitability. Improve Cash Flow – Minimize large expenses unless they are mission-critical. Buyers don’t want to make significant investments on day one of ownership. Strengthen Your Management Team – Reduce owner centricity by developing strong internal leadership. A management team capable of running the business without you makes for a smoother transition. Diversify Revenue Streams – Mitigate risk by expanding your customer base and product offerings to reduce dependency on a few large customers or products. Document Standard Operating Procedures – Well-documented processes decrease owner dependency, increase business value, and simplify the transition to a new owner. Enhance Customer Loyalty – Loyal customers are valuable assets to potential buyers. Know your Net Promoter Score (NPS)—if it’s below 9.0, fix it. Strong customer relationships add significant value. Develop a Clear Exit Strategy – Exit planning is a team effort. Involve professional advisors, your management, employees, and family to plan your transition well in advance. Address Legal and Compliance Issues – Anticipate issues surfacing during due diligence. Resolve outstanding contracts, licenses, and legal matters to avoid roadblocks during a sale. When done properly and in a timely manner, these steps help bridge the gap between your business’s current value and the amount needed to fund your future lifestyle, ensuring you achieve your Freedom Point. Your business is your legacy. Plan ahead, maximize its value, and secure the future you’ve worked so hard to build. Are You Ready? Take Our Complimentary Assessments Let’s find out— They take about 15 minutes or less, but are incredibly insightful as you begin your succession and exit planning journey. Take the assessments today, and let’s have a confidential discussion about the future. Personal Readiness</> PREScore™ is an 8-minute, online questionnaire that evaluates a business owner’s readiness to exit their company on a personal level. Using an exclusive algorithm, it calculates an owner’s readiness by identifying their status on four drivers of a satisfying exit. PREScore™ determines the at-risk areas and provides personalized recommendations for improvement, helping owners create a personal plan that ensures a happy exit. TAKE THE PRESCORE™ ASSESSMENT Business Readiness</> ExitMap® examines your and your company’s exit preparedness across four key categories: Operations, Planning, Finance, and Revenue/Profit. It consists of 22 multiple-choice questions, typically taking only 15 minutes to complete, and does not require any confidential information. A full-color, 12-page summary report will be emailed to you upon completion, and we will send you a full comprehensive report with your answers. TAKE THE EXITMAP® ASSESSMENT Financial Readiness</> The Freedom Score (Your Freedom Point) is a 10-minute online questionnaire that evaluates your financial readiness to fund the next phase of your life after your business. It calculates your Freedom Point, which is when the sale of your company will generate enough to fund your desired lifestyle for the rest of your life. Discover how to achieve financial independence, reduce financial risks, and live worry-free in the next chapter of your life. TAKE THE FREEDOM SCORE ASSESSMENT Let’s Talk We are happy to
Who Wants to Be a Leader?
Do you have a specific career vision of becoming a company leader in the horticulture industry someday? Are you working on adding professional skill sets to enable you to take on C-level or leadership-level roles? As a company, have you invested in a definitive training and development program aimed at developing your next leaders? There is a leadership void in the horticultural industry that will critically need more leaders now and progressively into the future. The number of retirements occurring in the green industry is staggering. Did you know there are over 100 owners of green industry companies retiring soon who have no clear leader to succeed them? Per the USDA, in 2024, the average age of all agricultural producers is 58.1 years, and those over age 65 constitute 40% of the total. As an industry, we endured a period with historically low numbers of students and professionals interested in pursuing a green industry career. This period has created a talent gap in the upcoming generations, especially Gen X. The small number of professionals in this group are talented and knowledgeable. Still, it is merely a matter of supply and demand. There are not enough leaders to take over, and not enough professionals have been provided leadership training. Throughout every sector, demographic, and role in the green industry, there are fewer individuals who have a specific desire and career focus to lead a company. Compare this to the financial or software sectors, where a high volume of professionals have an early passion and focus on driving their careers to the top leadership roles in their industry. It is surprising how small the number of professionals in our industry is who are adequately prepared or willing to be a leader in their company. A dynamic affecting this is the sheer number of family-held companies where leadership has traditionally been passed to second or third generations. While this is admirable, it has also tempered the career aspirations of those not part of the family. We are now at a tipping point where there are fewer generations to pass leadership roles to, causing new and challenging exit planning options for the current leaders. A Mutual Effort Question: How do we address this predicament? Answer: From the mutual effort of individuals and companies. Encourage students and early career professionals to dream big and envision being a company leader. Leadership is not for everyone, provided all the responsibilities and challenges that come with it. However, we need more professionals who genuinely want to take on significant leadership roles with a company. Ask yourself— Have you allowed yourself to dream about this type of role? To have more leaders, we need more professionals who desire to take on a role of this level. With that desire comes the awareness that one must embrace continual learning with curiosity and accept certain sacrifices required to drive one’s career to a top leadership level. This could include putting in longer hours, the ability to relocate, and volunteering to take on new tasks or help in other departments when they are shorthanded. Professionals open to relocating for roles will indeed advance their careers faster! Academically, technical knowledge of plant science-related academia is essential. Yet infusing business knowledge is equally, if not more, important in developing future leaders. We have many excellent educational