Joe John Duran 
Start It, Sell It & Make a Mint 
20 Wealth-Creating Secrets for Business Owners

Real world anecdotes and step-by-step strategies to build and sella successful business
Half of the roughly one million businesses that start up every yearfail because of insufficient financing, poor management, or lack ofbasic entrepreneurial skills. Based on his own experience as wellas those of the many other successful business owners interviewedfor this book, Joe John Duran explains how to overcome theseobstacles. This reader-friendly book offers easy-to-follow advice, including 20 vital secrets that will help business owners avoid themost common mistakes, grow their businesses successfully, and thensell them at the highest price possible.
Joe John Duran (Santa Monica, CA) built a national investment firmwith billions under management and thousands of clients. Within 10years of creating it, he sold it to General Electric for tens ofmillions of dollars. He is a chartered financial analyst, CEO of Alchemy Capital, Chairman of Finance of the Santa Monica Bay Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and a member of the Association of Investment Management Research (AIMR) and the Los Angeles Societyof Financial Analysts (LASFA).

Table of Content

INTRODUCTION.

Chapter ONE: My Story.

Chapter TWO: The Business Leader.

Vital Secret #1: Run the company like a business, not ahobby.

Vital Secret #2: Be what you want your company to become.

Vital Secret #3: Delegate, don’t abdicate.

Chapter THREE: The Culture.

Vital Secret #4: Put people first, make them feel special.

Vital Secret #5: Run your company as an open meritocracy.

Chapter FOUR: The People.

Vital Secret #6: Hire people whose skills complement yours, rather than mirror them.

Vital Secret #7: Skills can be learned, attitudes cannot.

Chapter FIVE: The Operations.

Vital Secret #8: Develop procedures that provide consistency andpredictability.

Chapter SIX: The Product.

Vital Secret #9: Provide differentiated products and services;you cannot win the low cost battle.

Chapter SEVEN: Sales and Marketing.

Vital Secret #10: Identify and market to a niche.

Vital Secret #11: Referrals are the cheapest and most effectiveway to get clients.

Vital Secret #12: Create a self-sustaining sales system.

Chapter EIGHT: The Financials.

Vital Secret #13: Pay attention to the cash; tomorrow’sprofits won’t pay today’s bills.

Vital Secret #14: Focus on generating recurring revenues.

Chapter NINE: Acquisitions.

Vital Secret #15: Make acquisitions that are an extension ofwhat you do.

Chapter TEN: How I Sold My Business.

Chapter ELEVEN: Preparing Your Business for Sale.

Vital Secret #16: Make yourself dispensable.

Vital Secret #17: Sell when things are going great.

Vital Secret #18: Reward the people that are important to thetransaction.

Chapter TWELEVE The Negotiation.

Vital Secret #19: Deals either ripen or rot, so ABC (Always Be Closing).

Chapter THIRTEEN Letting Go.

Vital Secret #20: Be gracious and smile when you leave.

INDEX.

About the author

JOE JOHN DURAN, CFA, turned a small investment company into a nationally respected multibillion-dollar investment firm in under a decade. The company was bought for many millions of dollars by General Electric’s GE Financial in 2001. Today, Duran is CEO of Alchemy Capital, a corporation involved in helping independent businesses, and the Managing Director of United Capital Partners. He is a chartered financial analyst and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is also a member of the Association of Investment Management Research (AIMR), and the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts (LASFA). Duran is the author of The First Time Investor’s Workbook.