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Whether you’ve started your business already or you’re just getting started, there’s a lot on your plate. Starting and growing a business requires a great idea, fundraising, market research, and finding customers, hiring, just to name a few. But here’s one aspect of ownership that many entrepreneurs overlook: What it takes to build a structure to sell that business someday for maximum value.

If your business is one of your most significant assets, then it’s essential to have a plan to build and grow it into something buyers will find irresistible.

Selling a business is a major milestone, and the process starts long before you list it. Learn how to design operations, enhance profitability, and strategically position your business for a successful sale—whether that’s soon or years down the road.

Join us for a free webinar, Build a Business That Will Sell: From Valuations to a Successful Exit, presented by Oracle NetSuite and Entrepreneur. Join moderator and communication AI strategist Dr. Jill Schiefelbein in a conversation with seasoned business broker and serial entrepreneur Ben Shaw on what buyers look for and how to maximize your business’s value.

From streamlining operations to building recurring revenue streams, this session will dive deep into strategies that make your business stand out in the market. Whether you’re planning to sell or future-proof your business, this webinar is packed with actionable advice to help you succeed.

• Key roadblocks that prevent entrepreneurs from selling their businesses—and how to structure yours to avoid these pitfalls.
• Common red flags that make buyers hesitant and the proactive steps you can take to address them with confidence.
• Overlooked opportunities to boost your company’s value, including why the number 2.5 is a game-changer for your growth strategy.
• Hot buttons that make your business more attractive to buyers, and how you can work those into your business strategy.

Schiefelbein and Shaw will shed light on the conversations that many entrepreneurs don’t have about the valuation and selling process, leaving attendees with a solid set of next steps whether you’re looking to sell your business in the next year, in the next few years, or if you want to start building with the end in mind.

The Build a Business That Will Sell: From Valuations to a Successful Exit webinar will take place live on Tuesday January 21 at 12 p.m. ET | 9 a.m. PT.

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Greater minds than I have heralded the importance of striking a healthy work-life balance, emphasizing the physical, psychological, and social benefits. But taking time off, making it to the gym three times a week and practicing meditation can feel like a tall ask for a busy entrepreneur.

So, you find what works. Maybe it’s not a 5 am wakeup and cardio workout every day, but a weekly Pilates class to keep you sane. Or perhaps you’re better fueled by time with friends than a meditative session.

Here are my tips for improving your routine as an entrepreneur and striking a balance between rest and business success.

Related: Is it Possible to Balance a Career and Personal Wellness? 26 Entrepreneurs Share Their Own Tips

Plan breaks throughout the day

They say that sitting is the silent killer — our sedentary lifestyles bring multiple risk factors and implications for our health. While regular exercise is the goal, taking intermittent breaks throughout the day to stand and stretch will help mitigate these risks, at a minimum.

Health professionals recommend taking a break for 5-10 minutes for every hour spent at your workstation. Stand up, walk around, change position, etc. It also helps to incorporate back, neck, hip and hand stretches into your routine as well.

Another common ailment experienced by us computer warriors is eye strain. Practice the 20-20-20 Rule to relieve stress on the eyes. Use blue light filter glasses to reduce eye strain, improve mental health and support a healthy sleep pattern.

These small yet mighty improvements ensure you make the most of your short breaks throughout the day, improving your physical and mental health and preventing future postural, muscular and ocular issues.

Don’t cheat your out-of-office days

Do you fully “unplug” when you take time off? When it comes to out-of-office days, it’s important to give your mind (and laptop) a break. That means no checking Slack messages, no attending to emails and no answering of panicked client calls (unless absolutely necessary).

Have I always signed off during my vacation days? No — guilty as charged. But as I have come to recognize the importance of time with family (for my and their sake), I see this “off the radar” approach as essential. Today, this is a huge privilege, given the support of my team, but even when I was a solo entrepreneur, I found ways to sign off, even if only for a day or so.

Don’t cheat yourself out of time off. If your business structure and capacity allow, keep yourself accountable for taking a real vacation, turning off your notifications and deferring business to another day. Chances are, all will be well once you return.