institutions producing knowledgeable students. Increasing the focus of these academic programs on developing leadership with curricula geared to business and management will provide a business base and inspire more students to do so. For example, we rightly celebrate our grower interns, but we should also celebrate those doing horticulture industry internships in sales, marketing, accounting, or human resources. Have a Plan If you want to lead a company, division, or department someday, identify within yourself the knowledge and skill sets needed to get there. Proactively take charge of gaining the knowledge and experience you lack rather than relying on others. There is just as much onus on companies to be a part of increased leadership development. This does require an investment in both money and time to be successful. Begin to balance your team’s professional development budget with your automation budget. No matter how automized, it still takes strong professionals leading from the front for a company to realize success. Many assessment tools, such as CliftonStrengths, DISC, and Myers-Briggs, are available to help a company identify individuals with future leadership behaviors. These tools will help craft a career plan to infuse them with the skill sets needed to be strong leaders. Does your company have career development planning that includes rotating top talent through different departments or functions? Companies that rotate talent through various departments produce the strongest leadership pipeline. At the very least, does the company invest in continual education or training programs focused on improving communication, soft skills, sales, marketing, financial, operations, or supply chain knowledge? Encourage and support these professionals to become active within the industry via associations, seminars, or other educational and networking events. Don’t be afraid of losing this talent to industry exposure. Several leadership programs have been developed specifically for our industry, such as Dr. Charlie Hall’s Texas A&M EAGL program and the HRI Leadership Academy. Professionals who know their company invests fully in their employee’s growth are much less likely to leave. Employees feeling stifled in their development will leap at the opportunity for growth elsewhere. Investing in the Future No company has an endless budget, but a company can apply strategies that do not require a monetary investment, such as transparency in your business and delegation of responsibilities. Openness with your employees about all facets of the business directly correlates to increasing their professional growth. For example, companies applying the “Great Game of Business” approach to transparency have more engaged, business savvy, and motivated employees concerning their career progression. Pairing high-potential employees with positive mentors will also benefit the mentors themselves by increasing organizational talent strength. Encourage delegating responsibilities and not micro-managing those who are assigned tasks. This must
How Do You Know When It’s Time for a Career Change?
While professional development is viewed differently by everyone and is often driven by a person’s behaviors, the vast majority of people do want to experience continual growth in their careers. A primary rule of thumb is that no matter what this growth looks like, it is important to be going towards something and not running away from something. There are many other factors to think about as you determine what career growth may be for you. Does your company proactively invest with you in planning your professional growth? Do they actively invest in you earning certifications and being active in industry associations or professional peer development groups? Timing – everyone is on a different career time clock, and one’s stage of life influences this. What does your timing for professional growth look like now and in 5 or 10 years? Is it the job itself? What responsibilities would you change or add to feel you are growing professionally? Is it the company? Somewhere, somehow, the cultural fit became misaligned. You can envision being happy in your current role but find growth coming from being in a different culture, a different product or service line, a different market focus, or even a different industry. Is it you? People change, and that’s OK! Even the most committed professionals will, on average, find themselves in 3 different careers during their lifetime. Here are specific indicators that it may be time for a career change. The body, mind, and spirit will be talking to you. Are you constantly tired? Is your body having physical reactions that are stress-related? Is it hard to concentrate? Do you dread Mondays? Even when you have great energy, are you just not enthused about being at work? Is your job negatively affecting your confidence and self-esteem? Do you second-guess decisions? Do you find it difficult to make a decision? Are you only staying because of the money? You can buy some great toys, but they don’t increase your happiness. Is the next bonus target the only reason you are still there? Are you constantly thinking about or researching other jobs? Do the career positions other people you know have seem much more attractive to you because they seem so happy? Or do you even find yourself jealous of their careers? Have you become apathetic to your company, your position, your coworkers, or your industry? You don’t care about the decisions being made, personal or company successes, or positive industry news. Do family and friends share their concerns about your mental state and happiness? Have you disconnected socially from them? Are you quiet when together? If any of these ring true, spend time thoughtfully identifying where your career passions are taking you and invest in what new skills this path requires. Contact me at tdowning@bhcagroup.com for a Candidate Objective Worksheet, which will help you define your career goals, vision, and the parameters that are important to you! Speaking of career development, we are sharing a few current growth opportunities (click here) we are hiring for, which may best capture where your career passions are moving you toward. What are you passionate about? Where do you feel most fulfilled? Whatever that may be, you should be doing just that in your career. We’d love to connect to learn all about it and support your professional journey wherever possible. Todd Downing is a Managing Partner for Best Human Capital Advisory Group and leads the Horticulture & Green Industry executive search and advisory services. He has more than 30 years of experience in the industry and a passion for supporting its continued professional growth.