Small business owners received an intimate “food for thought” seminar at an event on Tuesday, May 23rd about business valuation: what is your company worth?
Referred to as a “Lunch and Learn”, the event featured a seminar revolving around helping small businesses secure a future in the ever-changing world of corporations, presented by Marvin Clanton, CEO at Marvin Clanton Insurance and his mentor Brendon Petty, a financial advisor at Mutual of Omaha.
The event was sponsored by Mutual of Omaha, Maricopa Chamber of Commerce and partner with Networking 360, an agency in Arizona that holds networking events in all different cities including Phoenix, Mesa, and Scottsdale.
The presentation from Petty and Clanton focused on elements small business owners need to prioritize when determining the valuation of their company. Some of the aspects were key universal issues like the idea of keeping key employees and having a financial and business plan.
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One of the pearls of wisdom Petty shared for keeping key employees is known as “golden handcuffs”, which gives employees the incentive for staying x-amount of years in order to receive certain funds and benefits.
One of the most important elements that Petty stretched was the idea of estate planning. “In order to do any planning, you need to know how much your company is worth”, Petty said.
It was urged by both Petty and Clanton that small business owners should make an appointment with Mutual of Omaha in order to have this business valuation done.
Petty said there was “no cost at the present” but in the future that may not be certain.
Valuations only take an hour or so but do require a list of financials going back at least three years.
Petty and Clanton both suggest having this valuation done before any sort of planning begins because numbers are always changing. The valuations are done by a third party and are broken down into a clear and concise summary.
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Clanton’s path to Mutual of Omaha and his insurance firm has been less than traditional, to say the least.
Clanton received a Business Management degree in 2003 from Davenport University, he then moved to Arizona in 2007 and started his career with Homeland Security, which lasted about a decade. After some challenges and frustrations with trying to make positive changes in the workplace, Clanton took the leap and became an entrepreneur.
He wanted to do right by people while following his passion so that no one would have to sacrifice care just because they cannot afford it. His insurance company has seen the need of people and found a way to help them.
Being secured under Clanton’s insurance company means you will not be canceled or discontinued due to a recurrence of a disease or a new disease, the only way you could be discontinued is by deciding, yourself, to go with a different company.
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This philosophy was developed after Clanton himself was diagnosed with cancer and had the constant fear of whether or not his cancer would come back, and if it did would he have proper coverage.
Petty and Clanton spoke of their hope in doing mini seminars like this one every other month or so, in order to keep putting in the effort to benefit small businesses all over. “…We’re out here trying to help business,” Clanton said.