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So, you’re cruising along, growing your company at a nice clip, and an email pops in your inbox with a vague subject line saying “Potential Interest.” Normally, you’d immediately delete the email but out of curiosity you open it and read the contents. It’s from a corporate development person at a potential acquirer asking to set up a conference call. With a big smile on your face, you quickly reply back saying that sounds great and proposing a few times to talk.

The initial call goes well. Now, there’s a request to come on site for a few hours and talk more. After the first in-person meeting, things start to get serious. A request is made to visit the exec team of the potential acquirers at their headquarters and, if it goes well, a formal acquisition offer will be issued.

As an entrepreneur, especially an entrepreneur that hasn’t gone through an exit, this process is filled with incredible anxiety. When a potential acquirer comes knocking, most entrepreneurs start seeing dollar signs in their eyes. It’s human nature to dream about all the different scenarios, possibilities, and, of course, valuation. The challenge is that you still have a business to run and there aren’t many people you can talk about it with. More anxiety.

Here are a few recommendations when you run into the acquisition interest anxiety zone:

• Remember that most acquisition encounters don’t turn into anything
• Run your business as if a deal isn’t going to happen
• Never go out and buy anything until after the deal has been signed, and even then wait a few months to let things settle in (I heard of a guy going out and buying a Bentley the day before he was to sign the closing documents the afternoon of September 11, 2001, and the deal fell through)
• Find something to distract you during your personal time so that you don’t keep replaying everything over and over in your head (e.g. go on more walks, do yard work, etc)
• Seek out a trusted advisor or peer group and use them as a sounding board
• Write out everything you can think of related to deal terms, cash, stock, etc at the earliest signs of acquisition interest, so that when things get more emotional and heated, you’ve already grounded yourself when you had a clear head (this is especially important to do with your cofounder)

The acquisition dance is fraught with anxiety. Make sure you have a peer group like EO or YPO to be a sounding board and continue growing your business as if a deal wasn’t going to happen.

What else? What are some other thoughts around entrepreneur acquisition interest anxiety?

Recently I was talking to an entrepreneur about a conference he’d attended in Chicago. After hearing some of the event details I asked about his biggest takeaway. He said that one of the speakers had a “wouldn’t it be cool if…” program at his startup where he’d solicit ideas from team members as well as present his own on a weekly basis at their all hands meeting. Every week, five “wouldn’t it be cool if…” ideas had to be presented.

Sure, anyone can ask for ideas, but the key for “wouldn’t it be cool if…” is to ingrain trying new things into the core of the culture. Most companies are risk averse, and as the business grows and scales, risk aversion grows as well. Every day team members come up with new ideas to change and improve things, but without the right ethos, many ideas are never shared. Incorporate a “wouldn’t it be cool if…” program and increase idea sharing.

What else? What are your thoughts on using the phrase “wouldn’t it be cool if…” more frequently as a preface to sharing ideas?

One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is finding their focus. Entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are full of ideas and energy, which works well to get things going, but can be a liability as the organization grows.

Two weeks ago I was talking to an entrepreneur that had built a small business in a hot market but didn’t have the kind of growth that would be expected based on the success of several competitors. Tactfully, I asked him about this and he immediately chalked it up to trying to be all things to all people. Put more simply, he didn’t find his focus.

We’ve all read stories of entrepreneur CEOs asked or pushed aside to be replaced by a professional CEO. Typically, if they don’t leave their company, they often become head of their area of expertise e.g. technical, marketing, etc. This act of going from CEO to department leader is a focus forcing function.

The next time you are considering a new idea for your business, ask if it is increasing or decreasing focus. Activities increasing focus should happen with much great frequency than activities decreasing focus.

What else? What are your thoughts on entrepreneurs finding their focus?

Every week I have the opportunity to talk to entrepreneurs and hear the good, and the bad, about their business. Naturally, entrepreneurs are an optimistic bunch, so it’s important to peel back the layers and get a deeper understanding of reality. Over the past month, I’ve seen several signs the economy is picking up:

• Entrepreneurs with non-tech businesses are reporting solid growth and many are on pace for their best year ever
• Multiple tech entrepreneurs have recently told me their business is at break-even or near break-even, providing more options for the future, like growing the company without more/any outside capital
• Two entrepreneurs in the past week told me they are tired of being on cruise control with their business and are ready to put more resources into growth
• On my 1.6 mile drive to ATV, there are five houses under contract and four new ones being constructed from the ground up

This is a small sample size but things are picking up nicely. I’m optimistic for more growth on the horizon.

What else? Have you seen signs the economy is picking up?

Following up on the Notes from John Paul DeJoria, there was an area that I wanted to explore further. DeJoria talks about his personal rhythm, including taking a solo retreat each year to the mountains for a couple days to ask questions like what am I doing and what do I want to be doing. Personally, I don’t take a solo retreat but I think it’s a great idea.

There are a number of things I do for my own rhythm:

• No iPhone or laptop in the morning for the first 30 minutes
• No more than one breakfast meeting and one evening meeting per week
• Weekly exercise of at least 90 minutes
• Weekly date night with my wife
• Weekly adventure with only my kids
• No more than one week of business travel per quarter
• Quarterly week-long out-of-town family vacation
• Annual review of personal, family, and professional goals

I’ve talked many times about developing a rhythm in business and I think it’s even more important to develop a rhythm for life.

What else? What are some other items that are part of your own rhythm for life?

This month’s Inc. magazine has a fascinating “The Way I Work” with John Paul DeJoria. DeJoria is the founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, Patrón Spirits, and several other companies. Forbes listed his net worth at $4 billion.

Here are a few notes from the John Paul DeJoria interview:

• Doesn’t use email or a computer (everything done via fax, phone, and in person)
• Management philosophy: pay attention to the vital few and ignore the trivial many (I love that line)
• Every product gets reviewed by him personally, even flea and tick shampoo
• Personal chef makes lunch for him daily
• Every employee at Paul Mitchell and Patrón gets free lunch daily because he believes you have to treat your people well
• Motto: success unshared is a failure
• Takes a personal retreat annually and asks the questions what did I do last year, who is in my life, what am I doing, and what do I want to do

My favorite line, as mentioned above, is the one about paying attention to the vital few and ignoring the trivial many. I don’t know too much about John Paul DeJoria but I found the interview fascinating.

What else? What are some of your thoughts on his approach to life?