Related: 9 Things to Do to Have a Work-Free Vacation (Infographic)

Know your “must haves” versus “nice to haves”

Most entrepreneurs are creative thinkers. We are the “big ideas” people of the world. This makes us prone to getting distracted by the next shiny object, directing our attention away from our most important priorities and goals.

The result of pursuing these “nice to have” ideas is overwhelm, lost investments and burnout. When we pursue new ideas without clarity and intention, our priorities become muddled, and we have less space in our day for planning and rest.

I am particularly guilty of this — which is why I have my “no” person (my COO). He keeps my ideas in check, helping me establish my “must haves” versus my “nice to haves.” Not only does this help keep my company on track, but it also ensures that I spend my productive time on critical tasks while allowing enough time for rest.

Find the activities that feed you

Many guides on how to strike a work-life balance simply don’t resonate with my unique interests and goals. For example, I’m not a cold plunge, morning meditation or yoga person. But I do find that time with my family feeds me more than anything. I appreciate traveling, meeting new people and going out to tasty restaurants.

The key to balancing your routine is to find what feeds YOU. For you, that might be morning walks, playing with your dog, hitting the pickleball court or hitting up friends for Happy Hour. Identify the activities that best support your physical, social and emotional health, and make time for these.

Traditional advice would have you believe that you need to structure your day a certain way — e.g., early morning wakeup, workout routine, time blocking, etc. In reality, everyone operates differently. Find the things that fuel you, structure your day in a way that makes you feel productive yet rejuvenated, and schedule time for the things that feed your soul.

Related: I’m Very Busy — Yet I Still Have Lots of Free Time. Here are 10 Hacks I Use To Actually Enjoy My Life

Recognize the early signs of burnout

Like a thief in the night, burnout creeps up on you when you least expect it. It may feel like one month, you’re on top of your game, then all of a sudden, you’re a couch potato with barely enough will to make it to the fridge for a soda. The objective is to not let it get to this point, but that requires the ability to detect the signs of burnout early on.

This can look different for different people, but generally, the signs of burnout include constant fatigue (that doesn’t improve with rest), a struggle to stay focused and motivated, feeling more irritable and overwhelmed than usual, withdrawing from social interactions and inexplicable health issues. Basically, if you feel “weird” and aren’t sure why, burnout might be right around the corner.

The good news is that if you catch these signs early, you’ll be better able to mitigate the damage. You might need to pare down your schedule, slot more breaks into your day, vent to a friend or book a vacation. Resist the urge to power through; the mental and physical implications of burnout are no fun!

Existing home sales were up 3.4% month-over-month in October, showing their first year-over-year gain in more than three years.

Corcoran Group founder, Shark Tank investor, and real estate expert Barbara Corcoran says the increase in home sales doesn’t surprise her.

“There are more houses on the market so there are 25% more choices for the buyer coming out into the market and looking,” Corcoran told Fox Business on Thursday. “On top of that, the buyers themselves have gotten accustomed to the rates being what they are and they just got tired of waiting.”

Related: You Have One Month Left to Buy a House, According to Barbara Corcoran. Here’s Why.

As of Friday, mortgage rates are up to 6.96% for 30-year fixed mortgages, a 0.05% increase from last week. Corcoran said that if the rate drops down somewhere in the 5% to 5.99% range, it would have a noticeable effect on the market.

“Anything with a 5% in front of it is going to make this market go ballistic,” Corcoran said. “But right now you’re already seeing the signs of it [lower rates] in the last month.”

Corcoran predicted last month in an interview with Entrepreneur that mortgage rates would go down to the 5% range within the next year.

She said that most potential sellers could be sitting on rates much lower than that, under 3%, so incentivizing them to sell could be difficult.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Says This Is the One Question to Ask Before Selling Your Home

According to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) earlier this month, first-time buyers were older than ever, with the median age settling at 38 years old this year. The average age of home buyers overall was an all-time high of 56 years old, up from 49 years old last year.

