Want to See a Million in Revenue? Julie Gordon White is Your Woman

The love of the deal and a desire to help other entrepreneurs inspired Julie Gordon White to start her own boutique acquisitions firm and The WELL, a consulting and mentoring business for female entrepreneurs. Both of Julie’s business ventures are aimed at helping small business owners take their business to the next level — and make them appealing to potential buyers.

Here, we chat with her about the secrets to making your business sellable, bringing in more cash and what you can expect from her talk at QuickBooks Connect 2015: “Lessons Learned from Growing a $1M Business and How You Can Too,” all about taking your business past the one million mark.

Tell us a little more about yourself and the businesses you’ve created.

I started my first company in 2004, after spending five years in the hotel industry. Once I started having kids, it was a bit hard to travel the world with little ones in tow. I worked on a lot of things that didn’t pan out until I found a business that I wanted to buy… unfortunately, I was outbid. 

I loved doing the deal, though, so I decided to work for a mergers and acquisitions firm. Eventually, I got back into entrepreneurship and started my own boutique acquisitions firm, BlueKey Business Mergers & Acquisitions. 

Then, I wrote the book on selling your business, Exit! 12 Steps to Sell Your Business For the Price You Deserve.

You’ve also started an awesome company that acts as a resource for female entrepreneurs. What inspired you to start another company while working on your first?

After I wrote my book, I thought “What do I want to be when I grow up… again?” I spent some time in silence really thinking about what I wanted. 

It’s amazing when you actually take a moment to just work on your business idea — really thinking about it instead of “doing” all of the time. That’s where I found the inspiration for The WELL.

When I took the time to really think about it, I realized that my company started to take off only after I joined a group of women who themselves had these awesome million dollar companies. I felt constantly supported and inspired by these women and wanted to mash my own experiences with the benefit and love of a group like that, ultimately helping other women who want to reach ten million dollars in revenue with their businesses. Women don’t often get past $156,000 in revenue, so I wanted to help them take their business to the next level.

The WELL is a source of learning for female entrepreneurs looking to grow their business. We host workshops, trainings and one-on-one coaching sessions to help mentor women who want to grow their business to that million dollar mark — and eventually sell it.

And the book? What made you want to share your secrets?

It’s funny that you say secrets because people in the industry would probably be like “Shh, don’t tell!”

Exit! 12 Steps to Sell Your Business For the Price You Deserve came from a place of wanting small business owners — and especially women — to feel the power and understanding that your journey to selling your business begins the day you start that business. Even though many small business owners may not think about selling their business right away — or ever! — I still want them to understand that they’re building something of value that just might be worth a lot of money to someone else someday.

If you think about building something that is one day sellable and structure it as such, you can enjoy your business that much more. It’s the gold at the end of the entrepreneurial rainbow, after all!

Do you think you’ll ever sell your own business one day?

The WELL is absolutely built with the intention that it could be sold one day — hopefully to another woman entrepreneur who wants to take it even further. Not any time soon, though. I’m loving it too much right now.

For those who aren’t quite ready to sell their business, what do you recommend to small business owners who are looking to increase their cash flow?

Always ask for money before you need it. First of all, you’re always going to need it, so it's best to start asking early.

I also recommend heading to your local bank if you need a business loan. The reason I believe in going to a local bank is because that local connection is key to building trust. If they know you and see your business in action, they’ll feel more comfortable about your ability to pay off that loan. And, make sure you’re taking credit cards!

On top of that, I’ve learned that you need to have a bookkeeper on your team, and that bookkeeper should be using QuickBooks. If you want your business to experience positive cash flow, you’re going to need a really great financial platform. It may seem old school, but it really works.

Tell us a little more about your talk at QuickBooks Connect 2015.

I’m giving a talk with Leslie Barber on “Lessons Learned from Growing a $1M Business and How You Can Too” — something both Leslie and I know quite a bit about!

My part of our talk will dive into how you can create proprietary processes in your business. These documented processes can help you grow a franchise, train people and establish your marketing. When you have these processes in place, then you can share them with potential customers in a way that sets you apart.

I don’t go into this nearly enough, but what I want to convey at QuickBooks Connect — and what I teach the women I work with one-on-one — is how important it is to feel the weight of your success. Really trust your intuition. There are so many strategies and experts out there trying to tell you what to do in order to be successful, but #1 is really getting comfortable doing what feels good to you.

If you aren’t feeling the weight of your success and *really* trusting your intuition as an entrepreneur, you’re just going to hop from thing to thing. You’ll never say no and your time management will get out of whack. Most of the time we already know the answers. We just need to trust that we do.

What are you most looking forward to this year at QuickBooks Connect? What are you hoping to learn from other small business owners?

I am a business book junkie and a business conference junkie. I love to learn, connect with people who might become marketing partners and friends, listen to keynotes, all of it! Everyone you meet at a conference is someone that you’re supposed to meet.

In my own business, I’d really like to get my arms around  YouTube and spend some time learning from people who have used it successfully to expand their reach.

When I think about video, I think “Uhhh too much time!” But I think it could be an asset for my business. I have a lot of great information that’s easy to consume, authentic and in alignment with who I am, I just need to get it up there and be consistent with what I’m sharing!

Let’s help Julie out! 

How do *you* use video to grow your business?

Do you use YouTube to promote your business, create educational videos or just as a great marketing tool? Let us know in the comments below!