Can You Handle the Truth?

“I could easily sell to private equity. I get their calls all the time.” Before I met Charlie (not his real name), I had been told by his wealth advisor that he was a brilliant mechanical engineer who was ready to sell his company. I was one of several intermediaries Charlie was interviewing for the assignment. “This is my one shot to fund the retirement I want,” he told me, “I damn well better get a good Read More

Toby (not his real name) is not short on confidence. When we met for coffee with a mutual friend, he told me everything about how to sell a business, even though he has never sold a business. Toby is the CEO of a successful manufacturing company. Though not a shareholder in the company, the owner has given Toby full control. To his credit, Toby acts and thinks like the owner. “The founder hired me in 2015 because he Read More

Randy (not his real name) really wants to buy a business. I think he wants it too much. Randy called me on the recommendation of a mutual friend. The company Randy wants to buy is owned by a guy who is 72 and ready to retire. Let’s call the owner Michael. Michael’s business distributes a product that Randy’s current employer manufactures.  Randy tells me he knows the market for this product and has many solid Read More

When Bob (not his real name) called me, I could tell he was tired. He wanted to sell his family business, but he didn’t know how to find the right buyer and make sure he got a fair value for his life’s work. Bob started his business in 1981 and built it into a thriving niche manufacturer of plumbing components. But at age 74, Bob was ready to sell his business and spend more time with his ailing wife. The business Read More

Dr. Good (not his real name) was not happy with my feedback. “You mean to tell me that because my longtime patients are so loyal to me that I can’t sell this practice? What do I do, just close the doors and walk away?” Dr. Good’s practice is a niche of a niche of a niche, and resultantly, he has patients from all around the United States coming to his Nashville clinic. His patient calendar is filled eight months in Read More

We all know the story of the cunning and threatening Big Bad Wolf. He is roaming about, ready to pounce on his helpless victim. Some version of this story has been told in countless fairy tales, and it never fails to raise our anxiety level. Many business owners live with the same fairy-tale concerns about their competitors. Once you’ve gone toe-to-toe with a competitor over a period of time, you find yourself Read More

“If I don’t sell now, do I really miss the window?” At the age of 62, Karl (not his real name) tells me he is ready to sell his Nashville business. He said he regularly gets calls and emails from brokers/bankers saying, “We have a buyer for your company.”  Smart enough to know that line is only a come-on to engage a conversation, Karl said he doesn’t spend time with any of those outreach efforts. However, he told me Read More

A guy in my neighborhood had a huge elm tree split during a recent thunderstorm. A broken limb leaned perilously close to his garage, so he had to deal with it quickly to avert disaster. Had that happened to me, my first (and only) instinct would have been to call a tree removal service. But not my neighbor. The morning after the storm, I watched him lean a big ladder against the main tree trunk while using his Read More

“I’m a bit slow, but now I finally get what you’ve been telling me.” Kevin (not his real name) is ready to sell his HR services company.  We have identified 15 potential private equity buyers and a handful of potential strategic buyers. The marketing message to these two types of buyers must be different, assuming you want to break through the clutter. If your investment banker or intermediary tries to tell you the Read More

Ashley (not his real name) called recently and told me he was ready to sell his business. “Actually, I’ve been ready to sell for three years now,” he said, “but the jackleg broker I retained in 2018 didn’t know squat about how to sell a business, so I’m still at ground zero.” Ashley told me the backstory when we met a few days later at a downtown coffee shop. He said he decided to sell his business in early 2018. Read More