Corcoran told Fox Business that the higher ages are because of higher interest rates, which lock out younger buyers with less home equity.

“I say my prayers at night and pray for lower interest rates,” she said.

The NAR report showed that first-time home buyers made up an all-time low of about 25% of all total home buyers, down from 32% in 2023.

Repeat home buyers dominated sales: They could afford to put down larger down payments, with the median down payment percentage of the group resting at 23%. Nearly a third, 31%, paid for a new home in all cash.

First-time home buyers have had to adjust to these conditions. This year they put down a typical down payment of 9%, the highest percentage since 1997.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Needed to Make Job Cuts. Here’s Why She Fired Her Mom First.

Your time is worth $50, $100 or even $200 an hour. Then why is AI costing you hours instead of saving them?

Here’s the irony — a recent Upwork study shows 77% of employees say AI is actually hurting their productivity. Why? They’re stuck revising AI-generated content. AI gets you part of the way, but you end up spending even more time tweaking and fixing than you save. Frustrating, right?

It’s not just a time drain—it creates cognitive overload, pulling your focus away from what really matters. But there’s a way to use AI that can actually save you weeks of work a year. In this week’s video, I’ll show you how in three simple steps.

Download the free “AI Success Kit” (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from Ben’s brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World”.

President Donald Trump’s election to a second term was a win for business and investment — two important drivers of economic growth. His campaign promises largely reflected a pro-business ideology, promising support for entrepreneurship and corporate expansion and starkly contrasting with Vice President Kamala Harris’s consumer-focused approach, which seemed to overlook the crucial balance between investment and consumption.

Donald Trump’s business-driven agenda

A cornerstone of President Trump’s first term was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which placed a clear emphasis on empowering small businesses, entrepreneurs and investors to put more money back into their ventures. The TCJA was packed with pro-growth policies, including the 20% qualified business income (QBI) deduction, the ability to fully expense equipment purchases and cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. During the campaign, President Trump suggested taking this even further by reducing the tax rate to 15%, underscoring his commitment to stimulate corporate investment.

These supports for business and investment worked. With a lower tax burden and targeted incentives, entrepreneurs and businesses made significant investments in the U.S. — buying more equipment, adding jobs and creating much-needed goods and services for society. Extending the QBI deduction and enhancing it to 25-30% would further incentivize entrepreneurship, especially if the deduction applied to all business types, including service industries.

President Trump also recognizes that research and development play a critical role in innovation and economic expansion. By advocating for permanent bonus depreciation, Trump aimed to align the U.S. with other nations that offer full deductions for equipment investments. However, this commitment should extend to R&D tax policies. Most other countries have much better R&D tax benefits than the U.S., putting our businesses at a disadvantage.

Related: 3 Major Reasons Why Donald Trump’s Second Term Will Benefit My Business and Increase Profits

The contrast with Kamala Harris’s consumer-centric focus

The Harris-Walz campaign took the opposite approach.

Throughout the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris strongly emphasized consumer protection. Her proposals included price controls and programs to boost consumer spending, prioritizing immediate consumer benefits over long-term economic growth.

Price controls often sound attractive on the surface but, in reality, distort the market, often discouraging businesses from investing in areas where their returns will be capped. This stifles innovation and, in the long run, reduces competitiveness on a global scale.

Vice President Harris’s focus on a consumption-driven economy would have overly relied on short-term spending. Without investment in infrastructure, technology and R&D, the economy risks stagnating. In addition, she proposed raising corporate taxes to 28% and combined capital gains taxes to 33%. The money that would go toward higher taxes would then not be available as capital for businesses to expand, hire and innovate, ultimately hindering economic growth.

Related: 10 Significant Ways A Second Donald Trump Administration Could Impact Your Taxes

A call for a focus on pro-business policies

Despite a largely pro-business stance, President Trump also floated his share of consumer-focused policies during the campaign. Suggestions to eliminate income taxes on tips and overtime pay were popular among large and important segments of voters but would cause havoc for business owners. The tax change would create massive inequity among workers in the same business, with hosts and chefs paying taxes on their full earnings while servers would not. It also would create unintended incentives for people to shift to nonexempt (and overtime-laden) work schedules.

