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Seminars Available
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Seminar: How to Buy a Business, July 21, 2011 at IKEA in Canton, MI Registration is through IKEA.com, go to the events page.
Free Seminars at your location:
HOW TO BUY, FINANCE, AND PROTECT A BUSINESS
aka... Everything you wanted to know about starting, buying a business and were afraid to ask...
During this one-hour presentation, you will learn:
How do I buy a business?
What do I look for in a business?
How do I value a business?
How much does it cost?
What can I afford?
How can I finance it?
How can I protect my personal assets?
Q & A
This is a not for profit seminar we provide to groups of 20 or more. Contact Michelle@perryrueben.com for more information.
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Ambassador Award
6-29-06 Michelle Webster, Sr. Business Consultant with The Perry Rueben Company, LLC. was presented with the Ambassador Award from Young Detroit Builders for being an outstanding business model for youths 18-25 years old, and the YDB non-profit organization empowering all to the next level.
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May 20, 2010
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Michelle Webster has been through so many acquisitions, takeovers and organizational shakeups that she is ideally suited to help businesses work through their problems.
Webster does just that as a paid consultant in the business she established in 1986, Perry Rueben LLC (named after her two grandfathers), and as chair of Ann Arbor SCORE, a volunteer group partnered with the U.S. Small Business Administration that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses with free advice and planning.
As if her work with Perry Rueben and SCORE wasn’t enough, Webster is also pursuing another opportunity. Business Brokerage and Finance in Plymouth is expanding into Ann Arbor, and Webster will be heading the Ann Arbor office, as soon as she can locate some reasonably priced office space.
[ NEED A JOB? Get connected with AnnArbor.com’s Job Connection. Search Now! ]
Webster worked her way up through the ranks of several companies, all the while taking college classes, moonlighting at second jobs and raising four kids as a single mother. She picked up skills in accounting and human resources along the way, and at one company, she managed to secure an executive position because her interviewers were impressed that she wrote she was “an old dog willing to learn new tricks” at the top of a resume.
“I know a little about a lot of different industries,” she said. “And 95 percent of what businesses do is the same: They all have to deal with sales, marketing, accounting, employees and competitors.”
Throughout all those changes, Webster said her consulting business, Perry Rueben, was her fallback plan. Whenever she got laid off or experienced a slow period, the consulting business was there for her.
“I never put my eggs in one basket,” she said. “I always had a Plan B. And sometimes, I had to keep going down the list all the way to Plan Z.”
Through Perry Rueben, Webster provides services to already established businesses that have run into difficulties and newly established ones that need a little help, from writing business plans to formalizing job descriptions.
For many years, when someone couldn’t afford to hire Webster as a paid consultant through Perry Rueben, she would refer that person to Ann Arbor SCORE.
Eventually, a friend said, “Michelle, you really ought to join SCORE since you keep referring people there all the time.”
She joined as a “program ambassador,” and in 2008 she became chapter chair.
Since becoming chair, Webster has grown the Ann Arbor chapter from 20 counselors in 2008 to nearly 50 today. She also oversaw the move last fall from offices inside the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce to the campus of Cleary University on Plymouth Road.
Additionally, under her direction, the organization has expanded beyond Ann Arbor. There’s an outreach center in Canton and a regular SCORE program at the Chelsea Library as well as plans for another outreach center in Fenton.
SCORE counselors help individuals thinking of going into business for themselves with business plans and locating sources of funding. They also provide ongoing support to established small businesses.
Webster said that business plans are very important, but many entrepreneurs are resistant to writing them down, saying all the details are in their head.
“But if it’s still just in your head, you haven’t made a commitment to yourself on paper yet,” Webster said.
She said that on occasion, potential entrepreneurs come in with an idea, but after they see the mountains of work necessary to get a small business off the ground, they decide it isn’t worth the bother.
“But, they may leave as a much better employee, now that they know what the business owner they work for has to deal with,” she said.
Background
Age: Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cleary University, associate’s degree in business management and certificate in business sales from Washtenaw Community College. Also a licensed real estate agent.
