What We Learn From Our Fathers: Happy Father's Day from Exit Planning Institute

Happy Father’s Day from Exit Planning Institute. Fathers are full of pearls of wisdom… and more than a few dad jokes.

As we celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, we thought we would share some of the advice our EPI team has learned from their fathers and how that advice can be incorporated into your businesses.    

If It’s Not In Writing, It Didn’t Happen

Exit Planning Institute’s Content Strategist, Colleen Kowalski, says that her dad taught her to document everything early on. She shares, “My dad has a saying that has stuck with me for my entire life: ‘If it’s not in writing, it didn’t happen.’ I have followed that saying in both my personal and professional life, always keeping a record of every conversation or meeting for future reference.” 

In your business, clearly documented processes are crucial for building transferable business value while streamlining operations today. By documenting key processes, operational efficiencies, and systems, the structural capital in your business improves. Structural capital represents the strength of your strategy, systems, processes, capital, and financial structure.

Relentless Execution 

Anyone who has read Walking To Destiny or has taken the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) program has seen the phrase “Relentless Execution” before. This phrase comes from EPI CEO, Christopher Snider. Relentless Execution is the key driver for setting responsibilities, understanding milestones, and achieving significant results. 

Scott Snider, President of EPI, shares that his father Chris is passionate about a good work ethic. He explains, “Something that has stuck with me is two words that Dad used to drill into me: Attitude and Trying. He and my mom were always passionate about us having a good attitude about what we were doing even if we didn’t like it or times got tough. They wanted to ensure that we always tried, put in the effort, and didn’t quit.” 

Christopher Snider, CEO of Exit Planning Institute, shares, "My dad rarely gave me anything even though he financially could. He wanted us to earn and appreciate what we had. So, his rule was if you came up with the first 50% he would match it and come up with the other half – but you had to come up with the first 50%. I would earn my half by cutting the grass, which by the way, took me three days with a push mower, doing other chores around the house, helping out my mother (there were 7 kids in our family), running errands and such. I remember hating that as a kid as I would see other kids getting things that I had to earn."

I got my first job at 14 years old. My dad required I give him 50% of my net pay all the way through college. He said it was to pay my way and for college. I hated that too. But when Denice and I needed to buy our first home, and back then we had no money, my dad wrote me a check for $5,000 for the downpayment. I asked him 'what’s that for?' He said, 'that was the money you had been giving me all those years.' He had been saving it for me. I think it’s a big reason I have such a strong work ethic today. I continued this tradition with my children and now Im doing it with my grandchildren. My dad passed at nearly 98 years old just this past December and I really miss him and those talks. He loved that Scott and I were in business together and he was really proud of what we were accomplishing together."

EPI’s Director of Marketing, Paige Wysocki’s dad also engrained in her the importance of a strong work ethic. Paige shares, “Something that my dad taught me that has impacted me personally and professionally is a strong work ethic. He was my softball coach growing up and there was no such thing as an easy practice. During every practice, we had to work as hard, if not harder, than we would during the game. Every class project I completed, sports team I competed on, club I joined, job I held, etc. had to be met with 110% effort. If I did not perform at my best, he would help me practice until I got it right. He taught me that things in life are not worth doing unless you are willing to show up and give it everything you have.” 

Mending Relationships

As business owners or business professionals, the relationships you have with your business partners, customers, and coworkers can be immense value builders or the cause of contention in your business. 50% of businesses fail because of unintended consequences. We refer to these factors as the 5 Ds. Divorce, Disagreement, Disability, Distress, and Death. 

Divorce and disagreement correlate directly with the strength of a relationship. Jesse Hudson, EPI’s Director of Business Development, shares, “My biological father taught me that it is never too late to mend a broken relationship. The past doesn’t define the future.” By implementing this lesson into a business, disagreements between two business partners can be mitigated.    

You Can’t Fix Yesterday

Conor Wodarczyk, EPI’s Marketing Coordinator, learned the valuable lesson of not dwelling on mistakes from his father. He shares, “My dad taught me in my personal life the motto, ‘you can’t fix yesterday.’ If you made a mistake the day, week, or even month before, don’t dwell on it, learn from it and use that knowledge for the next time you face a challenge. From a professional perspective, you shouldn’t ever view your past hiccups as mistakes, but you should view them as opportunities for growth. Mistakes in a professional path further prepare you for whatever challenges lie ahead of you and make you a more well-seasoned professional.” 

Joe Klauer, a Business Development Manager at EPI, learned to “never sweat the small stuff” from his father. He continues, “A lot will happen in your life and every minor issue is not the end of the world." 

EPI’s Office Assistant, Margo Coniam echoes this sentiment and the importance of learning from your mistakes. She highlights some of the sports analogies that her dad has shared with her. Margo says, “My Dad was very involved in sports growing up, and through his training, he learned that you will win some matches and you will lose some matches, but it is important to show up and try again even if you lost the last match. This attitude he taught me helps me in my day-to-day life because things are sometimes going to go wrong in life, but the important thing is that you get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the game.”  

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Josh Koza, EPI’s Manager of Strategic Relationships, shared that his father helped him to understand the importance of the little things. He says, “My dad is a carpenter by trade. ‘Measure twice, cut once’ is a common phrase in the trade and something he taught me at a young age. This also applies to business and is a lesson I try (and sometimes forget) to implement in my professional communications.”

By putting in the work before you make that cut or the final decision, you will be more prepared for a successful and significant outcome. We share that exit planning is simply good business planning. This planning encourages an owner and their advisory team to constantly be “measuring” and evaluating risks in the business that can be mitigated prior to the “cut” or exit. 

Happy Father’s Day from all of us at EPI!