The First Step Starts With Us
We can help you decide what’s next for you. And your company.
Leave A Legacy
SELLING YOUR BUSINESS
Selling your business isn’t easy. We know how hard you’ve worked, how much of your life you’ve invested in it. Now you’re thinking about options and what’s next. There’s excitement, stress and maybe even some guilt. We get it. We can help. It starts with a relationship built on trust, integrity and experience.
Make An Impact
JOIN OUR TEAM
Running a business is challenging. If you’ve always wanted to lead a company, why not earn the opportunity to lead one of ours? We’re always looking for dedicated, passionate people who believe they have what it takes.
What Our People Say
There was so much trust and confidence in dealing with Chenmark. Selling to them was the right decision for me.
Rarely in business do you get an opportunity to have such an impact with each and every project.
For any owner who’s looking to sell but wants to keep their dream alive while ensuring the well-being of their staff, talk to Chenmark.
Chenmark is a family business and we were a family business, so for us it was a great fit.
Weekly Thoughts
Missionaries vs. Mercenaries v2
This past week, one of our companies had a key operational person quit with little notice in the heat of the busy season. In small business, these types of things happen and can have a tangible impact on the company and cause a management fire drill.
Fight Like Flike
We recently joked that some members of our team only read books with titles like “How To Win and Lead People…from a Military Perspective…but for Business”. Kidding aside, to follow up on last week’s military focus, we recently listened to a TB12 Keep Going podcast with former Special Forces Green Beret Kevin Flike. For those unfamiliar, his story of overcoming challenge is inspiring and worth digging into.
Sugar Cookies
We recently took some time to re-read Admiral William McRaven’s 2017 Best-Seller, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change your Life… And Maybe the World. An easy read, the book goes into more detail on the themes outlined in McRaven’s iconic 2014 University of Texas at Austin Commencement Address.
Great News
A little over a year ago, we started listening to My First Million, a podcast hosted by entrepreneurs Shaan Puri and Sam Parr. For those unfamiliar, the podcast explores business ventures – successful and not so successful – of all varieties in a candid and understandable demeanor.
The Average Temperature
Earlier this year, we reposted an article we wrote in 2016 about the origins of averages. Spoiler alert: averages are best used with caution, and one can still drown in a pool of water that is, on average, six inches deep. Getting comfortable with deviations from the mean is where danger—and opportunity—lie, a reality we believe should be acknowledged accordingly.
Attacking Weaknesses
Often in small businesses, the quality of systems, processes, and even assets can vary greatly. Such a spread can make it difficult to determine how to allocate time and energy most effectively. We were reminded of this challenge when we recently read a Seth Godin article that reinforced our perspective.
Skills Training
As mentioned in previous posts, we aim to help small businesses create sustainable processes by focusing on being “clock-builders” not “time-tellers.” For us, a crucial aspect of creating a lasting institution is the continuous education of our workforce regarding our particular approach to business.
Riding the Bench
We are keen students of long-term compounders and are fans of the greats—Berkshire, Constellation, Markel, and Danaher, among others. We take inspiration from these incredible companies, many of whom have routinely compounded capital above 20% for decades.
The Sound of Silence
We recently learned that Ruth Bader Ginsberg was known for her awkward pauses (to be fair, probably not awkward for her, just awkward for her counter-parties.) From a 2013 The New Yorker article: “During conversations, she is given to taking lengthy pauses. This can be unnerving, especially at the Supreme Court, where silence only amplifies the sound of ticking clocks.
Snakes!!
Until last week, we never spent much time thinking about snakes other than how they got on a plane with Samuel L. Jackson. Last week, however, we listened to a 99 percent invisible podcast about snakes that blew our minds. Take, for instance, the way the majority of antivenom is made.