Your parents had pensions. You have a business. Nobody has ever asked you what it's worth, and you've never asked either, because it's a job you own, not an asset you built. This week that changes.

Andrea Johnston founded Pure Communications, grew it from a one-woman firm into an integrated marketing partner for biotech and pharma, sold it to a private-equity-backed platform, grew it again, and sold again. Now she runs Fuel for Female Founders. She walked Karen through how to build a sellable business even if you never sell it, because the things buyers check are the things that make a business worth owning.

In this episode:

• The four things a buyer looks at in a founder-led business: client concentration, margin, systems, and team
• Why "if it's still all on your shoulders, you're an employee, not a business owner"
• Why an exit doesn't have to mean an exit, and why women should think about being buyers too
• Karen's "sell it in five years" conversation with her accountant, and what it changed
• Do, delegate, drop: scaling your life to keep pace with your business

Your homework: say to your accountant, or to yourself, "treat everything I do as if I'm selling this business in five years." Then circle the one thing on the four-item list that would scare a buyer off today. That's your Q4 project.

Resources mentioned:
Fuel for Female Founders
https://www.fuelforfemalefounders.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/fuel-for-female-founders/

Ready to get seen, known, and chosen by the people who open the bigger doors? Watch the free Borrow the Stage masterclass!

Magical Quotes From The Episode:

"If it's still all on your shoulders, then you're just an employee. You're not a business owner." - Andrea Johnston

"Margin is really where the magic happens for buyers." - Andrea Johnston

"I'm not going to say it's the same as a pension, but it is an alternative to a pension." - Karen Yankovich

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Somebody you know is in a room right now. A board meeting, a group text, a conference hallway. And somebody just asked, "Do you know anyone who..." and described exactly what you do. Your friend has five seconds and no notes. What comes out of her mouth decides whether you get the call.

This week we sort what people actually say about you when you're not there, and build the one sentence that gets your name said with a reason attached. Last week the buyer at least had your headline in front of her. This week she's never heard of you, and everything depends on what somebody else can say about you from memory.

In this episode:
- The five rooms where referrals really happen (and the newest one, with nobody in it)
- The four piles: label, compliment, call, old job, and why your biggest pile is probably the least useful
- Why nobody has ever asked "who do you know that's phenomenal?"
- The three-step build: steal their words, put them in the frame, test it
- Four places your sentence goes this week, including the intro everybody skips

Homework: one text to three well-connected people. "This is what I'm telling people now: [your sentence]. Who's one person who should hear it?"

Resources mentioned:
Episode 394, the buyer's-chair game: www.karenyankovich.com/394?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_content=395
Episode 388, getting found when someone looks you up: https://karenyankovich.com/optimize-linkedin-profile-google-search/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_content=395

Once you've got your sentence, the next question is how to get it into bigger rooms. That's the free Borrow the Stage masterclass, on demand: https://sheslinkedup.com/masterclass?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_content=395

Magical Quotes From The Episode:

"You don't have to be in the room, but your sentence does."

"The vaguer you are, the riskier you are to recommend."

"Your marketing language is what you wish people would say. Their words are what they'll really say."

Help Us Spread The Word!

It would be awesome if you shared the Good Girls Get Rich Podcast with your fellow entrepreneurs on Twitter. Click here to tweet some love!

If this episode has taught you just one thing, I would love if you could head on over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW! And if you're moved to, kindly leave us a rating and review. Maybe you'll get a shout out on the show!

Ways to Subscribe to Good Girls Get Rich:

• Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts
• Click here to subscribe via PlayerFM
• Good Girls Get Rich is also on Spotify
• Take a listen on Podcast Addict

You have twenty-two years of experience. She has eight. She got the engagement, and it took the client about four seconds to decide.

In this episode Karen Yankovich puts you in the buyer's chair to show you why. You'll hire one of two consultants, refer one of them to a friend, and then read your own LinkedIn headline the way a stranger with one problem would. Then you'll get the one sentence that makes you easy to pick, and three checks to run it through.

In this episode:

• The four-second hiring test, and why the more qualified consultant never makes the short list
• Why referrals go to the person a friend can describe in a single text
• Category first, credentials second: how buyers really choose
• How to write your "What is she for?" sentence, with three checks
• Why writing a paragraph instead of a sentence is useful information, and what to do with it

Your homework: Text three people who know your work and ask, "Quick question, no wrong answer. If someone asked you what I do, what would you tell them?" Don't hint. Keep what comes back. You'll need it next week. Once you have your sentence, the next question is where to say it so it travels. Watch the FREE Borrow the Stage masterclass.

Resources Mentioned In The Episode:

• FREE Borrow the Stage masterclass
• Episode 390: "Never Speak for Free" Is Keeping You Off Stages
• Episode 393: What Do You Charge? How to Answer Without Flinching

Magical Quotes From The Episode:

"They don't hire the most qualified. They hire the easiest to cast."

"The list isn't wrong. It's just in the wrong place."

"Nobody decided against her. She just never came up."

Help Us Spread The Word!

It would be awesome if you shared the Good Girls Get Rich Podcast with your fellow entrepreneurs on Twitter. Click here to tweet some love!

If this episode has taught you just one thing, I would love if you could head on over to Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW! And if you're moved to, kindly leave us a rating and review. Maybe you'll get a shout out on the show!

Ways to Subscribe to Good Girls Get Rich:

• Click here to subscribe via Apple Podcasts
• Click here to subscribe via PlayerFM
• Good Girls Get Rich is also on Spotify
• Take a listen on Podcast Addict