Tophill Advisors LLC

01/27/2021

Imagine this:
You build a program to help people in pretty dire straits and you get this question...

"Is your [insert program name here] a hack?"

But don't just immediately take offense to this

Make sure you know what they're asking

Flip through the document below to see what I mean

Let me know in the comments, did you know what a "hack" really was?

01/25/2021

There is one question that I find is sometimes at the core of all the other questions that I get in my discovery calls

And it's the absolute RIGHT question that prospective clients should be looking to answer

The question is about whether or not small business reorganizations are ethical

⏬Watch the video below to see my response

Let me know in the comments (and be honest) - Do you have questions about the ethics of reorganizations?

01/22/2021

I have a question that I think you should consider...

01/21/2021

💡 Did you know that at the end of the day there are just four ways to increase the profitability of your business?

What I find peculiar is that the most important is the least prioritized

First, I'll quickly take you back to very simple economics

You'll remember that Revenue = Price * Volume

And you know that Total Costs = Fixed Costs + Variable Costs

Therefore, simply put Profit = (Price * Volume) - (Fixed Costs + Variable Costs)

Obviously you don't have to lean into improving just one lever (and you shouldn't)

But business strategy is about making decisions about how to allocate finite resources

So while you don't have to pick just one, you DO have to prioritize what you pick

In my previous job I worked a lot with former Bain Consultants who taught me a ton about business strategy

There was a Bain Consulting study that revealed which lever revealed the greatest return in profitability

Watch the video below to learn more about which one it was and why

Let me know in the comments - Is it your experience that this is the first lever that decision makers in your business look to pull?

01/19/2021

This morning's presentation to the Austin Independent Business Alliance is now uploaded to their YouTube page.

Let me know what you think!

A new year is a natural time to reassess where you are and where you are headed - and the pandemic brings an added urgency to these questions for 2021. We've...

01/19/2021

"Pivot, PIVOT, PIVOTTTT" - Ross Geller

I need to admit something regarding that...

And I know I'm probably in the minority on this one

I actually wasn't a fan of Friends

But even for those of us who didn't watch the show

We're still aware of it because of those who did

2020 felt very much like the episode where apparently repeatedly yelling Pivot was going to solve their moving problem

There seemingly wasn't a day that went by last year where we DIDN'T hear someone talk about pivoting

And regardless of how overused the phase seemed to be

The reality was that being agile in your business was crucial

But what is required BEFORE you can be agile and pivot your business?

👇 Watch the video below to find out

Let me know in the comments - What was the most successful pandemic pivot that you saw?

01/18/2021

When a small business goes under there are a lot of negative implications

But one in particular is a landmine that is mentioned far less often than the rest

Of course...
❌Employees lose their jobs
❌Customers lose a go-to spot
❌Suppliers lose a revenue stream
❌Owners lose their ownership equity

But there's one negative implication that I don't see talked about as much

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗦

More times than not, as an owner, you're also losing your PERSONAL PROPERTY

Cash.. cars.. anything your state deems "non-exempt"

Consider the personal guarantees you have with your landlord, bank, credit card, or suppliers

Even if you have yet to incur any debt, you often still have guarantees that contractually extend into the future

For example, you may have stayed current on rent payments but drained cash in doing so

You now find your business insolvent with 24 months still left on your lease

While you don't technically have debt, you definitely have incentive to continue on with your venture

Finding a solution that allows you to stay in business and satisfy those future commitments is critical

Let me know in the comments if you've seen someone harmed by the personal guarantee landmine

01/15/2021

Looking forward to sharing insights with Austin small business owners on Tuesday!

Tune in at the link below

Strategies to Survive the Covid19 Recession
Tuesday, January 19th at 10am
We are hosting an event on Tuesday to discuss reorganization strategies for businesses that are feeling the financial burden of this pandemic caused recession. Our two speakers, a financial advisor and a business lawyer, will walk us through some options for businesses whose financial health is teetering while they're fighting to stay open. There are some new, relatively unknown options that can save business and employees, while retaining equity.

As with all of our events, the ability to ask questions both in real time and anonymously will be provided.

RSVP here: www.ibuyaustin.com/events

01/14/2021

☝️"What do studies show is the number one successful sales behavior?"

One of the cool things about creating content on LinkedIn is the viewer analytics

For me the top profession is Sales

And those figures are probably drastically understated

Because that only counts the folks who EXCLUSIVELY sell

For instance, Financial Advisors and CPAs are selling all the time

BUT they don't have "Sales" in their title so they're not counted

Given that, I would guess that the MAJORITY of my network is in sales

A mentor of mine, Ahmad Munawar, sent me a study by the RAIN Group

The study was conducted to identify what "winners" of B2B purchases do differently than "losers"

They analyzed hundreds of B2B purchases across industries driving billions in sales

And interestingly they talked to the BUYERS (not the SELLERS)

At the end they asked the BUYERs to rank the sellers on 42 different behaviors

What was the most successful behavior that differentiated the winners?

"Proactively educating me with new ideas or perspectives"

If you have small business clients in distressed industries I have a GREAT opportunity for you to educate them with a new idea or perspective

If you're interested, message me and I'll send across a FREE brief video with this idea for you to checkout

01/13/2021

I see people NOT doing this all the time.

Whether it be playing cards, watching football, or in business...

It's something I call "𝗡𝗼, 𝗡𝗼, 𝗡𝗼, 𝗬𝗲𝘀"

In any situation I find it's beneficial to identify what the perfect storm of opportunity looks like

In the baseball analytics world they call these "high leverage situations"

And they're not going to come around often

In the mean time you're going to need to show PATIENCE

Say "No" to the plentiful mediocre opportunities that come your way...

So that you can say "Yes" and go all-in when the right one appears

When you're watching football this weekend look out for the situation I call out in the video

🔻 Check out the video below to see what I mean

Do you consciously define what you're waiting to say "Yes" to? Let me know in the comments

01/12/2021

In our social-media driven, highlight reel culture it's easy to discount the hard work

I consciously don't discount the hard work. You shouldn't either. BUT...

I'll be the first to admit it's easier said than done

Turns out the fortune cookie logic that says "Its the journey not the destination" is actually pretty profound

For anyone that has experienced any amount of success you've probably sensed some envy that you took a shortcut

Want to know the shortcut?

The hard work is the shortcut

Cameron Hanes has branded this envy-filled mentality

"Must Be Nice"

🔻Watch below to see what I mean

Let me know in the comments if you've experienced "Must Be Nice" syndrome

01/11/2021

💥How to get your week off to a great start

I was reflecting on the most important lesson that I learned in 2020⏬

Even in the toughest of times there is plenty for which to be grateful

It's valuable to regularly "zoom out" and keep things in perspective

A mentor of mine sent me this story last week

Frankly, I thought it was awesome!

What's more heart warming than the kindness of strangers?

What's more inspirational than entrepreneurship and people hustling to get after their dreams?

What Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, Erika Nardini, and Liz Gonzales have done in a little over 3 weeks is what our government COULDN'T get done in nearly 8 months

They were able to even get Elon Musk on board (in addition to Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers)

I was motivated to be a part of this and would love to explore how to further help those that AREN'T getting the aid since they can't help EVERYBODY. (I have some ideas 💡)

👇Check out my video below to find out more about this awesome story