Family: Four adult children, two of whom save people’s businesses, two who help save people’s lives, four granddaughters and one grandchild on the way.
Residence: Ann Arbor since ‘95, born a Sparty.
Business Insights
Best business decision: Starting The Perry Rueben Company LLC in 1986 — it’s always been there for me.
Worst business decision: Not knowing what I didn’t know. Not being more of a risk taker. You know it took Bill Gates over 150 attempts (approx.) in front of investors before one believed in him. It took Thomas Edison over 10,000 attempts to get the light bulb working.
Best way to keep a competitive edge: Knowledge is power. Knowing the resources that can help others do what they need to or want to do. In business, know your competition better than they know themselves.
Personal hero: I’ve a lot of people that I admire their strength and courage. There are many people who have helped me become the person I am today. It takes a village, a team of people to make great things happen. It only takes one person to empower someone to take his or her life to the next level. Sometimes it only takes a small thing, like a smile or a hug, or opening a door to change a life for the better, or get through a rough spot in life.
How do you motivate people? Through sharing my knowledge and empowering others to see the great things about themselves. Help them find within themselves just how high a mountain they can climb or find the path around it. I do a heck of a lot of brainstorming with people until something clicks for them to get to that “aha!” moment. Then they're off and running doing something wonderful, with direction, focus and resources.
What advice would you give to yourself in college? One more class, one more class, keep going, you can do it. I was the first in my family to obtain a degree. I was on a mission, and I never gave up. It took 17 years for me to get my associate’s while raising four children and having full-time jobs plus.
Word that best describes you: Business. I eat, drink and sleep business. When you help create businesses, you help create a means for people to eat, to feed themselves and others. When I help people buy or sell a business it accomplishes the same goal. Hmmm … that may explain why I’m single.
First website you check in the morning: www.perryrueben.com. It reminds me what I do, and why I do it.
Confessions
What keeps you up at night? Preparing for speaking engagements.
Pet peeve: Prosperous business people who are greedy, not giving back to their community in some way either virtue their time or money or knowledge.
Guilty pleasure: Laying out on my boat whilst pretending I’m fishing.
First job: Ironing, 10 cents per hour; baby-sitting, 50 cents per hour; and cleaning my English teacher’s home $5 for four hours' labor after walking to her home (always a multiple task-oriented entrepreneur).
First choice for a new career: Philanthropist
Treasures
Favorite cause: Ann Arbor SCORE, which provides free business counseling to anyone and any business, and Young Detroit Builders, which helps 18- to 25-year-olds to get their high school degree, prepares them for the working world and teaches them skills to use throughout their lives.
Favorite hobby: Gardening, working with wood, fishing and have recently started a few painting projects.
Favorite restaurant: The Chop House in Ann Arbor or The Fish Pot in the Turks and Caicos.
LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Two of three.
Typical Saturday: Never have had one, although it’s on my to do list.
What team do you root for? Football: U of M, MSU and Notre Dame only because I like their uniforms. Baseball: Tigers. Basketball: Pistons, Hockey: Red Wings.
Wheels: In my fantasy, the first all-wheel drive Porsche or a motorcycle. In reality, I drive a small truck (and I also have a boat).
Who would play you in a movie? Me ... my life, what a ride.
Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at sarahrigg@yahoo.com.
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January 2007
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Michelle Webster, nominated to Board of Directors for Young Detroit Builders.
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January 2007
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Michelle Webster accepts position as Business Broker for MarketPoint Associates, LLC., 455 E. Eisenhower Pkwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. 734-929-9378.
Specializing in helping people buy and sell businesses, as well as commercial properties and lease activities.
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May 31, 2007
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Business Sold! A young man came to Michelle Webster with $3000 in his pocket and with the help of a team, we made his dream come true!
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June 2007
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Another business sold! Within 60 days, buyer and seller met, match made in heaven, business sold, both parties extremely happy with the transaction!
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4-24-09
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Seminar at IKEA "Alternatives to Unemployment." Attended by 48 people including 8 presenters from SBA, Legal Counsel, Financial Advisors, CPA's, and a Franchisor.
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