“He said he had a buyer for my company, but he wouldn’t give me any details until I gave him my financials. I should have known he was just fishing.” Zoe (not her real name) reached out to me on the recommendation of her financial planner. A few weeks earlier she received an unsolicited call from a local business broker who told her he had a buyer for her company. The broker’s call came at an interesting time, as Read More
The Risk of Waiting
“At the rate I am growing, shouldn’t I wait a couple of years to sell my business? I’m bound to sell it for more if I wait.” Colin (not his real name) owns a fantastic business. He bought it 17 years ago with no idea it would become as successful as it is today. “I was just tired of my job in an office building, I didn’t become an entrepreneur to get rich,” he said as he told me how he got into the business. But by Read More
Negotiate or Auction?
“It is a match made in heaven. I’ve known for years they’d want to buy my company eventually. Should I negotiate just with them or take my company to market and bring in other bidders, you know, get an auction going?” Though having just celebrated his 73rd birthday, Tom (not his real name) was still going strong. The company he founded in 1982 was generating strong cash flow, and there was nothing on the horizon to Read More
Can You Be Making Too Much Money?
Adam (not his real name) is an easy-going hard charger. Yes, that sounds like an oxymoron, but Adam is the kind of business owner who looks like a duck floating smoothly, but he’s paddling like crazy below the waterline. He is a second-generation owner, he took over a business his dad started and made it much better. But, the pandemic of 2020 hit Adam very hard. His business was not considered “essential,” so he was Read More
The Strategic Value of Overpaying ….Say What?
Morgan (not his real name) is going to have a nice exit from his business in about five years. Over the past four years, he has grown his company from annual revenue of $12 million to annual revenue of $35 million. About half of that growth has been organic, the other half has come through the acquisition of supporting businesses. What’s particularly cool about Morgan’s story is how thoughtful and intentional he has Read More
Beware the Valuation Mirage
I’m glad I never had to compete against Randy (not his real name). He is one tough bird. Introduced to him by his wealth planner, I am working with Randy to sell his company to a competitor who is in an aggressive consolidation mode. But before we could make much progress, I had to get some bad information out of Randy’s head. In fairness to Randy, it’s common that a business owner comes into the process to sell Read More
Can You Afford to Watch It Go Up in Smoke?
Covid has wrecked his business. Paul (not his real name) owns a company that is a leading player in Nashville's trendy food scene. As everyone knows, the restaurant sector has been decimated by pandemic-driven shutdowns. To raise cash, Paul asked me to help him sell a minority interest he owns in a business in Texas. Paul was hoping the proceeds from selling that minority interest could be reinvested back into his Read More
Balancing Risk and Reward
I met Wayne (not his real name) through an introduction from his financial planner. Wayne owns a successful business in Mississippi that he had taken over after his dad's death nine years ago. Long hours and employee management issues were taking a toll on him and resultantly, his family. In early 2020, he promised his wife he’d consider selling his business. Wayne started the process by asking his Memphis-based Read More
Don’t Expect an Outlier Valuation
Frank and Wanda (not their real names) are avid golfers. Members at one of Nashville’s finest country clubs, they play at least once a week. They even take an annual golf vacation, sometimes to the home of golf in Scotland. I recently met Frank and Wanda via a Zoom call on the recommendation of their wealth planner. They are interested in selling the company they started in the late ‘90s. They told me they decided Read More
One Thoughtless Comment, Say Goodbye to $35 Million
Don (not his real name) was smart, but his errant comment cost him $35 million. In just 12 years, he had built his company to be the largest in his industry. Don was a rock star, and his company’s future was bright. But Don had taken the company as far as he wanted to take it. Though just 44 years old, he was ready to sell the company and realize his life’s ambition to play golf on six continents (did you know, Read More
