Athena Advisory Collective

10/27/2026

Two businesses. Both generating $4 million in revenue.

One produces $300K in adjusted EBITDA. The other produces $800K.

So, what's the difference?

And more importantly, what would a buyer be willing to pay for each?

Revenue is only part of the story.

Buyers look at profitability, cash flow, customer relationships, leadership, operational systems, and how much the business depends on its owner.

Two companies that look similar on paper can present very different opportunities and risks to a potential buyer.

Here's what we wish more business owners understood 👇🏼

You don't have to be preparing to sell to start thinking about what your business is worth.

Many of the things that influence value are within your control. Improving margins, building a stronger leadership team, reducing owner dependency, and creating predictable revenue can all make a difference.

And those improvements don't just matter to a future buyer. They make your business stronger today.

👉🏼 So maybe the better question isn't just "What is my business worth today?" but "What could it be worth if I started making the right changes?"

That's a conversation we love having with business owners. 🙋🏻

10/21/2026

Planning for 2027 does not need to mean creating a long list of goals. It means deciding what matters most, what the business can realistically support, and what needs to happen first.

That was the focus of our latest Skill Lab, 2027 by Design.

If you missed the live session, or want to revisit it with your team, you can now access the full recording and download the companion workbook. The workbook also includes access to an Excel planning tool to help you take the work further.

📘 Download the workbook:
https://zurl.co/pNcCm

🎥 Watch the recording:
https://zurl.co/P1mVk

We also created the Athena 2027 Strategy Partner to help you work through priorities, pressure-test your thinking, and turn your ideas into a practical plan.

🤖 https://zurl.co/eHQpx

Build a stronger annual plan for your business with Athena's free 2027 by Design resources. Set financial goals, identify growth opportunities, align your team, and establish clear priorities with our workbook and interactive Excel planning tool.

10/16/2026

When business owners talk about growth, the conversation usually starts with building.

Find more customers. Hire more people. Add another service. Enter another market.
Sometimes that is exactly the right strategy. But established businesses have other options.

You can acquire a competitor, purchase a complementary company, add capabilities through an acquisition, create a joint venture, or form a strategic partnership.
That gives owners a different question to consider:

Should we build it, buy it, or partner for it?
The answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish, the financial strength of the company, the capacity of your leadership team, and whether the organization is actually ready to absorb the growth.

We also want more women business owners thinking about acquisitions from a different perspective.
Women should not only be part of the conversation when businesses are being sold. We belong on the buy side too.

Before pursuing any growth strategy, it helps to understand the strength and readiness of the business you already have.

Start with our Health and Value Assessment:
https://zurl.co/9Ay8J

10/13/2026

Revenue is one of the first numbers we look at when talking about business growth.

But revenue alone does not tell you how strong a company is or what it may ultimately be worth.

Two companies can generate exactly the same amount of revenue and be very different businesses.

One may have healthy margins, clear financial reporting, diversified customers, capable leadership, and systems that allow the company to operate without the owner being involved in every decision.

The other may have thinner margins, customer concentration, inconsistent financial visibility, and an owner who remains responsible for sales, relationships, operations, and key decisions.

Same revenue. Very different levels of risk and value.

This matters even if selling your company is nowhere on your radar. The qualities that make a business attractive to a future buyer are often the same qualities that make it easier to grow, easier to lead, and better to own today.

Revenue gets attention. Quality creates value.

Do you know what is driving the value of your business today, or what may be limiting it?

Take our Health and Value Assessment:
https://zurl.co/ItFp7

10/12/2026

Colorado women business owners: Are you considering buying another company, bringing in a strategic partner, accelerating growth, or eventually selling your business?

Join us on Friday, October 23, in Denver for a practical conversation about how to evaluate those opportunities, what your business needs to be ready for them, and what could stand in your way.

Athena Advisory Collective and InBank’s Women in Business Initiative are bringing together experts across banking, M&A, finance, legal, and business strategy for:

BUILD IT? BUY ANOTHER? PARTNER? MERGE? STEP BACK? SELL?

As a business owner, you may have several paths available, but each comes with different financial considerations, operational demands, and risks. Understanding those differences before making a major commitment can influence how much value you create, how you finance your next move, and ultimately how much you receive from the business you have spent years building.

During our panel discussion, we will explore how to evaluate your options and what lenders, buyers, and advisors consider when assessing a company. You will then have the opportunity to participate in smaller Micro Clinics, where you can ask questions about your own business, explore financing options, understand what a buyer would see, and identify issues that could affect a future transaction.

You will leave with a clearer understanding of what your business is ready for, what may be limiting your choices, and what deserves your attention before making your next major decision.

