A podcast for owners
Who Does That Work?
This is a podcast for owners of companies, about what makes a company worth more and easier to run. New episodes arrive on Thursdays.
The current episode
November 5, 2026
Planning An Exit Starting Now Results In Maximum Returns
75% of business owners expect to sell their business by 2031, transferring more than $14 trillion in assets! It is not too early to begin planning for that. Here is where to begin.
Start with The Check at growthright.solutions. It leads to a conversation with Ed. No sales, no obligation.
Put this episode to work with the free resource that goes with it.
Who Does That Work?
Transcript, November 5, 2026
Maybe you have thought about selling. Then you tell yourself, not yet. Too early. If the horizon is three to five years out, that is not too early. That is the window. The Exit Planning Institute puts roughly $14 trillion of business wealth in motion over the coming years. And about 75% of owners expect to exit by 2031. That means a lot of companies may be in front of buyers at the same time.
The ones that stand out are not always the loudest. They are the ones where a buyer can verify the value instead of taking it on faith. Picture two owners. One starts now. Records are dated, decisions are documented, and the company runs well without that owner in every room. When the time comes, the conversation starts from calm, not from cleanup. The other starts late. The final year becomes a scramble to find records, explain every customer relationship, and prove that the business can keep moving when the owner steps away. That pressure is avoidable when preparation begins early.
Early preparation also changes the owner's life before any buyer appears. The company has a front door it owns, a clear way for new business to arrive, and a record behind each opportunity. That can look like a website with a Digital Employee greeting people, answering the phone, booking meetings or service, and providing customer support at any hour, not as a gadget, as a dependable part of the business. The result is bigger than a smoother customer experience. New business leaves a trail, the owner's evenings get quieter, and years before a sale, the leadership table can look at what the company is worth with better evidence in hand.
So if selling has crossed your mind for three to five years from now, the decision is not whether to sell today. It is whether to start preparing now while you still get to choose the buyer, the timing, and the price. Take the check at growthright.solutions/check. It is 12 questions, about two minutes, and your results appear on screen right away. No sales. Just a clear place to start.
Earlier episodes
October 9, 2026
A Practical Strategy for Successful AI Implementation in 2026
Picture your leadership team a year from now, able to say exactly what AI changed in the business and what it returned. In about four minutes, Ed Becker walks through the questions to answer before you scale any AI application, from who owns the result to how you will measure the return.
September 25, 2026
94% Are Trying AI. Only 2% Are Running on It.
Almost every mid-market company is using AI. Only two percent have made it a working part of the business.
September 14, 2026
The number everyone quotes, and the one that matters
Nearly nine in ten organizations report using AI, but the Census Bureau finds closer to one in five when it asks whether it is running in operations. This episode works through what the research shows, why most companies cannot prove their AI did anything, and what closes the gap between the survey figure and reality.
September 10, 2026
The largest number you control before a sale
Two companies. Same revenue, same profit, same customers, same trucks, same crews. One sells for $17.4 million and the other for $12.9 million. This episode covers what makes the difference, how a buyer works it out during diligence without ever asking directly, and how long it takes to close the gap.
September 3, 2026
The $14 Trillion Transfer
Most owners think the exit happens at the end. The real money is made in the thirty six months or more leading up to a sale. This episode covers why exit planning is a strategy rather than a finish line, and what an owner can do about it while there is still time to act.
August 22, 2026
What would happen if you vanished for 90 days?
Two plumbers in the same town with the same revenue, profit, and quality of work, and one sold for three times earnings while the other sold for ten times earnings. This episode walks the real transaction numbers across four industries and covers what buyers pay for and what happens to your money after you have already agreed on a price.
August 20, 2026
The Real Cost of Automation
Why so many local service businesses end up with expensive automation tools that nobody uses, and how to make digital labor decisions with unemotional math. This episode covers fully loaded labor cost, the hidden technology bill, the break even formula, and why a project fails when it starts with dirty data or no measure of success.
More than fifty earlier episodes were published over the previous three years, covering AI and automation for small and mid-sized businesses. You can find the full archive on the show site.
