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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Politics might not be your favorite topic, but it’s one your business can’t afford to ignore. From shifting subsidies to evolving regulations, political forces can significantly impact your company’s value and stability. In this blog post, we explore how to recognize political vulnerabilities in your business model, avoid overreliance on temporary programs, and ask the right questions to safeguard your future.

Selling your business is one of the most important negotiations of your life—and it’s easy to lose control if you’re not careful. In this post, we unpack the mental traps sellers fall into, the pressure to become passive, and the single mindset shift that can keep you in the driver’s seat. You only get one shot—don’t give the buyer the upper hand.

International trade might seem like a distant concept, but its effects are closer to home than you think. In the US or North America, there are simply many items that cannot be acquired locally. Our interdependence is here to stay. Even if you yourself don’t import or export something, your suppliers or clients probably do, and this can have a big impact on your bottom line.

Imagine you wake up and realize you’ve outgrown your house. It was great, but now it’s too small, or too big, or requires too much maintenance. You’re ready for broader vistas and new adventures. It’s time! Today is the day! 

Do you call the first realtor whose number you see on a park bench, sign a contract immediately, and hope for the best? 

Of course not! You do your research.

Business partnerships, like any relationship, can evolve and change over time. What started as a promising collaboration may face challenges as circumstances shift and goals diverge.

It's essential to have a clear plan in place for navigating these potential conflicts. A well-crafted buy-sell agreement can provide a framework for addressing disagreements and ensuring a smooth exit if necessary.

Do you ever feel like a hamster frantically running around a cage? You're doing all kinds of tasks from sunup to sundown, but at the end of the day, you feel like you’ve made absolutely zero progress. Are you Bill Murray living in Groundhog Day? Is it a new day, but the same old problems? If this sounds like your daily reality, this article is for you. While it may sound counterintuitive, I’ve found that the best way to speed up in life is to first slow down.

Being a business owner is an intense and unique experience, filled with both triumphs and challenges. As you consider exiting your business, it’s crucial to address the emotional side of this transition. Discover strategies for managing your feelings, envisioning your future, and finding support during this significant life change.

As a Baby Boomer business owner, you suddenly find yourself facing decisions that once seemed impossibly far down the road. You probably never sat down and proactively planned your own exit from the company you worked so hard to create. Too many baby boomer business owners are losing out on millions in potential exit proceeds from being well prepared to sell.