Successful Acquisitions Are Driven By Operators, Not Dealmakers
I recently listened again to an old interview with Warren Buffett explaining how he decides whether to buy a business. His framework is wonderfully simple. He looks for four things: A business he understands It has an enduring competitive advantage Run by management...
Would You Buy Your Own Company?
This is a practical briefing aimed at private company owners, CEOs, CFOs, and the trusted advisers around them. It is also delivered as a keynote or workshop event. The Big Idea: Flip the Lens Most owners have spent a career looking out from inside the business — at...
Management Buy – Outs – An Overview
Selling to management may be the obvious choice for service based businesses eg marketing agencies, residential architecture firms, managed IT services, engineering practices etc. However these are particularly tricky transactions to execute. One main reason being...
Running a Business Vs Value Creation
Most owners know how to run their business to consistently make payroll. However, the creation of a sustainable business that buyers want to buy is a much rarer achievement than you think. McKinsey published a white paper in February which highlighted some stunning...
Trigger Points Part 2
As you drive your business forward it’s easy to underestimate the power of Trigger Points. Everyone gets so busy and distracted with noise. It might be gas prices, tariffs, personal stuff, competitor behavior, employee actions, health, or any number of things...
Valuation Myth
Valuation models are useless unless they are buyer specific! Let’s look at the ingredients of most CPA type valuation models. Discussions with management regarding the history and future of the company. Historical financials and future projections of Profits and...
Trigger Points
As the CFO of a lower middle market business with say Revenue in the $50m to $250m, what are your trigger points that keeps the sales function honest? In almost all industries the Book to Bill ratio is unreasonably important. You could be in niche manufacturing,...
Simplify Your Thinking
As we scale our portfolio companies the thought of Simplicity vs Complexity came to mind this week. Entrepreneurs, private company owners, and C-Suite execs, however you see yourself, I’m seeing the same mistakes over and over again. You are making life way too...
Lessons for Owners – Refreshing Your Operating Model
McKinsey published an article in August last year titled “How to get your operating model back on track”. So, I’d like to summarize their findings first in the context of the lower middle market. I’ll then share a practical version of an...Operational Excellence For Exits
Acquisition Support Services
Acquirers Need a Playbook
The Saleability Test
Our Books
