From Practice to Business: Why I Created This Framework
The Full Story
I spent over 30 years as a successful real estate agent. I was good at the craft—I had lots of happy clients, I closed deals, I made a solid living—but most of all, I helped people with something that makes a difference in their lives.
But here's what I didn't realize: I had built a practice, not a business.
One day I found myself sitting there thinking about the past few months. A friend had been diagnosed with brain cancer. A milestone birthday was coming up fast. I'd been through a string of difficult transactions that left me exhausted. And then it hit me: what I'd built had tremendous value to me—but no transferable value to anyone else. Everything depended on me showing up. I started asking myself: What's next?
So I started looking around. I wanted to find something else for my next chapter—but I wasn't looking for something to just fill time, I was looking for something that spoke to me. As I researched other options, I stumbled upon a video by Roland Frasier. In it, he shared a statistic that changed everything: 70% of small businesses that go to market don't sell.
That number blew my mind. As a real estate professional, I thought: What if 70% of homes that went on the market didn't sell? It would be catastrophic the homeowners, their families, communities, the entire economy.
Yet that's exactly what's happening to small business owners every single day. They work their entire lives building something valuable, at least to them—only to discover nobody wants to buy it.
I've been around small business owners my entire life. As a child, I watched people on both sides of my family wrestle with the challenges of running small businesses. As an adult, I've lived that reality myself for decades as realtor, and I've watched countless other small business owners and entrepreneurs struggle with that painful truth.
Running a small business is hard. And it's not getting any easier. Business owners need help. After I heard that 70% statistic, I decided to become that help.
Your Business Shouldn't Be Your Beautiful Prison
Most small business owners have created something that provides them value—but not something another owner would find valuable enough to buy for a fair price.
The difference? Transferable value.
With the right systems, structure, and strategy, you can:
Build a business that can run without you
Create real options: sell, build, or step back
Turn decades of hard work into the freedom you deserve
Just like staging a home makes it more attractive to buyers, staging your business makes it attractive, valuable, and ready for whatever comes next.
Staging Your Business for Success™: The Six Stages
Stage 1: Discover
Assess where you and your business stand today
In just 10 minutes, you can start the discovery process and see how ready you are for what's next—growth, stepping back, or an eventual sale. No business numbers needed. From there, we can take the next step to assess your business's current value and map out your path forward.
Stage 2: Foundation
Reduce risk and owner dependency
We build the structural integrity that allows your business to operate independently. This means clarifying roles, documenting critical knowledge, and ensuring your team can execute without you in every room.
Stage 3: Structure
Solidify your cash flow and financials
Your business needs to run on stable ground, not shaky assumptions. We reduce risk and owner dependency so your business doesn't collapse when you're not there to hold it together
Stage 4: Systems
Build operations that run without you
Create operations that can run without you—processes documented, roles clarified, and your team empowered to execute. This is where your business transitions from owner-dependent to
genuinely transferable.
Stage 5: Style
Strengthen market position and customer loyalty
Define how you serve and stand out in your market—strengthening customer loyalty and making your business the obvious choice. This is about creating lasting value in how customers perceive and experience your business.
Stage 6: Staging
Prepare for transition and maximize value
Prepare for transition and maximize value—whether that's selling, passing it on, or simply having the freedom to step back. Just like staging a home for sale, we make your business attractive and valuable to potential buyers or successors.
How We Execute: The FRAME™ Process
Every stage is supported by the FRAME™ method—a practical execution process that ensures you don't just plan, you implement:
Focus on what matters most
Record your progress
Act on clear next steps
Monitor results
Establish new standards that stick
It's the difference between good intentions and real transformation
The result? A business with transferable value. One that gives you options.
Why the Staging Metaphor Works
For three decades, I helped clients prepare their homes to maximize value and attract the right buyers. As a real estate agent, I understood that selling a home isn't just about listing it—it's about presenting it in a way that helps potential buyers see themselves owning it. Now I help business owners do the same thing with their businesses.
The principles are remarkably similar—you're preparing something valuable to transfer to someone else. It requires strategy, systems, and the right presentation.
The difference? When you stage your business for success, you don't just create value for a future sale. You create a business that's easier to run today, more profitable, and gives you real options for your future.
Let's talk about where you are today and where you want to go. Whether you're thinking about
an eventual exit, looking to reduce your day-to-day involvement, or simply want to build more
value into your business—I can help.
Let's talk about where you are today and where you want to go. Whether you're thinking about an eventual exit, looking to reduce your day-to-day involvement, or simply want to build more value into your business—I can help.
Harry Moore | PlusMoore Business Strategy Partners Serving small business owners in the Washington DC area