We recently connected with Dr. Lisa Dorsey and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dr. Lisa, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Before starting my second career as an author, I owned and operated a business in the healthcare industry. I quickly learned that my healthcare business skills and acumen could only take me so far in my career as an author. I felt like I was relegated to riding a tricycle again, and although I have two earned doctorates, I felt like I knew little to nothing. After overcoming that shock, I began studying and researching everything I could get my hands on about how to write a book, market and sell it, and run a business as an author. I chose a publisher who offered services that taught me every aspect of book publishing. This included honing in on my book idea, identifying my audience and market research, and the mechanics of writing, executing, launching, and publishing my book, including how to make multiple streams of income. I invested in mastermind classes to hone my skills and hired a coach to help me brand myself as an author. I also obtained paid help to design my author’s website and brand and develop lead magnets. From the time I decided to become an author to publication, it took me nineteen months. The universal business skill sets of financial management, accounting, budgeting, knowing tax requirements, federal, state, and local laws, and having an overall business plan was helpful for me in looking at my being a writer as a business, not a hobby. Marketing my book has been the most daunting task because it has me constantly evaluating who my audience is and how to find them and best serve their needs. I have to spend money to make money and continue to develop new products to gain and sustain success.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Two years before retiring from the healthcare industry as a business owner, I dreamed I was in a theater watching a movie on a cinematic screen. The film in this dream later became the idea for the first ten thousand words of the recent novel I published, “Petra: An Unbroken Legacy.” Growing up, I was an avid reader and a lover of the arts, including musicals and Broadway plays. I loved comic books, science fiction, superheroes, and space exploration. Therefore, it was not odd for me to go from being a healthcare business owner to an Authorpreneur. It was like my childhood dreams came back full circle for me to live out as an author. As I looked at how to brand myself to have multiple income streams, I looked at my strengths of teaching, speaking, and making difficult things seem simple by breaking them down into minute parts. This is quite a magical task as it helps me as a writer to bring the stories and characters alive and jump off the pages. The goal of my writing is to have people resonate with the stories to find simple solutions to difficult situations while feeling encouraged and motivated. With the help of a coach, I branded myself as Journey with Dr. Lisa. I want my audience to know that they are not alone in their journey and help empower them to navigate through the challenges of life.
Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.
I sold my healthcare business two years ago, and it was a very emotional and time-intensive endeavor. I want to share three key lessons I learned from this process. This is not an all-inclusive list, as each industry has particular standards and regulations.
1. Due Diligence
Due diligence is a process or effort to collect and analyze information before deciding or conducting a transaction so a party is not held legally liable for any loss or damage. Critical components of due diligence include operational, financial, legal, and data reporting. Operational due diligence includes disclosing how your business operates daily, who runs it, how they run it, your vendors, contractors, and clientele, your marketing strategy, and whether the company is running efficiently and within regulatory and industry standards. This component includes the equipment and technology you use to operate your business as well as human resources, the reporting of personnel information, and assessing if there are any potential liabilities. Since divulging information sensitive to your business’s operation, you must have the potential buyer sign a nondisclosure agreement. The financial due diligence involves reporting assets and liabilities, cash flow, historical data of income and losses, and access to bank statements and tax returns. Legal due diligence includes providing access to all legal documents about the company’s ownership, registration with Federal, State, and Local authorities (as required), and any legal or pending legal cases against the company. Finally, you’ll need to report the data coherently, legibly, and timely.
The critical advice here is to educate yourself on all the legal aspects of selling your business. I’m not saying you need to be an expert, but you should have a general idea of what’s required so that, at minimum, you know the right questions to ask and can spot red flags when needed. I was fortunate enough to hire a broker to assist in the process, and yes, it was expensive but worth it. Brokers generally take a percentage of the purchase cost. My broker helped me find a buyer and guided me through the due diligence process to closing the deal. Due diligence requires you to have all your legal paperwork, financial statements, and other business records in order.
2. Time Intensity
In my case, I worked with government entities, so I was required to have meticulous documentation in place. This was a tremendous help in completing due diligence, but it was still time-consuming. If you have yet to keep thorough records or the records are not in order, this will increase the time needed to gather the necessary paperwork for due diligence. In my case, I ran my business for twenty-eight years, so the amount of paperwork I had to sort through was daunting. As a reminder, you must still run your business while gathering and preparing to submit all the necessary documentation. This is time-consuming and stressful, especially if you have yet to disclose the potential sale to your employees.
3. Separation Anxiety
Throughout the due diligence process, I had this internal conflict: Should I sell the business or not? Am I making the right decision? Is this the right person to take over my business? Then, there was the transition with the new owners taking over. Sometimes, the owners will take over immediately, and your departure is immediately after the sale. In my case, I was hired post-sale as a consultant to help the new owners transition. This had its pros and cons. I did get to make sure the new owners had clarity about the business, and I was able to train key administrative personnel who were new to the company. I figured that if I helped position the company for success, it would alleviate most post-closure problems, including legal ones. This process helped me wean off the business and obtain some closure. By the end of my contract, I was ready to leave.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Covid was the scariest, most stressful, and chaotic time in the twenty-eight years I owned and operated my business. COVID required major pivoting not only to survive in business but to survive death. I was responsible for myself, my family, my employees, and my clients. I had to operate in an environment of uncertainty and great change with few resources. New rules and regulations were being disseminated with little guidance. Employees were torn between loyalty to family and to the clients they served. Straddling the fence between one’s life and the life of loved ones made for difficult decisions. As a company, we had to pivot to balance these variables. We had an emergency plan for disasters, which was our starting point. We modified these plans based on the needs of our clients and employees and the available resources. We had to devise new interim short-term and long-term goals to meet the needs of a drastically changed environment. It was a day-by-day scenario. Some patients voluntarily put our services on hold to keep safe from contact with others. We lost revenue initially, then business became overwhelming as clients preferred to be seen in their homes rather than the hospital. Human resource management was the biggest challenge. Next was acquiring the necessary supplies to do our jobs. All in all, in a spirit of community, we bonded together and joined forces to get the required work done. We triaged cases, which gave some reprieve for employees who needed to stay home, and the genuine care and concern we showed to one another helped us get through the crisis.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drlisadorsey.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlisadorsey
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlisadorsey2
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-l-dorsey-720260260/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drlisadorsey
- Other: https://www.petraanunbrokenlegacy.com
