25-07-2025
Profits, Revenues, Exit Prices … That's All We Ever Think About
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If we are obsessed with these numbers, let's build our strategy—and our advisors—around them.
As the final quarter of the year approaches, entrepreneurs across the country find themselves piling all of their most important goals into the next calendar year.
I've watched this pattern emerge like clockwork. Around September or October, business owners begin to make their mental wishlists for the year ahead. Without fail, the goals tend to cluster around three familiar metrics: Profits, Revenues, and Exit Prices. At Birthing of Giants, we refer to these as your P.R.E.P. goals (that's 'P' for 'Profits,' 'R' for 'Revenues' and 'EP' for 'Exit Prices' — these are the foundational metrics that drive nearly every long-term vision.
We hear it all the time. 'Next year, I want to boost profits by 13% and grow revenues by 11%.' Or, 'I want to get the business ready for exit — I need a 33% increase in valuation by this time next year.'These are great targets. But when we follow up with a simple question — 'How do you plan to do it?' — the conversation starts to get a little fuzzy.
Here's the truth: You do know more about your business than anyone else. But that knowledge is often locked away in day-to-day routines, half-formed thoughts, and isolated decisions. There's gold buried in those mental ramblings — the challenge is finding it.
At Birthing of Giants, we call it a P.R.E.P. talk. It's not a pitch deck or a five-year forecast. It's a living, breathing process. Think of it as a strategic jam session with the mentors, peers, and advisors you trust most. It's more jazz than classical music — improvisational, iterative, and fueled by real-time feedback.
The key is dialogue. Open, honest, and vulnerable dialogue. Because here's the catch: many business owners are so used to keeping their own counsel that they forget how powerful it can be to share their ideas before they're fully baked.
So, ask yourself: How's your P.R.E.P. talk going right now? Who have you shared it with? Do you value outside input?
If your answer is 'no one' or 'not really,' that's a missed opportunity.
Research consistently shows that the most successful entrepreneurs maintain a trusted circle of about five advisors or peers they rely on for regular, candid advice. These people don't just cheer you on. They challenge you. They help you refine your thinking, point out blind spots, and push you to think differently.
And diversity matters. The more varied their backgrounds — across industries, life stages, and mindsets — the more valuable the perspective. But relationships like this don't materialize overnight.
The best advice networks are built on two key ingredients: generosity and trust.
Start by helping your advisors succeed in their own goals. Show up for them. Be generous with your time and experience. Over time, that goodwill earns you something invaluable: their honest attention.
Next, share your real numbers. Not just topline revenue goals, but margins, bottlenecks, staffing challenges, customer churn — all of it.
Eric Krucke, a Birthing of Giants faculty member and one of Warren Buffett's former CFO's says, 'we called it 'garbage in, garbage out.' At Berkshire Hathaway planning meetings, you were expected to know everything about your company, your numbers, your competitors, your strengths and weaknesses and hold nothing back in order to get the best strategic direction'
A P.R.E.P. talk doesn't show up fully formed on a whiteboard. It evolves through conversation. You'll explain it clumsily the first time. Someone will poke a hole in your logic. You'll get defensive. Then you'll sit with their comment, rethink your assumptions, and come back stronger.
That's the process. That's the point.
Think of your P.R.E.P. talk not as a fixed document, but as grist for a 'One Year From Today' roadmap — a clear, adaptable vision that you revisit and refine with each conversation.
Here's how to get started:
If you're like most entrepreneurs, you're already thinking about your business constantly — in the shower, on your commute, late at night. But clarity doesn't come from thinking alone. It comes from engaging with others who challenge your vision.
Your profits, revenues, and exit price goals for the year ahead are well within reach. But the path to achieving them isn't solo. It's social, it's strategic, and it starts with the people you trust.
This fall, don't just make a wish. Build a network. Start the conversation. And let your P.R.E.P. talk become the start of the best year your business has ever had.
