You're a business owner, and you're ready to start chasing your grandchildren for travel ball, honors band, or to walk the Freedom Trail in Boston. Time to sell. If you're thinking about selling a business in Nevada, there's a number you should run before you call anyone. Take whatever you're currently running through the business that has nothing to do with running the business. The payment on one of the "company cars" that doesn't have a logo on the side and will never carry a product or a technician to a service call. The wages and health coverage for a grandchild who hasn't been home since the summer after her first year at UC San Diego. The annual hunt club lease that you have taken clients on, but only the ones you like, and honestly,…

Most small business owners in Reno and Northern Nevada don't realize they're creating the very problem that may prevent them from ever successfully selling their business. The problem isn't revenue. It isn't hiring. It isn't competition. It's that the business depends too heavily on them. There's a moment near the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Neville Longbottom emerges from a tunnel into the Hog's Head Inn. The timid, awkward kid we've known throughout the series is gone. In his place stands a battle-tested leader who has learned to carry responsibility because circumstances demanded it. We love stories like that. From Moses to Frodo Baggins to real-life figures like Alvin York, culture celebrates reluctant heroes who ri…