Tom Marx is the president of Marx Group Advisors (MGA), a company that provides full-service M&A support for buyers and sellers of middle-market enterprises, specializing in the Automotive and Heavy Duty Aftermarket. The company was originally founded by Tom and his partner Paul Cooperstein.

MGA’s consulting services employ Intelligent Strategy to uncover and increase the value of a client’s company; find or create the ideal buyer or seller; and bring the deal to a winning conclusion.

Author and M&A expert Dick Stieglitz joins me to discuss the world of M&A, how to price a business for sale, the importance of exit strategies in small business, and related items.

John Hayes has worked in the franchise community as a consultant, franchisee and franchisor since 1979. He is the author of several franchise-related books and countless articles that have appeared in media worldwide. Dr. Hayes has served as an advisor to franchisors, franchisees and small business owners internationally. His areas of expertise include management development, marketing, customer service, training, and strategic planning.

Our guest on this edition loves to turn small businesses into big business. Clate Mask is the CEO of Infusionsoft—- the “Inc 500 company” is a leader in marketing automation software for small businesses and is now revolutionizing the way small businesses grow. Clate is a pure entrepreneur through and through…

Our guest on this segment is an expert presenter, writer, consultant and speaker on the topic of franchising. Joel Libava is the “Franchise Expert In Residence” and columnist for the award winning Small Business Trends website, and over at the OPEN FORUM by American Express blog, joining other small business experts like Guy Kawasaki, John Battelle, and Anita Campbell.Joel is also the franchise-expert source for The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, MSNBC.com, Bottom Line Personal and Crain’s.

In my interview with Lanny Goodman, he describes his unique and groundbreaking system for completely changing the relationship of business owners to the operation of their business.

Harry S. Dent says that the stimulus plan is doomed to fail and that by early to mid 2010 we will enter a deeper downturn or “great depression“almost regardless of what the government tries to do.

Jason Zickerman is the President of the Alternative Board, a franchise peer-support network with a presence across the USA. In this segment we talked about the boards work, and how they help the participants with issues they face in their businesses.

I interviewed Harry S Dent just yesterday on The Smallbiz Brain. Dent insists that there is absolutely nothing the US government can do to stimulate our economy out of the current downturn. He says it is occurring naturally and is the result of a unique and dramatic convergence of cycles that can be traced back 40-80 and 500 years back into economic history.

Our guest on this segment of the Smallbiz Brain is an expert in helping people who are over fifty start their own businesses.

Jeff Williams is the CEO and Chief Coach for Bizstarters.com, this resource was selected by the editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine as “The Best Entrepreneurial Web Guide For People Over 50”.
In 2007 he launched the Virtual Incubator Coaches Network to connect experienced 50+ business start-up coaches with 50+ entrepreneurs to help them plan, launch and grow their businesses.
He’s the author of eleven workbooks, guides and DVDs on business start-up, including his newest workbook:“The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide”.
Jeff’s a frequently contributor to Kiplinger’s, BusinessWeek.com, Fortune.com and MSNBC.