Blog
Join Us for the 4th Annual Business Owner Forum, Presented by the Exit Planning Institute
Join fellow Southeast Michigan business owners on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at Orchard Lake Country Club for the 4th Annual Business Owner Forum, presented by the Exit Planning Institute. Expect honest, pressure-free conversation about exit planning, a workshop-style keynote from EOS Integrator Kelly Knight, and practical ideas you can put to work right away.
How to Sell a Construction Business: A Real Exit Story
"We did it, and we did it as a team."
Kevin Wolfe sold the construction business he spent two decades building on his own terms. He started years early, got his processes and numbers into shape a buyer could trust, and kept growing right up to closing. Read the eight steps behind his exit.
Fractional CFO vs Bookkeeper vs Controller vs CPA: Who Does Your Business Actually Need?
Fractional CFO, bookkeeper, controller or CPA? A plain-English guide to what each one does, when you need them, and how to spot the gap in your business.
Why Going All In Might Be the Least Risky Decision You Make
Every business owner reaches a fork in the road: growth, succession, or exit. Tiptoeing around the decision feels safer, but it's actually the riskiest move you can make. Here's why going all in beats hedging your bets — and why the cost of waiting is higher than the cost of deciding.
What Does an M&A Advisor Do — And Why You Still Need a Chief Transaction Officer® to Sell Your Business
Why hire Doescher Group if you still need an M&A advisor? Because one runs the sale, and the other makes sure you're ready when it starts.
Why Your Business Adviser Should Speak 'Entrepreneur' (Not Just Finance)
Professional advisers are built to minimize risk. Entrepreneurs are wired to embrace it. Craig unpacks why that mismatch quietly sabotages so many advisory relationships — and what it looks like when you finally find someone who can translate between both worlds.
Talk Like a CFO
Financial jargon can make you feel like a stranger in your own company. This free guide breaks down the terms your CFO uses every day — cash, profit margins, working capital, and more — so you can walk into finance conversations with confidence, not dread.
What does it mean to be FieldReady™?
Growing or selling a business isn't just the next step, it's an entirely different game. Discover what it means to become FieldReady™, why investors evaluate your business differently than entrepreneurs do, and how the FieldReady™ Assessment and Scorecard can help you prepare for your next opportunity.
When it Comes To Selling Your Business, Your Industry Doesn’t Matter As Much As Your Think
Many business owners believe they need an adviser who specializes in their exact industry. While industry knowledge has its place, it's rarely the factor that creates the biggest financial outcome. Learn why expertise in finance, transactions, and investor expectations often matters far more than speaking your industry's language.
The Importance of Anti-Lessons: Why Learning What Not to Do is Sometimes More Powerful Than Learning What to Do
The entrepreneurial journey is one of trial-and-error. If you’re like me and you studied business at a university, it takes about one day on-the-job in the “real world” before you realize that a lot of what you learned doesn't apply to the day-to-day life of most self-made business owners.
I don’t want to take away from my undergraduate business education. I certainly learned a lot of the technical building blocks, accounting, financing, marketing, calculus, etc. But I really think it was in the workplace where I learned many of the most important lessons for business, and I think most business owners probably feel the same.
In this post, I want to talk about a certain kind of lesson that a lot of us find most impactful: the anti-lesson.
What Drives Us
What really drives business owners to keep going through risk, setbacks, and high stakes decisions? In this post, Craig shares three anonymized client stories that highlight the grit, perseverance, and ambition behind remarkable business journeys.
Your Hidden Competitive Advantage: Why Trade Secrets Are Often More Valuable Than Patents
Most business owners think intellectual property means patents, trademarks, and copyrights. In reality, the most valuable IP in many small businesses is often hidden in plain sight: your trade secrets, processes, know how, and the unique way you deliver results.
Defenders of Legacy: The Story Behind The Doescher Group Logo
Every brand has a story. In this post, Craig Doescher shares the meaning behind the Doescher Group logo and how its shield, colors, and Narnia inspired design came to reflect the work of protecting legacy and guiding business owners through unfamiliar terrain.
The Importance of Story Consistency
We had the term sheet. The finish line was in sight. Then a few minutes of casual, off-script conversation turned a confident lender into a hard “no.” This post breaks down the investor mindset—what bankers and buyers actually hear, why entrepreneurs accidentally trigger red flags, and how having a bilingual adviser at the table can keep your deal from getting lost in translation.
A Little Tough Love From Your Exit Adviser: How We Help Business Owners Avoid Paralysis by Analysis When Selling Their Company
If you’re selling your company, more information isn’t always better. One internet search can create a dozen conflicting opinions, and a whole lot of indecision as a result. Here’s how we educate owners without overwhelming them, narrow the field to a few great options, and help you make a decision you’ll be proud of.
How Should You Pay Professional Adviser Fees? Hourly, Project-Based, or Milestone-Based?
Hiring outside expertise can be one of the highest-ROI moves you make, or a frustrating expense. Here’s how to evaluate hourly, retainer, fixed-fee, and success-fee structures so incentives stay aligned and you pay for progress.
Instead of Hating Private Equity, Learn from Them
Private equity gets blamed for a lot. Sometimes that’s fair. But if you’re not selling yet—and you’re trying to grow—lower middle market PE has a practical playbook worth borrowing.
Accidental Entrepreneurs: The Hidden Challenge of Healthcare Ownership
If you’re a healthcare professional who owns your own practice, you’ve probably realized that serving patients is only part of the job — the other part is navigating insurance, compliance, and running a business you were never formally trained to manage. Over time, the weight of being both practitioner and owner can wear you down. Yet healthcare remains one of the strongest, most resilient sectors in our economy — which means your practice could hold more transferable value than you think. In this article, we unpack how to prepare for succession, elevate practice value, and exit on your own terms.
The Next Chapter for Doescher Group: Becoming a Family Business
From a one-man band to a full team, Doescher Group continues to grow. With Doescher Advisors joining us, we now offer executive coaching alongside our Evolve and Exit services to better serve self-made business owners.
Lessons From My Kids’ Lemonade Stand
What can a kid-run lemonade stand teach us about running a successful business? From finding customers to building a brand, making smart investments, and scaling wisely, these lighthearted lessons from my daughters’ summer stand might surprise you with their real-world relevance.