Based on his campaign rhetoric, President Trump also seems certain to use tariffs as leverage with U.S. trading partners, especially China and Mexico. As all tariffs do, that will surely hit the pocketbooks of consumers and businesses alike.

As President Trump embarks on his second term, both he and Congress must stay focused on policies that bolster business and investment. This is the proven path to sustained economic growth and prosperity.

It’s also not a partisan position. The first time a U.S. president encouraged investment through economic policy was when President John F. Kennedy signed legislation creating the investment tax credit in 1962, encouraging businesses to buy equipment during a time when the economy had slowed. President Ronald Reagan also used economic policy to boost investment, adding significant benefits to real estate investment in 1981.

President Trump and the next Congress have an opportunity to add to this positive legacy. They simply need to stay focused and united on the right policy changes. Reducing business tax rates, encouraging investment and supporting entrepreneurship and innovation would go a long way toward improving U.S. competitiveness with the rest of the world. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the American economy.

Let’s not allow this moment to slip by.

These days, customers aren’t just looking for a great product or service. They want an experience that’s smooth, hassle-free and feels like it was designed just for them. If you’re not delivering that, your competitors are ready and waiting to steal them away.

Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Customer” report makes it clear: 80% of customers say the experience a company offers is just as important as its products or services. So, if you’re not focused on making the buying process easy, you’re missing the boat.

This means you can’t just solve a problem and call it a day. You’ve got to walk with your customers through every step of the process — and sometimes even after the sale. Why? Because a lot of them will keep researching after they’ve already bought, trying to make sure they didn’t screw up. Your job is to prove to them, again and again, that they made the right choice. There’s no such thing as “finished” anymore.

Is it a lot to handle? Sure. But we all live in a world where information overload is the norm. When we’re buying, we sift through the noise to find what we want. When we’re selling, we need to clear that noise for our customers. If they feel confused or frustrated, they’re out the door. But if you can build trust and make the experience simple, they’ll stick around.

So, how do you create that kind of experience? Let’s break it down:

Related: 4 Things That Make for Unforgettable Customer Experiences

1. Make research easy and personal

Customers these days come prepared. They’ve already done a ton of homework before they even think about talking to you. They don’t want long email chains or endless meetings. They want answers, and they want them fast.

That means your website and any other materials need to be clear, helpful and relevant. If you’re pushing the wrong details, you’re wasting their time, and they’ll walk.

I saw this firsthand when I was shopping for a car. The salesperson kept going on and on about the car’s engine specs and speed. But I’m a nerd, not a gearhead. I only cared about the tech gadgets. I kept trying to see the touch screen inside, but the seller stuck to his script and insisted on showing me the tires. I walked. In contrast, I contacted another dealership with my questions. They responded in a couple of hours with answers and a custom demo video. Boom — I had a new car.

People want personalized experiences. The Salesforce “State of the Customer” report found that two-thirds of customers expect companies to adapt to their shifting needs. So, don’t throw everything at them at once. Figure out what matters to this customer and focus on that.

2. Be the go-to expert customers can’t live without

When you give customers a killer experience, you’re not just solving one problem; you’re setting yourself up as their go-to for future problems. And that’s where the magic happens.

Adobe found that 71% of customers stick with brands they trust. When you consistently deliver value and a great experience, they won’t just come back — they’ll keep coming back. You might have to put your own interests aside in the short term, but the long-term payback is worth it.

Related: 3 Ways to Turn Your Customer Leads into Your Biggest Fans

3. Keep improving the customer experience

Customer needs change fast, and if your customer journey stays the same forever, you’ll get left behind. But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean tearing everything down and starting over. Sometimes, all it takes is a tweak here and there.

Remember, buyers usually fall into two camps: risk minimizers and gain maximizers. Figure out which one you’re dealing with and adjust accordingly. In B2B sales, your main contact often has to sell your solution to a room full of decision-makers you’ve never met. That means your materials need to be strong enough to do the selling for you when you’re not in the room.

