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• Do you know what your business is really worth, beyond what’s on paper?
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• Are your brand, customers, and systems working as valuable assets? Or are they being overlooked?
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• When it comes time to sell, will you be negotiating from strength or surprise?
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If you’re thinking of an exit and you’ve never valued your intellectual property or brand, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Strategic Mentor, John Downes explores what underpins a solid strategic plan and implementation of that plan as he speaks with valuation expert Fiona Hansen about how CEOs can uncover the real worth of their intangible asset: brand, customers, and systems. Fiona explains how these unseen drivers of value can make or break a negotiation and why smart CEOs treat IP valuation as an ongoing discipline, not a last-minute exercise.

 What You’ll Learn:

== Why systems, customer bases, and brand are often undervalued assets.

== The core valuation methods every CEO should understand.

== How to calculate customer lifetime value and reduce valuation risk.

== Why your brand can never be worth more than your business.

== The critical steps to prepare your business for exit.

 Highlights

00:00 Why Valuing Intellectual Property Matters

01:09 Case Study – How a Mobile Betting Company Valued Its IP

05:04 The Three Core Valuation Methods Explained

12:34 How to Value a Customer Base

15:21 Brand Value and the Louis Vuitton Example

21:46 Market Valuation vs Traditional Techniques

27:30 Preparing Your Business for Exit

32:56 The #CriticalFewActions™ for Senior Leaders

The #CriticalFewActions™ You Can Do Today:

When I work with successful business leaders as a Strategic Mentor, exploring what underpins a solid strategic plan and implementation of that plan, I often find they’re focused on profit and revenue but overlook the assets that create them. Most CEOs underestimate how much systems, customer data, and brand equity contribute to overall enterprise value. Here are the three key insights I took from the conversation:

1 – Systems as Assets.  

The first insight is about valuing your systems.

Problem: Many treat systems as cost centres, not core value drivers.

So, what can you do?

• Identify the systems that enable sales and efficiency.
• Estimate how much revenue depends on each—this defines your asset value.
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2 – Customer Value

The second insight is about customer bases.

Problem: CEOs see databases, not long-term revenue streams.

So, what can you do?

• Measure churn and retention over several years.
• Segment customers to calculate lifetime value (CLV).
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3 – Brand and Profit

The third insight is about brand.

Problem: Awareness alone doesn’t equal brand value. It must link to profit.

So, what can you do?

• Identify how your brand supports pricing power or loyalty.
• Use industry royalty benchmarks to quantify brand worth.
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If you found this conversation valuable, please Subscribe / Follow, leave a comment, and share this episode with your peer business leaders. Your support helps us reach more CEOs who want to improve organisation performance and value.

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Sponsor: The CEO Masterclass in Strategic Planning and Implementation

Are you a business owner or CEO striving to elevate your business to new heights? But right now… you’re not hitting the targets or objectives your business needs to achieve. Or maybe you’ve hit a roadblock you can’t move past, a major challenge with no clear solution, and there’s no one in your world you can talk to about it.

This isn’t another generic leadership course. It’s a highly focused, small-group programme where you’ll work alongside your peers, on your business, break through barriers, and implement real-world strategies; not just to solve the problems holding your business back, but to accelerate your growth faster than you thought possible.

Find out more here: https://criticalfewactionspodcast.com.au/Fiona1Hansen1SP

 Most CEOs think valuation is something you do when selling. Fiona’s message is clear: understanding your intellectual property value early gives you leverage, clarity, and confidence. Knowing what your business is truly worth (brand, customers, and systems) could be the most profitable insight you ever act on.

 #CriticalFewActions #CEOMasterclass

#BusinessValuation #BrandValue #Leadership #CustomerStrategy #Growth #ExitPlanning #IntellectualProperty #StrategicPlanning