The Business Exit

Owners are great at running their business.  When they are ready to sell their business though, owners are prone to common mistakes since selling their company is often new, uncharted territory, and certainly not what they do every day. These mistakes can be costly, waste both the owner’s and buyer’s time and money, and potentially…

When the owner contemplates selling their company, one of the important aspects is communicating the news to the management team. When should the owner tell them about the deal? Who should the owner bring into their confidence? How should they be incentivized to work with the owner to complete the transaction? It is a lot…

Owners always ask the following question when considering the sale of their company: “When do I inform my employees?” It is an interesting conundrum. After all, the owner cannot complete the transaction without valuable input from their management team including the Chief Financial Officer or controller, sales and marketing executive, and the Chief Operating Officer. …

Succession planning in the context of transitioning day-to-day control of a company to a non-family President while retaining ownership of the company. Regardless of the reason that the owner is retiring, it is important that the operational successor has the vision and capability to lead the company during the next phase of its life cycle.…

There comes a time in every business owner’s life when it is time to make the tough decision regarding succession. The owner may be ready for retirement or need to stop working for personal reasons. While the sale of the company is one option, in this article, we will focus on the owner retaining the…

When preparing for the sale of a business, there is something called the “two-step process” for private equity group partnerships — an approach in which the owner sells a minority interest in their company to a professional investor such as a private equity group (“PEG”). Often, an owner will partner with a private equity group…

For business owners that are seeking liquidity but are not quite ready to sell control of their company and retire, one option is to sell a minority interest in the company to a professional investor such as a private equity group (“PEG”). The sale of the entire company can then be pursued three to five…

As an owner looking to sell your business, there are several viable succession options that could become available. One is a Management Buyout (MBO), or sale of the company to the management team. Another common strategy is a sale to the next generation of family, typically the owner’s child (or children), grandchild or niece/nephew. There are a few key considerations…

Hooray! The owner signed a letter of intent to sell their company. Now the task of “soup to nuts” diligence begins – accounting quality of earnings, document accumulation, strategy and integration meetings, documentation. . . . The post LOI process is a second job. But, let’s not forget about the first job, running the golden goose! Many a deal has gone awry when the owner focused too much on the transaction and not enough…

It’s lonely at the top! Countless times business owners have said: “I have no one to talk to.” If the owner discusses their business with others, it is often ad hoc rather than regular, organized discussions. In addition, the owner may not feel comfortable having strategic discussions with their employees.  So, what is an owner to do? How about organizing an active board of advisors? The dilemma for the business owner with…