Want to know when it’s time to tweak the journey? Ask your customers. Their feedback will tell you exactly where the gaps are and help you make changes that drive better results.

Related: Customers Are Changing – Is Your Business Ready?

Yes, customer behavior is constantly evolving, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep their loyalty. By making the buying process personal, seamless and built around their needs, you’ll keep them coming back — and you’ll set your business up for long-term success.

As a sommelier at prestigious, Michelin-starred restaurants and with a background in sustainable agriculture, Kristin Olszewski wanted to make organic, high-quality wine more accessible to people who would typically shy away from it.

Her solution: Put it in a can.

In 2017, she launched her canned wine company, Nomadica, into the market—curated, zero-sugar wine in eco-conscious packaging. But not everyone was enamored. For many in the traditional wine industry, canned wine was hard to swallow.

“When I launched, canned wine was all value wines, nothing you’d actually wanna pour into a glass,” Olszewski recalls. “I can’t tell you how often I was laughed out of rooms when I started to go around and pedal Nomadica to people. Even my community and friends in the wine industry were like, why are you doing this? No one wants this.”

Turns out they were wrong. Nomadica is now available direct-to-consumer and in retailers across 25 states such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Total Wine, with Target in the works for 2025 Last year, Nomadica was named the Rising Drinks Brand of the Year in the Next Wave Awards.

Olszewski joined me on the One Day with Jon Bier podcast to talk about her path from a Harvard dropout to the founder of a successful company and her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Have a unique expertise in your industry

Kristin spent years as a sommelier in high-end restaurants in Nantucket, Nashville, and New York. That professional experience, coupled with her study in sustainable agriculture, gives her unicorn status in the canned wine industry. “I’m the only founder with wine experience. Everyone else has MBAs, or they hired people to manage the wine experience part of it,” she says. “I’m the only person looking at the industry from the bottom up.”

This unique perspective allows Kristin to identify trends and opportunities others may miss. She shares one example: “I run a wine program in Los Angeles, and I saw that we sold more orange wine by the glass than all other colors combined. Boom. I was the first to market with a nationally distributed orange wine in a can and now box.”

Related: ‘One Size Does Not Fit All:’ The Supplement Myth That This CEO Wants to Shatter

Build real relationships with board members and investors

Kristin prides herself on being very open and honest with her investors about the challenges Nomadica faces. She surrounds herself with a board composed mostly of operators with experience running businesses and can support her through the ups and downs. Full disclosure: I was one of Kristin’s earliest angel investors and wrote her the biggest check I had written to date because she checked every box for me.

Pay attention to emerging trends and consumer preferences.

Despite Nomadica’s success, Kristin is not resting on her laurels. She is constantly trying to innovate and be on top of changes in the industry. For example, she recognizes that millennials and Gen Z are becoming more discerning about what they consume, which contradicts conventional wisdom that these generations just go for fancy labels and marketing gimmicks.

“This is an incredibly educated consumer who’s nerdy, who deep dives on what they’re consuming now,” she says.

Related: This Entrepreneur Went From Driving An Uber to Running a Million-Dollar Air Purifier Business

Stay true to your style

Kristin intentionally built Nomadica slowly, starting with partnerships at premium hotels and venues. Contrary to the advice she received, she focused on generating high-velocity sales before expanding into mass retail.

“I took this slow, hard path because I feel like that’s also just my vibe, that’s my energy. I never do anything the easy way, which is annoying about me. All my friends are endlessly irritated about that, but I knew this was the right way to build the brand, and now we’re ready for retail.”

Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo

As a female founder in a male-dominated industry, Kristin faced a lot of skepticism and pushback when she launched Nomadica. But she persevered with her vision to disrupt the wine industry and make it less pretentious.

Nobody is laughing at her crazy idea anymore.

“When you look at the wine industry right now, the only segments that are growing are sparkling, canned wine that’s above $15, which is exactly where we’re priced,” she says. “I feel like while everyone else is divesting or making canned cocktails out of wine, I’m leaning in because I still see the opportunity.”