Friday, October 23, 2026
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM MT
InBank RiNo | Denver, Colorado

With special guest Ed Francis, President and CEO of InBank.
Register here: https://zurl.co/a2GN0

We are looking forward to bringing together women who are building valuable businesses and thinking intentionally about their next chapter.

You built the business. What comes next? Business owners who have built successful companies often reach a point where the next move is no longer obvious. …

10/09/2026

Women own an estimated 15.7 million businesses in the United States. Only about 9 percent of women owned businesses have employees.

That does not mean every business should become a large company. Many women intentionally build businesses around their expertise, lifestyle, and personal goals.

But for owners who want to build companies that can scale, operate beyond them, create enterprise value, or eventually become transferable assets, there comes a point when growth has to look different.

The question becomes less about how much more the owner can personally do and more about what the company needs in order to perform without depending on one person.

That means developing leadership, creating accountability, strengthening financial visibility, building repeatable systems, and transferring responsibility as the company grows.

Women have already demonstrated that we can build businesses. The next opportunity is building more companies that create value beyond the owner.

If you are wondering where your own business stands, our Health and Value Assessment is a good place to start. It can help you take a more objective look at the business you have built and where there may be opportunities to strengthen it.

Take the Health and Value Assessment:
https://zurl.co/WQeUY

Source: Wells Fargo, 2026 Impact of Women Owned Businesses Report

10/07/2026

We spend a lot of time with our clients helping them step out of the day-to-day and decide what comes next.

As we start planning for 2027, we’re hearing many of the same questions.

- Where should we invest?
- Is it time to hire?
- What should the owner stop doing?
- What does the team need to own?
- Which opportunities are worth pursuing, and which ones are simply distractions?
These are not questions that are usually answered in one meeting. They take conversation, decisions, and a willingness to be realistic about what the business can actually support.

For our next Skill Lab, Aggie and Cristy are opening up some of the planning work we normally do with our clients and inviting business owners and their teams to work through it with us.

2027 by Design: A Practical Planning Session for Business Owners & Their Teams

Thursday, October 15 | 10 AM MT / 12 PM ET | Virtual

If you have key people on your team, bring them. You’ll get more out of the session if the people responsible for executing the plan are part of creating it.

Register here:
https://zurl.co/efxMR

10/06/2026

What would happen to your business if you stepped away for 30 days?

Would decisions still get made? Would sales continue moving? Would customers know who to call? Would your team know what required attention? Would someone still be watching the financial performance of the company?

Most businesses become dependent on their founders at some point. It makes sense. The owner usually has the deepest knowledge, the longest relationships and the clearest understanding of how everything fits together.

The problem is when the company grows but that structure does not change.

Eventually, the business can only move as quickly as the owner can make decisions, solve problems and maintain relationships.

Reducing owner dependency does not mean making yourself less important. It means building a company where your role can evolve from holding everything together to leading an organization that can perform without your constant involvement.

That creates more capacity to grow today and more options for the future.

10/01/2026

According to the latest Wells Fargo Impact of Women Owned Businesses report, women now own an estimated 15.7 million businesses, representing 40.6 percent of all businesses in the United States.

That is extraordinary progress. But we also think it is worth asking what comes next.

Business ownership can create income, flexibility and independence. It can also create something much bigger: an asset that builds wealth and gives its owner choices.

That might mean continuing to grow the company, acquiring another business, bringing in a partner, transitioning leadership, selling one day or simply building an organization that no longer requires the owner to be involved in every decision.

Throughout October, we are going to talk about what helps a business make that transition. We will look at financial performance, leadership, owner dependency, strategic growth, acquisitions, succession and the factors that ultimately influence business value.

Women have already demonstrated that we know how to build businesses. The next conversation is about building more businesses that create lasting value for the women who own them.

Source: Wells Fargo, 2026 Impact of Women Owned Businesses Report

08/27/2026

The contract you signed when your business was smaller may not protect the business you run today.

As your company grows, things change. You add clients, vendors, employees, partners, and sometimes new owners. But when was the last time you looked at the agreements behind all of it?

Contracts & Agreements is a topic our community has asked us to cover again and again, so we’re bringing in Becky Mancero, Partner and Chief People Officer at SPZ Legal, for our September Skill Lab.

We’ll talk about:

• Operating and shareholder agreements
• Adding partners and owners
• Employee equity
• Client and vendor contracts
• Terms business owners commonly overlook
• When existing agreements need to be updated

You do not need to become a legal expert. But as the owner, you should understand what you are signing, what questions to ask, and where your business may be exposed.

📅 Tuesday, September 15
⏰ 10:00–11:00 AM MT | 12:00–1:00 PM ET

Save your spot: https://zurl.co/NMp7r