399 - A Tony Robbins Decision Process Every Acquisition Mentee Should Use

0:00Bruce Whipple:Today I want to talk about decision making. Not abstract decision making. Not motivational fluff. I mean the kind of decision making that matters when you're trying to acquire a business. Should you contact the seller again? Should you submit the LOI? Should you walk away? Should you keep pursuing the industry you choose? should you bring in board member, accountant, attorney, or financing source to a call. These are not casual decisions. These are decisions that can change the direction of your life. And one of the worst things you can do is make those decisions when everything is bouncing around inside your head.

0:44Bruce Whipple:I recently saw Tony Robbins explain the six-step process he uses for decision-making. I want to give him full credit for the framework. He calls it OOCEMR. That stands for Outcome, Options, Consequences, Evaluate, Mitigate, Resolve. It's simple, but simple does not mean it's easy, as I have said many times. In fact, the power of this framework is that it forces you to slow down, get the decision out of your head, and look at it clearly. Let's go through it in some context with respect to acquiring a business. The first step is outcome. What do you actually want? Not what are you afraid of, not what problems are you trying to avoid, not what emotion is loud as today.

1:40Bruce Whipple:What do you want? Do you want to acquire one good business to replace your income? Do you want to build a portfolio? Do you want a seller finance transaction? Do you want a business with recurring revenue? Do you want a business where the seller will stay involved for the transition? Do you want a business that fits your skills, your board, your financing structure, and your long term? And why? You have to write this down. Do not do it in your head. Your head is where confusion, fear, excitement, fantasy, and avoidance all mix together. Paper forces clarity. Paper, what a thought in our digital world.

2:30Bruce Whipple:And once you write down the outcomes, put them in order. What matters most? For one mentee, seller financing may be the number one priority. For another, industry fit may be number one. For another, cash flow stability may matter more than anything else. But you cannot make a good decision if you have not ranked what matters. The second step is options. This is where many people fail. They tell themselves, I have no choice. That is usually not true. You may not like all your options, but that does not mean that you do not have options. If a seller says no to seller financing, your options may include follow up later.

3:17Bruce Whipple:Ask whether they would consider partial seller financing. Bring in a bank for part of the structure. Modify the price. Modify the down payment. Ask what terms would make them comfortable. That is a super important question. Walk away and pursue better prospects. Those are options. When you tell yourself there is only one option, you create stress. When you write down the actual options, your brain starts to work again. The third step is consequences. For each option, what is the upside and what is the downside? If you submit an LOI, what could go right? What could go wrong? If you walk away, again, what could go right?

4:05Bruce Whipple:What could go wrong? If you keep following up with the seller, what is the possible benefit? But what is the possible cost? This step matters because people tend to over-focus on one side. Optimists see only the upside. Fearful people see only the downside. Discipline acquirers evaluate and look at both. The fourth step is evaluate. This is where you ask, what is the probability of those consequences? This really is critical. A consequence may be emotionally terrifying, but statistically unlikely. For instance, what if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow morning? Probably not going to happen. Absolutely the end of civilization if it did.

4:58Bruce Whipple:So emotionally terrifying, yes. Statistically unlikely, also yes. Or possible upsides may sound wonderful but have no chance of happening. You cannot let extreme outcomes control your thinking unless you also evaluate how likely they are to occur. For example, a mentee may say, if I call the seller, I might sound foolish, maybe. But what is the real probability that one imperfect call destroys your acquisition career? In reality, extremely low. On the other hand, what's the probability that not making calls can lead to no deals? Extremely high. That is the kind of evaluation that changes behavior.

5:49The fifth step is mitigate. This is where the framework becomes very practical. You ask, how can I reduce the downside? If you are nervous about calling the seller, mitigate the risk by writing a short call outline. If you are unsure about financials, mitigate the risk by involving your CFO or your accountant or other board member. If the seller wants a high valuation, mitigate the risk by using seller financing. Earnouts, which I'm not a fan of actually. In reality, usually they end up in litigation, but some can. had, performance conditions, or a longer transition. This morning on a VIP mastermind call, I had a mentee that said he completed a deal and the seller wanted a certain number.

6:42Bruce Whipple:He couldn't get to that number, but when he provided seller finance as an option, he said, if you take the interest you're going to earn, as opposed to the bank earning it, add it to my selling price proposition, you get to your number. And the seller said, hmm, okay, yes. If the seller is unfamiliar, mitigate the risk by adding an industry expert to your board. This is where creativity starts. But creativity usually does not show up when your head is flooded with fear. It shows up when the facts are written in front of you. The sixth step is resolve. Make the decision. This is where too many people hide.

7:29Bruce Whipple:They analyze forever. They research forever. They ask for more options and opinions forever. They confuse motion with progress. At some point, you must resolve. That does not mean you need to be reckless. It means decide based on the best information available after you have clarified the outcome, listed your options, considered the consequences, evaluated probability, and mitigated the downside. That is how serious business acquisition mentees make decisions. They do not make decisions based only on excitement. They do not make decisions based on fear. They do not make decisions based on what is bouncing around in their head at 2 o 'clock in the morning.

8:18Bruce Whipple:They write it down. They work the process. Then they act. So here is your assignment for the week. Take one acquisition decision you're facing right now. Use Tony Robbins' six-step OOCEMR framework. And it looks like this. Outcome, what do I want? Options, what choices do I have? Consequences, what are the upsides and downsides? Evaluate, what is the probability of each consequence, each one? Mitigate, how can I reduce the downside? And then resolve, what decision will I make and what action will I take? And remember this, a decision does not become real until it produces action. If the decision does not lead to a call, an email, a letter, a meeting, an LOI, a follow-up, or a clear walkaway, then it is not really a decision.

9:19Bruce Whipple:It was just thinking. And thinking alone does not acquire businesses. Action does. Really powerful process. Thank you to Tony Robbins. And take advantage of this and do that last exercise this week. and then let me know how it worked for you. Send me an email, bruce at brucewhipple.com. I get those personally and I will read it.