I turned around and sold a family business and spent over a decade trying to figure out what we could have done differently.
My mission is to help others by sharing what I learn so they can design a life of independence and do more of what they love.
Working with Ryan has been revolutionary. I have more clarity and less anxiety regarding the financial health of my business. I’m so grateful that I can now use my new mindset, tools and knowledge to grow my company’s equity value.
Steve Schaffer
Owner, Schaffer Manufacturing
The most concrete business practice I learned and adopted in Ryan's workshop was starting to think about our company as a financial asset and realizing we can forecast the business’s value into the future. We now understand that the future cash flow and equity value are the real metrics behind the health of the company.
Anne Dougherty
Owner, ILLUME Advising
As a business owner, I sometimes get into a rhythm or maybe a rut and do things in a certain way, almost methodically. Ryan's workshop allowed me to intentionally disrupt the rhythm and look at things through a different lens.”
Jamie Gmach
Owner, Evolving Solutions
An incredible resource for M&A pros
Ryan's podcast is a weekly ritual for my team. The insights and conversation topics. Ryan and his guests touch on issues that are highly relevant and actionable. We even find ourselves simply forwarding episodes to our clients to help them navigate the exit process. Thanks for the thought leadership!
Steve Gerten
Partner & Advisor, Paradise Capital LLC
Purposeful and Authentic
Ryan never fails to deliver excellent content that is useful and helpful. He asks questions that draw the best out of his guests. Ryan is motivated to help people achieve their purpose and his enthusiasm is tangible. He brings experience and authenticity to every episode.
Jenna Fromm
CEO, Palmer Bus Service
“Ryan Tansom walks the talk. He is incredibly dedicated to helping business owners and leaders ‘grow the value of their business with an end in mind’. My Vistage Members, EOS Clients and Coaching Clients leverage Ryan’s tools, education, workshops, and podcasts. My only regret about Ryan, is that I did not meet him earlier in my professional career.”
Katina Koller
Vistage Chair and EOS© Implementor
Working with Ryan has been revolutionary. I have more clarity and less anxiety regarding the financial health of my business. I’m so grateful that I can now use my new mindset, tools and knowledge to grow my company’s equity value.
Steve Schaffer
Owner, Schaffer Manufacturing
The most concrete business practice I learned and adopted in Ryan's workshop was starting to think about our company as a financial asset and realizing we can forecast the business’s value into the future. We now understand that the future cash flow and equity value are the real metrics behind the health of the company.
Anne Dougherty
Owner, ILLUME Advising
As a business owner, I sometimes get into a rhythm or maybe a rut and do things in a certain way, almost methodically. Ryan's workshop allowed me to intentionally disrupt the rhythm and look at things through a different lens.”
Jamie Gmach
Owner, Evolving Solutions
An incredible resource for M&A pros
Ryan's podcast is a weekly ritual for my team. The insights and conversation topics. Ryan and his guests touch on issues that are highly relevant and actionable. We even find ourselves simply forwarding episodes to our clients to help them navigate the exit process. Thanks for the thought leadership!
Steve Gerten
Partner & Advisor, Paradise Capital LLC
Purposeful and Authentic
Ryan never fails to deliver excellent content that is useful and helpful. He asks questions that draw the best out of his guests. Ryan is motivated to help people achieve their purpose and his enthusiasm is tangible. He brings experience and authenticity to every episode.
Jenna Fromm
CEO, Palmer Bus Service
“Ryan Tansom walks the talk. He is incredibly dedicated to helping business owners and leaders ‘grow the value of their business with an end in mind’. My Vistage Members, EOS Clients and Coaching Clients leverage Ryan’s tools, education, workshops, and podcasts. My only regret about Ryan, is that I did not meet him earlier in my professional career.”
Katina Koller
Vistage Chair and EOS© Implementor
Unlock the Power of Being a Business Owner
There are countless business operating systems to help us "work in" the business, but there were none to help us understand how to "work on" the business and what it means to be a business owner.
That is why I created the Independence by Design™ Ownership Framework.
Hey, I'm Ryan Tansom
In 2009 when I started in our family business, it was doing $21 million and lost close to a million dollars. After five of the hardest years I've been through, in 2014 I helped lead our company through an eight-figure exit. Since then, I have spent every waking minute learning what we could have done differently. My ten-year therapy session led me to create multiple businesses, start a podcast, travel around the US speaking on hundreds of stages to share my story (Vistage, EO, CEO Nexus, industry associations, etc.), and create an ownership framework for owner-operators (over 1,500 have experienced the material) to help them create the independence they deserve.
Ownership Coaching
Independence by Design™
There are multiple ways to engage with me and my Independence by Design™ ownership content, depending on what level of help you want. My philosophy is to put out as much of my material for free as possible and charge based on the level of access to me and specific resources. If you want more speed, implementation resources, and accountability, one of the IBD coaching programs might be right for you. Regardless of which option you pick, the goal is to help you get unstuck, align your operations with your ownership goals, and answer your most pressing questions so you can get you where you want to go faster.
Independence by Design™ Podcast
I started my podcast in 2017 as a mission to learn how owner-operators of a company can make the entire journey worth it. I've interviewed hundreds of amazing owners who have started, bought, grown, and sold companies, authors like Gino Wickman, Dan Martell, Mike Michalowicz, Jack Stack, John Warrillow, editors of Inc Magazine (Bo Burlingham) and HBR (Tom Stewart), and industry experts like ITR Economics,