I should reach 300 lbs. by Christmas

You probably think I am talking about gaining or losing bodyweight, but you would be wrong.

I am talking about setting a new personal best record for bench pressing. As some folks know, I enjoy lifting weights and I have even entered a couple of contests just to test my strength against others in my weight and age group.

Of course, when you reach age 64 and weigh-in at 198 there aren't a lot of old men who enjoy weightlifting, so to win one of these contests I typically only have to beat two or three other crazy old men!

Right now, my best bench press is 290lbs which I can handle pretty consistently. Earlier this spring, I was having difficulty with 225lbs so you can readily see the kinds of improvements that can be brought about through a regular twice-a-week training program geared at increasing strength.

My weightlifting goal is to achieve a 300lb bench press by Christmas.

I am absolutely convinced that weightlifting is a sport for just about anyone at any age, and it is good training for the heart, mind and soul. A good, yet modest weight training program can improve cardio, flexibility, prevent osteoarthritis and a myriad of other problems associated with older Americans.

Shedding light on large LED Signs

Someone asked me the other day about how I liked our LED Sign that we had installed at our business about 10 months ago. Well, to be honest, the jury is out on its effectiveness. On the one hand, we have an average of 8,500 cars per day driving past our business. The sign is colorful, attractive and almost impossible to overlook as you drive by. We heavily promote all aspects of 4C digital, from fast turn-around, to high quality and low prices. So, while I know we are getting the message out it is very, very difficult to measure how effective it is or imagine what business would be like without the new sign. So, that's it in a nutshell. The jury is still out on our $32,000 investment.

Buyers Receive Little Cooperation

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Defending Higher Valuation To Employee

In the prior post, I failed to note that while the buy-in costs for a 10% portion of the business has risen from $60,000 to $90,000 so has the value of the stock held by the employee. Yes, we are asking him to pay more (based upon our new valuation approach), but his investment has also increased in value by 50% in the past two years as a result of this new valuation. In theory, if not in practice, the employee should be entitled to sell his initial 10% of stock back to the company for $90,000.

As for future valuations, the method to be used should be agreed upon in advance by both parties. One option is to offer a purchase discount to the employee, so while we may arrive at a specific value for the business, the employee may be entitled to purchase shares or portions at anywhere between a 10-50% discount. That would seem to be a reasonable approach to me!

Low Valuation Now Haunts Owner

A couple of years ago a printer with sales of $1.2 million sold 10% of his business to a loyal, long-time, hard-working employee. The cost of that 10% to the employee was based upon a valuation conducted by one of the two major printing associations.

In round numbers, the original appraisal came in at approximately $600,000 and thus the buy-in price for 10% of the action was $60,000. The owner thought at the time that the valuation was lower than he had expected but he let it slide. Now, it is time for him to sell another 10% but this time he decided to seek another opinion as to his company's value.

When we looked at the numbers, even wearing our "conservative" hat, we came up with a value of approximately $900,000 or 50% higher than the previous valuation. If anything, our valuations generally tend to be lower when compared with other appraisal methods, but this company was exceptional and is one of the most profitable, best-managed companies we have seen in a long time, and consequently we are extremely confident in our valuation.

Obviously, the owner now has a quandary on his hands. It is now time to sell another 10% of the company to his employee and his employee is expecting it, but how is it going to look when he tells the employee that his next 10% is going to cost him 50% more today than it did less than 24 months ago. By the way, the company is no more or no less profitable today than it was when it was first valued. On the one hand it is sort of like changing the rules in the middle of the game. On the other hand, being generous is one thing, but selling your company for 33% less than it is worth is a whole different situation.

The lesson to be learned here is that you should establish a clear formula or method for valuing the company both now and in the future, and both parties should fully understand and agree to this method.